I love the patches that have graced the elbows of jumpers and cardigans around the world for the past season, but have never actually bought anything with elbow patches. When I saw this DIY by A Beautiful Mess on Pinterest, I knew I had to give it a try!
I had a cardigan I wanted to use, and some spare fabric from a vintage skirt I hemmed, so I sat down in front of the film Notting Hill and added some cute floral heart patches to my cardigan. Here’s how:
1. Put on the cardigan or jumper (sweater) and mark the elbow location on each arm with a marker.
2. Remove the cardigan and cut a paper heart to the size you would like:
3. Fold the heart in half and pin to the edge of a folded piece of fabric (this ensures you get an even heart shape). Cut the heart from the fabric, and repeat so you have two fabric hearts:
4. Place the hearts over the mark you made on each elbow, ensuring they are centred on the sleeve, and pin securely.
5. Hand stitch the hearts to the cardigan. This bit is kinda tricky because you’re working with a sleeve that is quite narrow. I rolled up the sleeve as far as I could, which made the process a little easier…but just be patient, and don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect – it’s supposed to look a bit home-made:
You could do this with any shape, not just hearts, and you could play around with various fabrics. Corduroy, leather or lace would all look cute too!
