Valentine Elbow Patches

 Hello Readers. I wanted to jazz up this striped sweater and Valentine's Day is the perfect time. Bright pink elbow patches sounded like an easy and fun project to me.

 Heart shaped elbow patches.

 

I have had this cotton sweater for quite a while and I love the cheerful colors. Any sweater would work for this idea. Just grab one from your closet. The pink stripes on the sweater gave me an idea. 

I had some pink some scrap fabric. This pink T-shirt sleeve would work well to decorate my striped sweater. 

I cut out heart shapes from fusible interfacing and ironed it onto the pink fabric. The pink fabric is very soft and the edges would curl under making it difficult to work with. The interfacing makes the pink fabric a little thicker and stiffer. I am going to sew these hearts on my sweater and this will make it easier to do that. You might not need to use interfacing if you make hearts out of thicker fabric. If you use interfacing, follow the directions on the package.

 

I cut out my hearts and made sure they were the same size. I wanted them to be identical. I was ready to start hand sewing them onto the elbows of my sweater. 

 

 

Hand sewing is not my favorite thing to do but it's not hard and you have a lot of control when you sew by hand. I wanted a decorative stitch made of embroidery floss but you could just sew them on with tiny stitches and regular thread. Do what ever works for you. 

My sweater was ready to go shopping for Valentines. It is almost February 14th. Go get a card and a box of chocolates for your special someone or even yourself ASAP!

I liked how the blanket stitch looked. It had a hand-made, home-spun look. But remember you can use any kind of stitching you like. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.  

*Year End Note From Chickie- These heart shaped elbow patches are a little cutsie but I love them very much. This gets a lot of wear.

Valentine Elbow Patches

 Hello Readers. We are in the middle of a series of snow days where I live. It is cold and snowy. I have the perfect sweater for cold weather. And I added some heart shaped elbow pads for a touch Valentine's Day.

 This sweater came all the way from Ireland. Did I go to Ireland and buy a sweater? No. I found this sweater at a clothes swap with the tags still attached. It was brand new! I think someone got a souvenir that they did not want.

 I found a similar sweater online for a price comparison. $279??? I knew they were pricey but I didn't know just how pricey. 

 

 This sweater was a bit big. I think it would have fit my husband. It was sort of square like a men's sweater too.

I decided to wash it. That's right. I washed a wool sweater. I thought it would shrink and fit better. It was risky but I like to live wild! I dried it on low too.

 

 The sweater shrank several inches in length but it did not shrink in width. I was still pleased because I didn't have to try to shorten the sweater. I used a zigzag stitch to make new side seams. I wanted it to fit better but still be roomy enough to wear over other shirts. This is wool so it can be a little scratchy. It is also as warm as a jacket. Next, I wanted to dress it up. 

I used a couple of these embroidered fabric pieces.  There were a couple that were off-white and looked nice with this off-white sweater. I used a zigzag stitch to make 2 heart shaped "patches" that I could attach to the sweater.

 Here is a good look at the hearts. I hand sewed the hearts to the sleeves as elbow patches. The hearts are a little different from each other but I liked them on the elbows of my cozy new sweater. Making them heart shaped helped unify them. Hearts work for Valentine's Day and all winter too.

 

 The sweater fit better but it was just as warm as it could be.

 

We went out walking to enjoy the beautiful snow before it melted.

  

It was a beautiful heavy snow. It was like cotton candy.

 Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Chickie's Year End Review-This sweater is still beloved. It is SO warm I can't wear it unless it is very cold. I will save it forever and wear it every winter.