Saturday, November 26, 2011

Personalizing a Freebie

My husband works in marketing, so companies are always sending free promo items. Without fail, they have their logo plastered across the front. Sometimes, the product is of no use to us or not worth personalizing. Other times, it is great aside from that logo. This hat is one of those items.


I sometimes...ok always have to fight with the little boy to get him to wear a winter hat. Lately, he's been agreeing to this grey one. I really love the style, but I'm not fond of the logo. I decided to change it out. I let Bean pick a new patch. I know this may come as a shock, but my little boy chose a...dump truck!

First, I used my seam ripper to take the old patch off. I actually could have stopped at just a plain hat. The patch was sticky on the back, but it didn't leave any residue on the hat (which I had expected). But part of this project was motivating Bean to wear his winter hat. Having a snazzy dump truck on it works in my favor.


Next, I followed the directions on the patch. Imagine that. I ironed it on. I used an old t-shirt scrap between the iron and the hat. Be careful here because these hats like to stretch. Learn from my mistake, and be sure that you don't stretch it before putting the hot iron on top. It won't shrink back if it gets ironed. Anyway, I followed the directions, ironing front and back. It didn't want to stick totally though. I'm sure it's because of the hat material, not my lack of ironing skill...well, maybe my lack of ironing skill. As a backup, I made a few stitches on the top and bottom with a needle and thread. I found my white thread and, oddly, had a construction yellow colored bobbin.


I am so pleased with the result. Bean loves it, too. Proof is in the pictures! He's got it on! This would be so easy to do on lots of things. For an older kid or an adult, I wouldn't even bother with permanently attaching the patch. I would hot glue a pin back on it instead. Then you can change it out according to outfit, current likes, trends, whatever. DIY and personalizing doesn't have to be hard or require lots of specialized tools. Sometimes, it just takes a 3-year-old refusing to wear his hat.

  

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