[MAKE THIS ]
Sweater: Briar sweater sewing pattern + FREE elbow patch pattern + leather patches tutorial
You may have noticed that i really love leather patches – i especially love adding leather patches to my Briar’s (i actually now have 4 Briar‘s with leather patches! obsession!). And does anyone remember Buddy’s adorable leather patch jeans from last year? (swoon! that kid is cute hehehe).
I’ve been seeing a lot of people getting really creative with adding leather to their Briar’s, which is just awesome! I get so excited. I’ve shown you how to sew them a few times, (shoulder patch tutorial here, elbow patch tutorial here), but I know a lot of you felt lost as to how to wash them when you’re done. Which is totally fair enough – it can seem scary the first time! But never fear, today i’m going to tell you how i do it! yay!
Would you pleased to know that it’s actually really easy? I looooove easy :)
I treat my clothing with leather patches the same way as i would treat any other delicate fabric – i handwash using this process. I recommend you re-read that post – but the basic gist is, use a delicate wash (i recommend delicare and eucalyptus wash), hand wash in tepid water, rinse and roll up in a towel to remove the water.
After i’m done and the garment is laid flat, i then check whether the patches are aligned correctly and make sure they haven’t warped or shrunk in the process. Sometimes if i need to i’ll reshape the leather patch whilst it’s wet bring it back to it’s original shape. If i’m worried i’ll come back a few times while its drying to check that the leather patches are still okay – but to be honest, i’ve never had to reshape them again, that first time does the charm for me.
After the garment is dry we’re good to go! The leather patches may feel a little stiff, but they’ll soften up with wear. You can iron the inside of the garment gently to soften them up if you like.
Never hang a garment with leather pockets to dry. Always flat. Always flat. Just speaking from experience. I tried to hang my leather pocket Briars to dry a few times, and it was awful – the weight of the leather hung forward, and gave the pockets a weird shape. So i’d stick to the method i share above :)
Also, never ever tumble dry leather. If you do i will yell at you, ok? That’s probably about one of the quickest ways to ruin those lovely patches and any clothing you attached them to. So hands off that dryer people!
And very last don’t – stay away from harsh laundry chemicals. I avoid sprays, bleach and even my regular laundry detergent and softners. Just stick to a delicate wash
I hope that helps! I’m not an expert, but this method has worked really well for me and my leather patches still look excellent. If you have any questions or tips to add – let me know in the comments!
Meg XOXO
