Home » Craft » Tutorials » Shirt Repair with Fleece

Shirt Repair with Fleece

Johnny shows off his repaired shirt

A couple months ago, Lily found a pair of scissors and took them to Johnny’s shirt – while he was wearing it. It was one of his favorites, too – a Nessie t-shirt from some Scottish friends. To add insult to injury, I’m pretty sure the scissors belonged to Johnny. He was distraught. I was grateful only the shirt got damaged.

We looked through my fabric stash and found this little hippo as part of a scene in a fleece remnant. He didn’t quite match the shirt, but Johnny loved him, and I figured that was what mattered.

I stitched him on by hand, and we have one happy boy! The patch has stayed on, too – the above photo is after at least two washings. I finally got the shirt clean, if not his face… A skirt of Emma’s has a fleece star sewn on to repair a hole, and that star has stayed put now for over a year!

I’m pleased to say that Johnny has been much more careful about putting his scissors away lately!

MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.

11 thoughts on “Shirt Repair with Fleece”

  1. Just yesterday I was about to throw out a stained garment with a medium sized appliqued lady bug on it. I think I’ll cut out the lady bug for just such a mishap! :-)

  2. Oh can I relate to this.
    I have a stash of clothing sitting on my sewing machine that needs to be creatively repaired due to scissors and permanent markers escapades.
    My son always has a hole just on one knee on otherwise perfectly new looking slacks and jeans? Any cool ideas for fixing those?

    This hippo is so cute!
    I cut out pictures and emblems form old Tees to use for purpose like this. But my about to be 7yr old doesn’t go for cute critter like these anymore. He’s a cars guy.
    I just hope to find the time to sit down to do all the repairs, before the kids grow out of their clothes. :)

    Hope you are doing well!

    1. My mom used to repair holes like the ones you describe in your son’s slacks and jeans by putting a matching or contrasting fabric UNDERNEATH the hole and stitching around it in a zigzag stitch. I thought it was a neat effect, and a bit more subtle than a patch on top of the fabric!

  3. Wow, Lily is a capable young lady. I don’t think Anna would be able to operate scissors at Lily’s age. Lily definitely learns from older siblings… and teaches them a couple of lessons too.

  4. Princess never learns from any of her scissor adventures…. I like the patch it’s very cute. So far my kids have mostly outgrown rather than worn out clothes.

Comments are closed.

Scroll to Top