Make an easy custom applique patch to add to or change any clothing.
Kids go through clothes quickly weather they grow out of them or through them, that’s no surprise and yet it can still be a little alarming. To lighten the toll on the bank account I am a huge advocate of hand me downs, thrift stores, consignment and of course homemade! It helps that I also find the hunt and discovery of second hand goods fun. This project combines the thrifted and homemade aspect, upcycling a thrifted shirt with a homemade applique patch.
I found this shirt at the thrift store in a bin of clothes meant to be stuffed in different sized bags with a flat fee for whatever you can fit. The shirt itself cost less than a dollar since it was a 2.99 bag and I had gathered a handful of items. I hesitated to grab it at first since I really didn’t like the patch on it and have gathered a good collection of baby clothes and don’t need things I don’t like BUT It is so soft, and a really nice style overall. I am so happy I did! Since it’s been made more our style it has become a go –to.
The patch
I made the patch on a piece of white linen simply for ease. The original patch was on a cotton knit but the stiffness of the linen is easier to work on. Since the patch would be small the texture difference was a non-issue. I removed the existing patch very carefully to make sure I didn’t cut the shirt or the interfacing on the back of the patch.
How to make a painted applique patch on linen
Supplies
White linen, or cotton.
Embroidery hoop
Pencil
Aloe vera
Fabric markers *optional
In order to make the painting process easier stretch the linen over an embroidery hoop. Draw your design on a piece of paper then either hold it or tape it to the underside of the fabric and trace it lightly with a pencil. You could skip the tracing and just gently sketch out the design on top too, if you sketch lightly enough the pencil erases easily enough.
Paint
To use intense paints of fabric you need a medium. If you don’t use one the paint will spread out dramatically which can actually be quite pretty if that’s what you are going for. You can use a textile medium but they can be costly and for these paints Aloe vera works just as well and smells better.
Paint the entire area that is to be painted with aloe then carry on painting as normal. The Inktese paints behave like watercolours yet they are permanent when dry unlike regular watercolour paints. Therefore they don’t need any additional treatment to be lightfast on the fabric.
Outline
If you are happy with the turn out as is then you could leave it there, wait till the paint dries and carry on with the applique. However you can also take it one step further with fabric markers. I use them to add in fine details and do an outline. Why not just use fabric markers and skip painting? You totally could but marker and painting always give a very different look, I think painting is more fun anyway.
To set the marker you need to iron the image, make sure the iron isn’t overly hot or it might shift the colours of the paint. So start low and slowly increase the heat.
The Patch
When the image is dry and fully set, cut around it leaving about a cm of extra space, this can be trimmed down more if it is too bulky later. Fold the extra space towards the back and press with an iron. When using linen I like to simply pinch it tightly to create a fold then press all at the same time, makes this process very easy. Trim any spots where there is too much to fold over nicely. You can clip around any parts that are curved but make sure you don’t cut too far.
