If you can surround your design with a wide (generally greater than 3mm) satin-stitched edge to capture the fibers in your patch material, you’re can make a patch with no more than your machine and a scissor. Moreover, you won’t have to carefully cut around borders if you use some easily-acquired materials. Any one of a few methods will result in a clean-edged emblem on any embroidery machine. Luckily, making patches and badges isn’t terribly difficult. I’m here for those who ask “How can I get a clean edge without cutting? I’ve written on the subject for multiple trade magazines, industry resources, and even for home embroidery and fiber artist blogs. The one’s who ask, ‘How can I make patches with only my existing embroidery equipment?” I’m talking to the intrepid souls who just want to make a few patches, or a edge a shape impossible to run through the overlock machine. I’m talking to the small-run, occasional badge creators. Even so, everyone who comes to my classes is eager to finish the edge of a patch without manually running it through an overlock machine. Old-school patch-makers invest in a Merrow machine, hand-guiding each patch through the needles to get that classic wrapped edge. Traditional patches are ‘edged’ after the design is stitched and the patch is cut from a span.

No matter what I came to teach, creating clean-edged emblems will always come up. When seminar attendees spot my custom-shaped patch samples, I know I’ll be teaching a post-session patch lesson.

I believe that everyone who threads a needle wants to know how to make patches with their embroidery machine. (Update: If you prefer to listen and learn, watch The Takeup Episode 11- Patches: The Emblematic Embroidery Item, and Episode 12: Making Patches with Machine Embroidery, Part 2 – Digitizing Tips ) I can teach anything, as long as I also leave time to teach patches.

Darkwatch 2 embroidered patches