There are 2 baby girls I need gifts for. I had bought a pack of these onesies (That baby head peeking out there freaks me out!) and they have been sitting around for, I don't know, about 3 months. Seriously. I was going to do some freezer paper stenciling on them, but the paint and x-acto knife seemed too hard with the girls running around during the day. . .so I just did nothing.
Then, yesterday, I kept thinking about how I really did need to make something, pronto, and made these fabric patches, and they worked like a charm! I had everything on hand and just went for it. It took about 15 minutes total, for all 4. Now I want to put these little homemade patches on everything.
Here's what I did:
1. Used Heat N Bond Light to make the fabric patch. It's like a double-sided light glue for fabric.The directions are easy. Then cut out the patch shape and ironed it on to the onesie. Using the "Light" Heat n Bond is key here because the fabric retains it's soft hand and it's machine washable.
2. Then, I machine stitched around the edges. The Heat n Bond should be thought of as a very light glue the stitching is what keeps it there, the bond keeps it from stretching and shifting as you sew. So, when you stitch, you have to go around all the edges.
3. Looked at them, got all happy, and ate a piece of cake.
Normally, I shun this kind of applique with glue thing, but you can't really stitch the patch on without it, and with this method the onesie stays soft on the inside against baby's skin. You could use a jersey interfacing on the inside instead of the bond product on the outside, but I think the extra layer would be too scratchy for baby.
This is one of those projects that I have seen before-in shops, online, and I even got a sweet onesie as a gift with a fabric patch on it for Delia years ago, but I always forgot to try it myself and I am sooooooo glad I did. As if I didn't have a reason to save all the sweet fabric scraps before. . .these fabrics are almost all superbuzzy fabrics, BTW and I think one from reprodepot. I think this would be so cute on kids shirts and well, you name it. If I do hear of any issues with multiple washing, I will report back. But I think, with the stitching, we are all good.