Patchwork Fun

In the post-holiday-season mad crazy rush on the malls and stores, I met up with a couple of my friends for lunch (at a mall, of course). It was the week between Christmas and New Years, and the place was packed. After lunch, we roamed around, grabbed cupcakes and tea, and shopped a bit. We started talking about consumerism. The whole holiday season, in fact, had reminded us of how consumerism is such an extremely wasteful enterprise. I told my friends about how I patch everything (even my bras) and they were shocked - how had patchwork never occurred to them! So I'm writing this now to say, Guess what? You can patch anything! Below, I've compiled a list of items you can patch with tips on how to:

• Duvet covers, sheets, etc. (My dog loves to chew on duvet covers, so now I buy patterned covers and patch them wherever they need it. You can barely tell!)
• Jeans/pants (These are super-easy to patch, and can be done either inside or outside. Make your pants funky by sewing on a colorful outside patch, where you can see the whole patch from the outside. I once patched a pair of grey velvet pants with magenta satin patches, and those pants lasted years! Another idea is to cut patches in shapes, like stars or hearts or circles. Depending on the jeans, the patches could become the coolest part of them.)
• Flannels, comfy shirts, etc. (These are also really easy to patch, and can be done multiple ways. I tend to patch shirts on the inside so they last longer, but these can be outside patches, too. I will occassionally patch over an old logo or saying on a tee-shirt with an awesome piece of fabric so that I can save the comfy tee for another few years. I patch those pieces outside, and they always come out good.)
• Hoodies/sweaters (Hoodies are easy to patch, since they're usually all cotton & sweatshirt material is easy to sew. Depending on where the hole is, you can use inside or outside. For sweaters, it definitely depends on where the hole is. If it's the elbows, they can be patched with elbow pads, like jackets, or outside patches shaped like elbow pads. They can be patched with inside patches, too. If the hole is in a less conspicuous place, I usually use an inside patch. Make sure the thread matches the sweater really well, because the texture will already be a bit different, and off-color thread can be an eyesore on a sweater. If you don't have any thread that remotely matches, use a complementary color so it sticks out! Make it fun!)
• Bras (Yes, I mean it, you can patch bras. When the wire comes out, fold a patch in half and sew it on. It may not be perfect, but it's great for around the house. Also, I had one bra where the straps were ripping off, so I folded them over and sewed a triangle patch on the corners so that the non-ripped piece of the strap was patched to the larger part of the bra. It's not a bra I wear out to dinner, but I wear it around the house and out to the park all the time.)
• Patchwork (You can make anything out of patchwork, a towel or a bedspread, a skirt or a top, a child's doll or outfit. Save random material for a while, and you'll find you have tons of fabric for patchwork. The plus side is, patchwork is beautiful!)

Patchwork is fun, and exciting! Every time I find a small piece of fabric that looks like it will make a good patch, I'm stoked to see what I can patch with it. There are so many uses for patches, and you can save your favorite clothes for years to come!