Stained Clothes? Appliques to the Rescue!

on December 11, 2008 at 7:00 AM

Photo from Sequin Appliques

What do you do with clothes that have been stained beyond repair? Sometimes I turn them turn into cleaning rags. But what if it was your favorite shirt. Or worse -- your child's favorite outfit? Everything -- from spit up to grass and food stains -- can be covered up with an applique. And you can even have some fun when doing it.

Just ask CafeMom LaylaBeth. Let's call her Applique-Mommy...and she's tackled her daughter's stained clothes and is going to get started on some of her own.

LaylaBeth's Journal, The Great Applique Project of '08, made me realize that not only can we use appliques and iron-ons to give clothes personality, but it's the perfect stain cover-upper!

She came to the end of her rope the other day when a stain "appeared" on her daughter's cutest little jumper-dress.

She writes: "Once tears formed in my eyes, I realized two things. First, I was PMS-ing something fierce! Second, that something had to be done about this, because I was tired of her clothes being ruined."

Photo from Sequin Appliques

She got the bright idea to either sew or iron-on little appliques anywhere where there were stains. Her daughter picked out some colorful butterfly appliques and sewing one on took ten minutes!

Feeling crafty and want to make your own? Check out Etsy Labs' informative tutorial on how to make and apply appliques.

Or you can buy some ready made appliques, like the ones seen here, on SequinAppliques.com.

What creative things have you done to cover up stains?

About the author Michele Zipp

loves vintage and will defend skinny jeans to the death though she is highly superstitious and "death" is probably a bad word choice. She has a touch of the hoarding disease and enjoys sleuthing, the worst reality shows, and wearing high heels, even at the playground. She's an AP mom of twins, slightly crunchy but with a pedicure.