Quick Embellishments for Kids Clothing
Whether your child has ruined the knees of a good pair of pants, has outgrown a dress, or there’s some fraying beginning to show at the edge of a pocket, you can make the garment look brand new – and different. All you need are a few inexpensive items from a notions department and you can give your child an entirely different wardrobe.
Stains on tee shirts? Don’t toss them; save them by painting the shirt with fabric paints. Depending upon how bad the stains are, and where they’re located on the garment, you can use fabric paints to cover them. For large stains use a coloring book page and carbon paper to make the design. Lay the carbon paper on the shirt and place the coloring page on top. Outline the design and it will transfer to the shirt. Use fabric paints or permanent markers to paint.
If there’s just a stain or two, and they’re small, choose a set of little appliques to cover and decorate. Cover the stains with the appliques then add the appliques to other areas of the garment to make it look like the garment was made that way. Appliques are great for covering a tear in a garment, too.
If your child has ruined a good pair of pants, at the knees, there’s simply no repairing that. But, you can cut the pants off, above the knee, and hem to make shorts. Add an applique just above the hem on one leg for a cute new design. If the pants have a matching shirt add a coordinating applique to the pocket area of the shirt as well. If the shirt was originally long-sleeved cut the sleeves and hem to make a short-sleeve shirt.
There are lots of cute ways to make an old dress look new and different. Add a ruffle or lace piece to the hem, add decorative pockets to the front of a skirt or dress, or outline the neckline with new lace and ribbon. You can also change the buttons and replace with decorative ones or use fabric glue to attach strands of beads to pockets. Combine the techniques to make a completely different garment.
Use small stuffed animals to embellish a pocket on a shirt or dress. Cut a small slit in the back of the animal and remove most of the stuffing. Use fabric glue or stitches to close the opening. Tuck the animal into a pocket and glue or stitch in place. Instead of a stuffed animal you can spruce up a dress by folding a colorful piece of fabric and securing it into a pocket.
If girls have dresses that are too short, but fit them fine elsewhere, try sewing a ruffle or piece of lace to the hem. Or just cut the hem, plus a few extra inches, out of an old garment and sew it on to the hem of the garment you’re changing.
For boys’ clothing try squares of flannel, sewn in ruined places on the garment, metallic conchos, leather sinew to go around pockets or hems, and different buttons. You can also purchase cloth that has a cartoon character on it, cut the images out, and stitch or glue them onto a shirt or coat.
There are lots of ways to hide stains, cover threadbare areas, and further extend your child’s wardrobe. You’ll get more ideas when you visit today’s fabric and notion stores which are crammed with interesting ideas and unusual techniques.
