A pretty patch
The Guardian says that mending clothing is making a comeback. They credit the return to these old skills as due to the recession... but just like the rest of the DIY movement I think it has to do with more than that, there is comfort to well-loved clothes, joy in making an item unique, and challenge to solving the problem of time and wear, and how fast fashion mean if you find something you love, you may never be able to find it again. . . Plus fixing and personalizing store-bought things is a gateway to making from scratch. A great way to develop skills on items you'd otherwise throw away!
This skirt is one I really like, but its got a hole near the hem. Sadly I didn't take a "before" picture. I didn't want it to look patched so I decided to make the patch look like an intentional design element by adding felt flowers over the patch. I went for black on black because I wanted it to be a very subtle touch. I admit I cheated on this one, it would have been easy to cut out some felt flowers but I found some I liked on etsy so I used those.
First I cut a felt circle big enough to cover the holes
Sewing on the felt circle, using the applique stitch which really hides edges and works great on worn fabric, if you have a sewing machine with this stitch, it looks like this (stitch 29 on my machine):
No machine? It is an simple stitch to learn by hand. Here is a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s574YcWRG2k
Once the felt patch was in place I sewed the flowers on using a few stitches in the middle of each.
I wish I had a picture on hand in natural light with the full skirt in view but here is the close-up: