It has been a very long time since I have blogged... so here is a task I was given over christmas to repair my dad's worn out jumper.
Elbow patches are not only sported by geography teachers and quirky university professors but have for a while now had a strong presence on the high street. Here is how I made some for my non-fashion conscious dad, just a way to get a little bit more life out of a tired jumper.
First of all you want to create a template of the size of the patch you would like to create. To do this fold a piece of paper in half, then half again to get an even shape.
Open out and place on the jumper to check that is correct, trim as necessary.
To add extra strength to the patches I used interfacing between the layers, cut these to the size of your template.
Do the same for an under layer and the top layer which will be on show (I have used tw different colours so it is easier to see what is happening) with the outer layer, add seam allowance to this.
Pin together with the interfacing encased between the two layers.
For decoration I then stitched the layers together in a darker thread. These stitches can just be used to hold the pieces together whilst you are slip stitching though and removed before the patch is sewn to the jumper.
Turn over and slip stitch the top layer to the bottom layer encasing all the layers and creating a neat, clean edge.
Pin to the jumper in the required position and stitch to the jumper in whichever way you like. I chose to make a feature of it.
Another way of doing this is to add seam allowance to all pieces, stitch right sides together leaving a gap, snip into the seam allowance so a smooth shape can be achieved, then to pull them the right way through. Stitch the hole together and then continue to sew the patches onto the jumper.
I hope this is helpful and inspires you to think about how you can increase the life span of your clothes in our throw away society.
Lizzie x
