QUICK GUIDE ON DIFFERENT WAYS IVE MADE PATCHES
For paint id reccomend acrylic paint or screenprinting ink if you’re commited.
You can freehand your patches by painting with a tiny, *slightly* damp brush - for that its nice to sketch out your design first, either on a piece of paper or with chalk. This is the most accessible method and the easiest to start out with.
You can make sticky paper stencils (Rattus Rattus has a great youtube video on this, i think its called “all about my stencils” or something like that). This is good for very clean lines, and you can use the stencils a few times before they break. (Ive tried this with sticker paper and it didn’t rly work, the glue stuck too well, the paper ripped and i couldn’t get it out)
You can make masking tape stencils where you print/draw your design on a piece of paper, cover it in two layers of masking tape, one on each side, cut it out with an exacto knife (if you have an access to a scalpel you can put in your exacto knife handle i would reccomend it, it makes cutting tape take less if a toll on your wrist), tape it to your fabric and layer your paint/ink with a makeup sponge until you like the coverage and peel it off whenever you want to. This is my favourite method bc it’s the cheapest, quickest way to make stencils and the edges are 85% clean and you can reuse the stencils many many many times.
You can tape your fabric to a computer screen and trace (this works best with dark on light fabric). This is best for exact logos, faces and very quick patches and is good for when you only have access to freehanding but have limited artistic abilities. Be careful to not get paint on your screen tho.
You can make or buy stamps, you can embroider them or you can make them out of beading, you can use stencils and bleach, the sky is the limit.
For fabric, if you want to buy, i recommend the cheapest non-stretch polyester because its flat and acrylic paint behaves the best on it, but if you want to be thrifty you can repurpose old jeans or shirts - if you don’t like the colour of your fabric just paint it a solid layer of black first.
For sewing i would recommend googling a whip stitch tutorial, it’s really simple. Some people use thread, some use dental floss - there isn’t a correct way to do it (tho some people think it is, but these people are missing the point of why punks used dental floss in the first place which is bc it was cheap - using thread you already own is cheaper than buying dental floss just for the sake of being “correct”). Make sure you don’t sew two sides of your garment together, to prevent that i always stick one hand inside but thats for when you trust your motor abilities and that you won’t poke yourself, ive seen people hard objects like bottles or jars inside sleeves and pants. Just find whatever works for you. Also if you are sewing through tough fabric like thick jeans, work clothes or leather please get a fimble, it’ll make your life easier. If you’re sewing through something even harder like a hat or shoes i recommend using pliers to push your needle through.
When you wash your patched up garments in the washing machine just turn them inside out to minimise chipping, like you would with a graphic T-Shirt.
That’s all i could think of! Have fun and if you have any followup questions feel free to ask :))
