the fine art of cover-up

Cute little shirt, right?  It was Lizi's, and now Lydia's.  See the little sea life beads?  What you can't see is that under about 2/3 of those beads are little ink marks that would not come out.  The shirt was practically new at the time, and I was not willing to get rid of it.  Enter cute beads, stitched over the marks, and a few extra to make it sort of symmetrical.  The beads became their favorite part of this shirt.

These are little sew-on and iron-on patches, and some cute vintage lace flowers.  I snatch these things up when I find them on sale.  One of those black lace patches was perfect for a frayed spot on a dress I once had.

The reason I'm talking about this today is that, considering the state of our economy right now, it would be handy to learn some tricks to make our clothes last longer.  Sometimes an otherwise good garment will have a little issue - a stain, a hole, a weak spot.  Even if it can't be fixed, with a little imagination it might be able to be covered and made even better than new!

Here are some links to free applique patterns which could be used in this way:

SWEET applique patterns from my friend Samantha (I'm dying to try the "Gracie" purse);

Good basic designs from FreeApplique.com;

Or look in your children's coloring books!

Here's an article on this very subject.

Let's get creative, folks - we'll get through this!  Remember my love of WWII posters: