sewing Valentines Day crafts

First steps in customising clothing

liberty heart-shaped patch

I mentioned the other day how I really want to try some dress making. I have started with some simple steps in customising clothing – baby steps first! What would an English Paper Piecing obsessed mother make for her daughter? Yes, EPP hearts for Valentine’s Day.

Simple Liberty heart-shaped patch

I found a super sweet tutorial from Wild Olive for simple heart-themed English paper piecing. Baste two jewel shapes, then stitch them together to form a heart. You can then adorn anything you like from hand towels to clothing.

I found some gorgeous Liberty scraps in my stash just waiting for the perfect project.

Liberty patchwork heart

I made up 4 jewels, ironed them and stitched two together to form the heart.

Liberty scrap heart

Then I positioned them just over the elbow on my daughter’s long-sleeved top, removed the paper templates and basting stitches, and hand sewed them with some white embroidery thread.

Liberty fabric scrap heart

My daughter loves them and I think they are a lovely addition to her clothes for 30 minutes work. She adores cloth patches so I’m thinking I can make some more for the knees of her jeans too!

Liberty fabric scrap heart

What do you think of customised clothing? Have you ever made clothes or customised anything?

4 Comments

  • Reply
    mollie
    February 9, 2015 at 4:49 am

    Your heart adornments look great! I’m so glad that you decided to put the design to use in a new and fun way. And who can resist Liberty?

  • Reply
    iHanna
    February 13, 2015 at 9:04 am

    So cute! I love hearts, so anything with a heart on wins me over at once.

    Happy stitching!

  • Reply
    The Fairy & The Frog (@frog_fairy)
    February 15, 2015 at 8:02 pm

    Sweet heart – love the material you’ve chosen

  • Reply
    Things To Make With Fabric Scraps - Crafts on Sea
    January 9, 2019 at 8:19 pm

    […] Why not use some fabric scraps to customise your clothing? […]

  • Leave a Reply