How to make patches with an embroidery machine

Creating clean, well-defined embroidered patches almost always requires professional equipment. Quality fabrics and laser or fusion cutters are important parts of patches made by professional machines, but it gets very expensive if you only want to make a few patches for special projects or other occasions.

 

Using your home kits is a much cheaper option that only requires a few simple steps and a little preparation.

 

Since the blank patches are pre-cut with a decorated border, no cutting is required. Using your own fabric works just like embroidering any material but you will need to sew a decorated border around your center image and you will need to be very careful when cutting off excess fabric beyond the border.

 

If a rustic or primitive border suits your design and the purpose of the patch, a little excess around it might work. If you use the right colors, a bit of camouflage can also go well with excess fabric. For a patch with exact edges, laser cuts are best.

 

Cut the stabilizing adhesive material to the size of the hoop on your machine. To make the framing process easy, adhesive is highly recommended.

 

Using it, you will be able to place the adhesive without having to arch the base fabric as well.

 

Crimp the stabilizer and remove the protective paper from the adhesive.

 

Place the blank patch or fabric on the hoop and stick it to the stabilizing adhesive. Make sure to use the markings on your hoop to center your patch.

 

This is very important to align it. Secure the fabric or patch to the hoop with pins to better secure the position.

 

Lift the presser foot off the machine and place the hoop in position.

 

Select the image to be embroidered, lower the presser foot and allow the hoop to drop to its center position on the machine. Press the "Go" button to start embroidering.

 

When the pattern is complete, lift the presser foot, pull out the pattern, move the hoop and remove it from the machine. If your machine does not do this automatically, you will need to cut the needle thread.

 

Once you get the now out, cut the threads and remove the pins. Remove the hoop from the stabilizing adhesive and remove the patch material or fabric.

 

If you used your own base fabric, send your patches to be laser cut or use good quality scissors to cut it out taking special care not to cut the seams. Once cut you can use your fingers or a foam tip to apply fabric glue to prevent fraying.

Want to Make an Iron-On Embroidery Patch?

 

These patches can be made from many different types of fabric including denim, cotton, polyester, and velvet. When it comes to creating a patch for your outfit the possibilities are endless.

 

Choose your iron-on designs from a piece of fabric or make your own by layering materials together. You can also embroider a design for your fabric patch.

 

Cut out or assemble your fabric patch and place it face down on a clean towel or butcher paper laid out on the ironing board.

 

Place the hot fix adhesive on the back of the material and use an iron that is on the silk setting on the paper and heat the adhesive which will adhere to the fabric.

 

Cut the fabric with the release paper as you carefully cut around the iron-on patch. If you have more than one piece for your iron-on patch then you should leave each piece individually.

 

Remove the paper from the patch and place the iron on the patch with the sticky side down on the clothing, then run the iron over the patch until the adhesive sticks to the clothing.

 

Make sure you iron over the entire patch and distribute the heat evenly over the area.

 

Let the patch cool on the flat surface of the ironing board. Once the patch cools down the clothing is immediately ready to wear.

 

Tips

Use a clean paper towel or butcher paper to protect the sheet from the stickiness of the adhesive. Make sure you use a clean cloth to make the patches. Wash clothing before heat-adhering a patch.

 

Distribute the heat of the iron over the edges of the patch to ensure that it sticks completely. Leave the paper on the homemade patch and give it to someone as a gift.

 

If the material being used for the patch is cracking then you need to make sure the adhesive is completely covering the edges of the material in order to prevent fraying.

 

Make sure the decal is placed on the material with the right side up otherwise it will gum up your iron with the stickiness of the decal. Cover your ironing board with a cover to protect the surface from getting sticky.

 

Conclusion

First decide if you want to use a blank patch for embroidery machines or if you want to use your own fabric. Blank patches are attached to machine stabilizer adhesive to embroider the center image.