I'm baaaaaaack!

After nearly a year off I'm finally back in the saddle. I wish that there was a better excuse for my long, long absence, like writing a book or climbing Mount Everest or something. Instead, this is what happened: life. I got got distracted from crafting and writing, which ended up meeting I got incredibly distracted from writing online about crafting. Then I realized how much I missed both of those things and knew that I had to revive this blog. I'm still tight on time, though, so I'm going to try to experiment with different kinds of features. I really want to focus on using the phenomenal talent all around me by bringing on guest bloggers, profiling local fashionable ladies and spotting some hot Albany street style.


One of the reasons I really wanted to get back in action was to share a project that I've been patting myself on the back about for a week or so. It's a redo that cost pennies and saved one of my favorite pieces of clothing. I've been sporting the same denim jacket since I was thirteen, which was, um, let's just say many years ago. Recently, a spot just under the collar crossed over from been broken in to being just plain broken. As the hole grew bigger I almost resolved myself to giving it up entirely until inspiration struck: why not make something beautiful out of this mess?

You'll need some computer paper, an old, holey garment to repair along with your typical mending stuff: a needle, thread, scissors and some fabric. Pro tip on your fabric selection: if that section of craft store is the stuff of nightmares for you, as it is for me, then the remnants section is your friend. For projects you don't even need a whole yard. Also, remnants frequently go on sale, so I ended up getting this pretty yellow chevron fabric for a little over a dollar.
After patching up the hole in the back (which you can see at the top of the picture) I decided to add some elbow patches to give the whole thing a new look. To do this, I first made a pattern out of computer paper, kindergartner-making-Valentines-style. It may take you a couple of tries to get a workable shape, as you can see from my attempts below. The bottom one, with rounder, more exagerated shapes ended up working the best.

When you're happy with what you have, pin the shape firmly to your fabric and cut around it. Repeat this twice and then clean up your hearts, since they'll probably have at least one wacky edge.
Now put on the garment you're working with and determine where your elbows fall. Mark this point on one elbow and use a ruler to measure the same spot on the other. Now you can pin your hearts so they're centered over this spot and begin sewing. Two notes on this step: I used navy thread to match the jacket but it would also look cute with a contrasting color. I hand sewed the patches and really like how they look, but machine sewing would definitely save time and produce a more polished look.
This DIY was so easy that I'm really fighting the urge to see patches onto EVERYTHING. You could use just about any fabric out there- cotton, leather and tweed are all good options, and reclaimed vintage fabrics would look amazing. The sky's the limit here, which makes it the best kind of DIY.