When I am looking for some creative technique to do with clothes or fabric, all roads lead me to old jeans – is it because blue is my favorite color or that the indigo blue of jeans is irresistible to all? Do you also think that the denim of old jeans has eternal charm and elegance and can be used as embellishment for clothes in many creative ways?
I will show you how I created some very easy-to-make clothing patches with the denim fabric scraps.These are customisable in a hundred ways – the one you make will not at all be what I have made, if you want it that way, with simple changes. The possibilities are limitless.
Pros of making Old-Denim patches
Old jeans fabric has a naturally aged look that gives your project a cute charm. What you make (following the same tutorial) will be unique as the fabric piece cut from your old jeans may have distressed textures, like frayed edges, holes, and worn-out areas, or specific color effects that add a certain depth and interest to the fabric and a uniqueness which you will not find anywhere else. You can make your own unique patch and decorate your clothing with it.
Faux-Chenille edge patches with denim
The best thing I love about denim fabric, other than the color, is the distinctive type of fringe you get with it. It is because of the way the denim fabric is woven. Denim fabric is woven with a twill weave, where the warp thread (dyed indigo, usually) goes over two or more weft threads (usually white or undyed). So when you take off the horizontal thread (the weft threads), you will get a fringe that is entirely white, and if the thread is taken in the other direction, you will get a fringe that is entirely blue. This tussled, fluffy, fringe effect is very cute and adds a distinct charm to anything made with denim fabric.
Because Easter is coming, I decided to make an Easter egg patch, with this textile technique called faux-chenille technique. It is a beautiful method of making fraying work for you in a beautiful way. In this you will be layering a number of fabrics one one top of the other and they cut through it to give a very textured fabric surface. Here the same method is used to make chenille-fabric like edges.
I thought of putting the fabric into the washing machine but refrained myself. My machine is new, and I do not want to clog it.
Related posts: Different kinds of jeans you can use for this recycle project; Ways to sew patches on clothing; Sewing patches on jeans; Tips for making patches for clothes
You should be layering fabric pieces with the denim fabric on top.
Cut them into strips or use as is in one piece, If you do not want the fraying in the joints. Sew them together -here the seam is joined by keeping the fabric layers, wrong sides together. The seam edge should appear to the front of the fabric.
Join them one by one. Cut the shape (you can totally change the shape, I totally agree if you cannot see the appeal in an egg. Use shapes that you like. Silhouette pictures work well). Sew a line of stitching 1/2 inch inside the edge of the shape.
This is how it will look on the back of the patch.
Turn to the front of the denim patch, Clip the edges every half inch, on all the cut edges.
When combined with layers of fabric, the fuzzy edge you get is really, really nice. I do not think that my photographic skills do justice to the patch (or the effort it took)
If I make it for all of us in the family, we will be a nice Easter egg family. But it took me half a day to fray the edge of this one patch, so I don’t know! And I don’t think I can convince my husband to help me with this. I am grateful for all the work he does around the house, like ironing, cleaning, and even occasional cooking (not without some grumbling). Getting him to sit and fray fabric edges will be testing the limit.
Here is how it looks after the fraying is done. Pin it to the clothing and sew in place along the outer edge, without sewing the frayed edges down.
Frayed and distressed denim patch
This is a very simple frayed patch, if you cannot afford to lose that half day at fraying. And it can be added to jeans, if not to T-shirts as I have done. When added to jeans, it makes a nice patchwork.
I have added a stenciled distressed look with paint and some masking tape stencils.
The hearts are tumbling down, overflowing from the patch.
Here is how to make this patch.
Cut out denim fabric scrap piece from your old jeans. Sew 1/4 or 1/2 inch from the outer edge, all along the edge.
After this, start fraying the edges.
Now, you need some acrylic or fabric paint and a sponge or sponge brush, and some masking tape.
Cut out small pieces of the tape. And mark and cut heart (or any shape) from the masking tape pieces. Press them on the material (A reverse painting effect is made using these stencil shapes)
After placing all the stencil shapes, apply paint on the fabric with the sponge brush.
Related post: Making stencils for fabric painting; Stencil painting tips
You just need to spread the paint without adding any water for that distressed look – it will look kind of patchy.
Slowly remove the small tape adhered to the fabric.
Round patch and fabric paint
This is how to make the normal circular-shaped patch.
First draw your design on paper. Use a tracing paper to trace it on to the denim fabric.
où is a word in French with the meaning ‘where’. Embroider the letters or the picture or use fabric paint to make your design.
Clip the edges of the patch material.
Turn the clipped edges to the back and sew in place.
This is how the patch will look on the back.
Sew this patch with a zig zag stitch along the edge. There is a downside to this patch – may be it is me, but I can never get it a perfect circle. The zig zag stitching makes this problem a non-issue.
This is how it looks on my t-shirt.
Floral patches
Denim fabric strips can be used to make a variety of fabric flowers. The easiest is again, the frayed flower. Just make 2 flowers and attach to a fabric piece to make a cutsie patch – like a cockade. It is more suited for feminine clothes or for kids clothing, I think – could be wrong.
You can cut long strips of denim and then tease out the horizontal threads to create a fringe effect. Cut the strips on the grain and pull the threads.
Afterward, you can wash the strips to achieve a further tussled look. As I said, the fraying part is time-consuming. And if the fringes are very long it ‘might’ get knotted if you try fraying it in the washing machine or something. Of course, you can also use a toothbrush or small comb to brush the fringes to straighten them out, but that is even more trouble. Actually a 1/4 inch frayed edge works out the best for these denim flowers.
Pocket patches
The final and easiest patch is a pocket cut out from your old jeans. They already have decoration – that top stitching with yellow thread and Arcuate stitching, the ornamental stitching seen on back pockets are enough.
Cut a little extra around, fold and sew on your clothing. Ta da – instant patch. There are better ways to decorate black t-shirts in this post.
