Knee Patches for Girls!

Sometimes my mama-plans backfire on me.  I purchased several pairs of jeans for my first grade daughter last fall.  My mama-brain told me to buy the larger size so they would last the entire school year.  Here we are in February, 6 months after purchasing the jeans and they are just now starting to fit her!  And of course she has 3 pairs with holes in the knees!  In 3 months my daughter will only want to wear capris and skirts to school.  After that, it's shorts and bathing suits all summer.  In an effort to avoid buying new jeans, I decided it was time for some patchwork magic.

I posted about the painted patches
I made for my son's jeans HERE.

 Like I did with my son's jeans, I used an iron-on denim patch to cover the hole.  I've never had any luck with the iron-on patches staying in place without some extra stitching to secure them down.  I find it easiest to open up the side seam near the hole so I can machine sew the patch.  I find little kids' pant legs just too narrow to maneuver through my sewing machine so I make the opening in the side seam large enough to slide over my sewing machine base.  Here's what the first set of patches looked like: 

After securing the patch, I used a stencil and an Sharpie marker
to trace the butterfly over the patch.  I used some acrylic craft
paint to fill in the stencil, and then touched up the edges with
Sharpie once again.  You see from the photo that the paint has
a glittery shimmer.  I think it's very girly!  This photo was taken
after one machine washing.  The paint and marker hold up really well.

And here's what the second pair of patches looked like:

Using the same method, this time I used 3 various shaped stars.
I didn't have patches to match the color of the jeans.  By extending
the stenciled designs beyond the edges of the actual patch, your
eye first picks up the stars and butterflies and not the patches.

 I haven't started the 3rd pair yet, but have plans for some pink bows on the knees of those.

How about you all?  What's your experience with iron-on patches?  How much mending of clothes do you do?  Would you send your kid to school with patched jeans?

Happy crafting and big hugs from Montana,

Before you click away, I'd like to invite you to join in my current sewing/craft challenge.