All patched up and ready to take-off!

Anyone remember our patches from last year?  Well, I'm at it again...

This stack of holey jeans has been staring me down to no avail for some time now.   

But then in the course of a week, Keegan - our 4yo, put holes in his last three pairs of pants, leaving him with only a single pair of intact sweat pants.  Somehow, in our rough and tumble home, I'm not surprised.

So I pulled out my trusty machine and set to work breathing new life into this pile of jeans! 

 

For the third year running, I continue to patch them up and run these blue jeans into the ground.  It is the family way...   We use them up until they are fairly useless.

And I continue to score big brownie points with the boys.  Of course, given my desire for aesthetics, I'm totally hooked on my way of patching jeans too.  They are so stinkin' cute and easy to do that I thought I'd pass on my little secret!  So here you go: 

Step 1- Collect your materials.

• Sturdy fabric for patches.  I prefer neutral corduroy fabric.  Brown and navy blue go with everything.
• Patch pattern.  I've free handed most of mine, but have also been known to search google images for simple designs that might work.  You can download some of my favorites here or continent shapes here.  (Keegan recently requested an Africa patch and I was quite pleased with how it turned out.)
• sewing scissors
• pencil for tracing.
• Fabric glue - an essential in my house!!!  (hahaha, it is one of my favorite sewing notions!)
• Sewing machine and thread that matches patch fabric.

Step 2 - Prewash/dry and iron fabric.

Step 3 - Choose a design and trace outline on to back of corduroy fabric - taking care that the image will look correct when looking at the other side of fabric.

Step 4 - Reinforce edge of hole with stitches.

Step 5 - Add glue all over patch. I use a straight pin to smear mine around.  This is a step that even a child could help with!  Place a piece of paper in between the pant leg layers so the glue doesn't go through the jean to the other side.  Allow to dry.

Step 6 - Use a zigzag stitch to reinforce edges of the patch.  Be sure not to sew through to the other side of the jean...

Step 7 - Admire your work before your kids swoop in and 'take off' with their new pants!

I'm always looking for fresh ideas.  I'm all ears if any of you have ideas on other patch patterns!