Mending a torn comforter with appliques

In December, I wrote a post about this comforter from Target that had developed a few snags in it. I covered one of the snags with this applique:

bird applique

… and then I set it aside and did nothing about the other snags until summer came. On this snag —

patching/mending a torn comforter with applique

— I sewed a four-point star sewn from four kite-shaped pieces.

patching/mending a torn comforter with applique

I sewed it to the comforter using clear monofilament thread, which looks a bit like fishing line. Because it’s clear, all that showed up on the backside was the puffy shape of the star, with no colored outline:patching/mending a torn comforter with applique

I moved on to the next tear:
patching/mending a torn comforter with applique

Since the tear is on both sides of the seam, I decided to make a symmetrical appliqué that I could fold in half. I chose a circle, which I cut with pinking shears and secured with one of the elaborate zigzag-type stitches programmed into my sewing machine. Here’s one side:patching/mending a torn comforter with applique

And the other:patching/mending a torn comforter with applique

And here’s the blanket, with all the runs covered:patching/mending a torn comforter with appliqueAs always, I made my appliqués using scraps from previous projects. I used three very different appliqués because I was just goofing around. But you can make your own blanket repairs reflect a unified design by using appliqués on a theme: all stars, all geometric shapes, all birds and nature shapes, and so forth. That way, the appliqués will become an improvement on the original comforter – not just something to cover up holes!

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