I love mending. There is something so soothing about working with your hands to fix something, and in most cases, make it more beautiful or fun! I’ve shared a few kid’s mending tutorials over the past year but now I’m bundling them and adding some exclusive content in “Make It Last: tutorials for mending holes + stains: kid’s clothes edition”, a PDF e-book you can find in my shop!
This e-book is designed with beginners in mind, with full photo tutorials for each method and patch.
Pin this e-book for later with this link or collage image:
What’s in the book (content that is available in blog post format is linked, the rest is exclusive to the e-book):
- General mending tips for any method
- 6 simple, small outline shape templates (moon, star, heart, skull, bee, bunny) & photo tutorials for how to use them for fabric paint stenciling and/or DIY stamp making.
- 10 applique design templates, 7 of which are exclusive to this e-book (Panda face, cat face, skull, shark, beetle, dinosaur, rainbow, flower, bunny face, heart/oval/star) & tutorials for how to use them for reverse applique & raw-edge applique. These appliques are one-size and all suited for knee patches in approximately size 4T-10 size, you can enlarge or reduce while printing as needed.
- Additional photo tutorials & methods for how to use hand embroidery to mend, how to use freezer paper and fabric paint to stencil and cover a stain, and how to carve a DIY stamp and fabric ink to cover a stain.
Even though mending tutorials are not my most popular content, seeing people use them gives me the most joy! I hope to inspire second life for old and busted clothes. Please feel free to leave a comment with any questions about the book you have!
Supplies used in the book:
Hand Embroidery method:
- Embroidery floss – DMC (Amazon – Etsy ) or Sulky Cotton petites (Sulky.com – Amazon – Etsy)
- Hand sewing needle – my favorites
- Embroidery hoop – (Amazon – Etsy )
- Pencil
- Wash away stabilizer- I used (Amazon – Etsy )
DIY Stamp method:
- Pencil
- Small white erasers
- Craft knife (Amazon ) or lino block cutter (Amazon or Etsy)
- Fabric ink (Amazon, large Amazon,small or Etsy)
- Iron
DIY Stencil method:
- Freezer paper (sheets or roll)
- Small, micro-tip scissors (Amazon – Etsy )
- Fabric paint + brush (Amazon)
- Iron
Reverse Applique method:
- Freezer paper (sheets or roll)
- Coordinating fabric scrap
- Small, micro-tip scissors (Amazon – Etsy )
- Iron + sewing machine
Applique method: