Monday, October 8, 2012

Monster Patch for Jeans - KCWC Day 1

I know I said the next post would be about Monster Cut-Out Cupcakes...but then I realized that it's Kids Clothes Week Challenge (KCWC) this week...so I changed my plans a bit.  I promise the Monster Cupcakes will be coming soon...but perhaps not until next week.  I'll also be honest that I did not actually make these pants this week...but I'm always a week or so behind posting projects as I wait to get pictures and things...but I have made 3 pairs of kids pant, two new shirts for Anson, and a tie for dad in the last couple days, and as soon as I get off the computer, Katie and I are going to make a shirt for her.  You'll get to see all that soon too.

I saw these Monster Patches last year on Mimi and the Boy.  Those adorable patches were made for Seth's half-brother, and I filed the idea away for Seth.  I finally got around to making Seth some of his own.

He loves them.  (And note we're making headway on our mudroom...)



It's turned plain jeans into jeans that are fun to wear to kindergarten.

And Seth can even make the monster's face.


I meant to take more process pictures...but I must have been on a roll that night because this is the only one I took, so you might want to take a look at Sarah's tutorial.

I did a few things differently though.  Instead of felt, I used t-shirt scraps...my go-to for bright fabric for most crafts these days.  You don't have to worry about raw edges unraveling and knits don't pill in the wash the way that felt does.
  • I chose a green fabric for the main patch which ended up being the inside of the mouth.
  • The tongue and teeth are double layers of T-shirt scraps with Heat'n Bond inbetween.  Then I sewed around the raw edges to make them more durable.
  • Sewed buttons on for the eyes.
  • Zigzag stitched the whole patch onto the jeans.  These jeans started out with just a tiny hole I cut bigger, so the fabric I was sewing to was not very worn.  If the fabric around the edges of your hole is pretty worn, you'll want to sew again farther out to make sure the patch holds.
  • I sewed the tongue so it was sticking straight up and then hand stitched just a little under the tongue to make it stay down...if that makes sense.
  • The main secret you NEED TO KNOW is the way to get your machine in to work on a patch or jeans embellishment is that you use a seam ripper to open up the side seam, do your work with your machine, and then re-sew the side seam.

Boys will love these patches any time of year...but with Halloween coming up, it's even better.  I think a girly monster knee could be cute too.
And if you're a monster lover, thanks to a collaboration between me and Nicola from nJoy Art on tomorrow's project, Helping Little Hands readers can get FREE shipping on any order from nJoy Art through the end of October by entering NOSHIPNJOY at checkout.  Nicola has lots of original paintings and prints for the whole family, and her monster artwork is especially adorable.


Or if you're looking for a different kind of patch, you can check out this knee patch tutorial I wrote a couple years ago.

And if you're looking for projects to join in on the Kids Clothes Week Challenge, there are a lot of ideas and tons of free patterns on my Hand-Me-Down REHAB (aka how to make cute clothes on the cheap) Page.

Please show my sponsors some love...
Monster Pair Original Painting from nJoy Art
Faith in God Makes Me Stronger from Shirleen Bland's Art Studio
Personalized Transportation Collage from nJoy Art



I'll be linking to:
A Mommy AdventuresShow and Tell Green Keeping It Simple abc buttonTip Junkie handmade projects giveaways make it wear it   Katie's Nesting Spot Photobucket Join us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap up party! abc buttonShibley Smiles Fresh Poppy DesignPoint of View: A Creative Collaboration,a creative collaboration,point of view,point of view a creative collaborationThe Girl Creative
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21 comments:

  1. I wonder if the tee shirt fabric at the knees will hold up? Might be another good place for a double layer of fabric. Darling patches. Lucky boy!

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  2. What a cute idea!
    http://sewtlc.blogspot.com

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  3. Oh my goodness. That looks great! So much fun. And the side seam trick is genius! Seriously, I think you just changed my life with that one.

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  4. What a wonderful solution! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures

    New Follower

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  5. what a great idea! this looks like a fun project to get my boys involved in :)

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  6. How inventive, my son is constantly ripping hole in his jeans. Its expensive to replace them. I have found you through the party im new to blog land im trying to make some friends:-)

    http://charliesandharrysdaddy.blogspot.co.uk/

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  7. Really cool! I'd love for you to share this and any other crafts at my new linky party, Submarine Sunday. I hope you'll stop by!

    T'onna
    http://navywifeypeters.blogspot.com/2012/10/submarine-sunday-1-linky-party_7.html

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  8. That is the coolest little patch ever! Cute and clever.

    <3 Christina at I Gotta Create!
    Wildly Original linky party is open

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  9. This is an amazing idea! My boys are grown and not getting holes in their knees, but I love your secret of opening up the side seam! I'd love to have you join my PIN MEme Linky Party because this is very Pin Worthy! I'm going to pin it now!

    Diana
    Diana Rambles
    Bento Blog Network
    Link Rink

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  10. These are fantastic. When my boys were younger, they would wear holes in their jeans faster than they'd outgrow them, so I learned a trick for patching them inside out since they didn't want to wear patches. It helps extend the life of the jeans a little, but these monster faces are just too stinkin' cute. Oh, if only my boys were still young enough to wear them!

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  11. This made me smile. Almost makes me wish my boys were little again with holes in their knees so we could try this out.

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  12. Thank you for sharing your project on A Crafty Soiree! I've featured your project on this week's new linky post. It will be up at midnight EST. Please come by and see it when you get a chance.

    PS: I just found a really old email thread in my inbox and wanted to apologize. I think I owe you a really overdue guest post. Yikes! I'm so sorry I didn't help you out. Things got crazy around here and it slipped my mind. I try to be organized but it doesn't always happen. Please accept my apologies!

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  13. I'm going to have to steal some of nephews jeans when they aren't looking and then secretly return them after I've done this. What an awesome idea!

    I'm your newest follower visiting from Made By You Monday Blog Hop. Come and say hi!

    http://elizakprints.blogspot.com/

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  14. I saw this idea on pinterest and have been itching to do it myself! thanks for the motivation. yours turned out absolutely adorable!!

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  15. Holy cow, that little monster patch is so darn cute! Wish my little guy were a little littler. Can I say that? Anyway, thanks for sharing at Kate's Nesting Spot!
    Debbie

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  16. Those are absolutely adorable! I wish grown ups could get away with cute patches like that! :)

    I'm visiting from OneCreativeMommy.com.

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  17. I love this! I have several jeans that I could do this too, thanks for sharing

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