Upcycle: Elbow Patches

Good day!

Sorry about the long absence guys. I hope you didn't miss me too much. I have been busy looking for work and it's very tough at the moment. Eek. It was hard for me to get creative and I have been doing my best to stay focused on the task at hand - Find Work!

Anyways, this is a short and easy tutorial on adding patches to your clothes. It gives your shirt/blazer/cardigan such a sweet touch. At first I planned on adding heart-shaped patches but it just seemed like they would not suit that particular blazer. Maybe next time I'll do a tutorial on that ;)

It was raining today and I was a little blind from no light coming into the house. I apologise in advance for some photographs (most!) being out of focus. I couldn't wait another day to show you how to add patches to your clothes! You'll forgive me! :)

 

 You will need:

- Long sleeved item
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Pins
- Sewing Needle
- Thread
- Felt or Fabric Scraps
- Tracing paper 

Grab your tracing paper and fold it in half. Use a pencil to draw half of an oval. Grab the scissors to cut an oval following the pencil marking as a guide. It is a good way to get a symmetrical shape instead of a dodgy oval. You now have your oval patch template!

 

Place the template on your piece of felt or fabric and secure with pins. Cut out the shape out of the felt with scissors. Use the template for the other piece as well.

Having drawn the template by hand, of course there will be some 'unevenness' to it. Make sure that you are using the same side for both pieces of material when cutting them out. For example, if you place your template on your first fabric while it's facing up, do the same for the other fabric so that the shapes coincide. You'll see what I mean when they are in front of you.

Place the patches on each side of your clothing's sleeves. If you like you can try the item on to find the exact spots to place the patches. I did and if you do so, be careful not to hurt yourself inserting the pins to secure your patches.

Don't forget to fold your clothing to check if the patches match up perfectly before sewing.

I chose the overcast stitch since I was using felt. I think it is both pretty and easy to work with. I folded the sleeve in to have a better grip of the patch.

This is what the result should look like. Cute? Try it out!

Get creative guys! Let me know how you went in the comments.

This post is dedicated to Divya Ruhee. One of the best people I will ever know.

DIY Bobby Pins

Hello!

This week, we will upcycle our average-looking bobby pins, into pretty and girly ones. Hopefully, you still have some at hand. Otherwise check under the bed or inside your handbags, where they usually like to hide.
 

[Title Font: Coconut point from here.]

You will need:
Bobby Pins!
A piece of stock paper/cardboard
Nail Polish (as many colours as you like)
Beads
Scissors
Craft Glue
Felt Scrap [A rectangle of about 2.5cm x 3cm]
A sewing needle
Black thread 


No. 1 The Nail Polish Bobby Pin

Simply place your bobby pins on the piece of paper/cardboard so as to hold the pins still and to protect your table from getting nail polish graffiti. This is the easy part, create any designs that you like, with any colour you want! The hard part is waiting for them to dry before using them. :p



No. 2 The Bead Bobby Pin

You will need:
A bobby pin
A bead
A sewing needle
Black thread
Scissors

Basic sewing skills are fine for this task. Use double thread for the bead to hold on strong on the bobby pin. The first step is to tie two knots on the pin placing them at the top of the bobby pin.

Pass the thread through the bead and make sure that you are working on the top part of the bobby pin. Tighten the bead to the pin and tie a knot on the bobby pin to secure the bead.

You now need to make sure that the bead won't move around on the bobby pin. Pass the needle through the other side of the bead, then secure with a knot. You will find that a horizontal thread has formed underneath the bead.

Secure the thread by passing the needle through it and keep making knots until you have completed the rounds. When you notice that the bead is tight, you are almost done. 

Finish off by randomly passing the needle through the knots to make sure that the thread will not get undone. Cut the thread off cleanly.

No. 3 The Felt Bow Bobby Pin

You will need:

Felt scrap

A sewing needle

Black thread

Craft glue

Scissors

Cut a thin strip off the felt scrap, which will go in the middle of the bow later. Fold the larger strip three times and sew the middle to tighten the folds to form a bow. Make sure the thread is securely attached and cut the loose threads off.

Fold the thin strip over the bow and using craft glue, close the strip off. If it is not doing the job, lightly sew the strip. Cut off any extra pieces of thread and felt.

You can choose to leave the pointy bow as it is or create a rounded bow like me. For this part, use the same technique explained for The Bead Bobby Pin tutorial to sew the bow to the bobby pin.

Do get creative and use whichever cute and decorative things you can find around the house to decorate your bobby pins. I'm sure just like me, you still keep that pretty button or that broken earring that you just cannot throw away. Why not use it on a bobby pin? I would love to hear how you went in the comments!

Thank you for your visit.

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