Hi everyone, it’s Louise here to talk about an adorable adaptation you can make to your sewing projects this summer!
Here at Tilly HQ we have been so inspired by some of the cute garments you can currently buy which include patches featuring almost anything you could think of. It seems that if you have an obsession – animals, TV shows, food – you can now find a patch to express that love!
When I saw this top from Paul and Joe I knew I had to recreate it using one of our patterns, and luckily I had the ideal pattern with the Frankie Tee from our book Stretch! Make Yourself Comfortable Sewing with Knit Fabrics. I found a gorgeous cat patch from Boho Haberdashery - which looks a lot like my own fur baby Maisie! - and I was ready to start this purrrfect project. Sadly the exact patch I picked is no longer available, but they have plenty of other cat patches on offer :)
I sewed up my Frankie Tee in a lovely soft stripey jersey (a present from my lovely sister) and adding the little kitty patch was super simple. I wanted to have my furry friend peeking out of a pocket just like my inspiration tee, so I pinched the patch pocket from our Coco pattern, added this to the right side of my Frankie tee (using a contrasting direction for the stripes because who doesn’t love that detail!) before popping in the patch.
The patch has iron-on adhesive on the reverse so fixing it to your garment is a breeze - a quick press and you are good to go. I also added a few hand stitches around the edge to be doubly sure that this little cat wasn’t going anywhere.
Top tip: if you find the patch of your dreams but it doesn’t have iron-on backing you can use a few strips of bondaweb for the same effect. I would recommend hand washing your garment after adding a patch to make sure it stays beautiful for as long as possible.
This lemon loveliness was found at Cherry Haberdashery which has a incredible array of patches to choose from.
I love these sassy sunnies from Punky Pins! Don't they look stunning paired with our Stardust Sweater Knit?
This little Caticone - also from Punky Pins - really pops on our Snuggles Sweatshirt Fleece in aqua.
And if you want to join our Secret Pyjamas Squad why not add one our limited edition patches to your most recent make?
I hope you’ve enjoyed this fun project today. I’d love to hear what funky patches you would add to your own makes. If you make your own Frankie Tee, please do share it with us on Instagram @tillybuttons #SewingFrankie #StretchSewingBook.
Oh, and Maisie sends her love!