DIY tutorial: patches + thermals = year-round garment.

Let's make a scene.

I know that thermals have a bad rep. My mum, for example, exclaims in either bafflement or disgust when I mention or wear such garments visibly, because she associates them with "granny-wear" so strongly. Luckily for the environment of course, granny-wear is in just now, so maybe it wont be so hard to persuade yourself that thermals, really, aren't that bad. But if you need a helping hand, or indeed if you don't, it's surely better, better than taking what you're given and walking amongst the crowd no question, to personalise? To your high and considered tastes?

Patches: You Can Do It (Yourself)!

A while back, I was reading the archives of Bronze Age of Blogs (well worth a visit, he showcases some good stuff there) and came across this post. Whereupon I thought to myself: cor blimey! Those are fantastic. And they are, because they are ABSURD. It's glorious.

I decided that they would be perfect shirt-graphics, and that I must prove it. So I took my two favourite (from two of my favourite series; Tomb of Dracula and Werewolf By Night (buy them)), and printed them onto iron-on transfer paper.

You should pick your own image, of course! Something that suits you, something that speaks to you, something that doesn't infringe copyright. You really, really should by Essential Tomb of Dracula and Essential Werewolf By Night, available from any good bookstore but preferably ordered from your local indie comic shop (failing that, your local indie bookshop). Not because I'm pinching the images here, but because they're really GOOD. Dracula epecially, Werewolf's more of a romp. Tomb of Dracula is a smart read, spooky, and ultimately a pretty fine character study.

So we come to the physical part! Once you've printed your image, you need to iron it onto something. You could, of course, iron it straight onto an undershirt. But let's be honest, a lot of the time straight iron-on stuff doesn't look so good. My reason was actually that the vests I ordered were fully synthetic and I wasn't sure if I SHOULD iron them. I cut an old, ill fitting best in half and ironed onto that. This will also solve your problem if your undershirt isn't white.

I accidentally printed them backwards first time and had to re-do it. Don't worry! That turned out to be a boon. Wait and see! From here, you're gonna need the following:

Scissors and a snack

Felt in colours co-ordinating to your image

Your vest or undershirt and another snack

Thread (and a needle), or glue if you have poor vision or low levels of finger control!

You may also want pins, but after the first try I found it easier not to use them. They were a detriment, to be honest.

Cut out your image, and lay it on your felt.

Thread your needle, and sew that image into that felt! Hurrah! If you're lucky (like I was) your picture'll have a line near the edge to follow. If not, just sew around, about half a centimetre in from the outer perimeter of your transfer. Or, like I said, Just glue it on.

Cut the felt with a half-centimetre or so showing. BUT before you do, decide on a motif you can add to your shape that echoes the subject of your graphic. The two above are pretty obvious, right?

Perfect!

Apply to shirt! If you need help placing it, put the shirt on and use pins to hold in in place. Take it off, adjust, and sew (or glue) on. It doesn't matter a bit if you do it by hand or machine. I prefer by hand, just because I like sewing. Backstitch is satisfying.

And.. there you go. Finished. Perfect. Now you've got a garment that's not only snug for winter or the blustery autumn days, but also looks fantastic and personal for the cooler days.

(Oh, by the way: the backwards-printed failure transfers? I'm gonna patch them up the same, and sew'em on the backs of these two vests. like I'm a stick of rock and the image goes right through! I feel that this is a most satisfying answer to a problematic question.)