Extending the Life of Kids' Clothing

 

I pulled my daughter's jeans out of the dryer the other day and noticed one of the knees had worn clear through and the other was close to doing the same.  She had worn them last season and I had purchased them in a garage sale so they have had lots of use, but I figured I could try and make them last through the winter or until she grew another inch or so.  I saw a few ideas on pinterest on creating fun knee patches so I thought I would give a try.

 

 

Before: Not long before both knees were worn through.

 

I took out some scrap fabric that I had that had some colors in it that I knew my daughter wore frequently and some heat n bond ultrahold.  

 

Next, I took my template, which in this case was a heart and cut it out of the fabric.

 

Finally, I used the heat n bond on the back of the heart, and ironed it to her jeans for the finished look.  I also took a pink thread and stitched around the heart to help it last longer, but it isn't pictured. I'm hoping it will make the patches stay on longer.  I sewed that part by hand.

 

My daughter was pretty excited to see she had hearts on her knees.  Looks like they were a winner in her eyes and will still get worn.  :)

 

What fun ways do you try and get more life out of your kids' clothing?