2 Ways Turn Your Embroidery Into A Patch

Patches can be a fun way to decorate your jacket or bag as well as commemorate a special occasion or achievement (anyone else thinking back to their Girl/Boy/Cub Scout days?) Whether you want to make a patch for your kiddo, as an award for something special, or to add to your own apparel, here are two different ways to do it.

In the first part of this blog post, I’ll share how to make a felt sew-on patch. In the second half of this blog post, I’ll share how to turn your embroidery into an iron-on patch.

Felt Sew-On Patch

Needed Materials:

• Felt
• Water soluble transfer pattern (I like these botanical peel, stick and stitch patterns from MCreativeJ)
• Embroidery needle
• Embroidery thread (I like DMC thread because it’s color-fast and available in lots of colors. You can use any brand you like, however, if your patch is going to get wet or washed, you want to make sure the thread colors won’t bleed.)
• Embroidery hoop
• Scissors
• Sewing pins
• Something to sew your patch on to

How to Make a Felt Sew-On Patch

1. Place your felt in the embroidery hoop.
Start by gently unscrewing the embroidery hoop so that the inner ring easily pops away from the outer ring. Place the inner ring on a flat surface, set the felt on top of the inner ring so that it is all the way around the entire ring, and press the outer ring on top. Gently tighten the top screw and tug the felt around the hoop to tighten the fabric. This is usually a process of tightening the top screw, tugging the fabric, then tightening and tugging again. The felt should feel taught like a trampoline or drum. Be sure not to over-stretch the felt. If you hear tearing or see the felt getting thin in places, it is overly stretched and warped.

2. Add the transfer design.
Using a water-soluble transfer design, such as a stick and stitch embroidery pattern, peel off the backing and place it sticky side down onto the felt. Gently press the design to the fabric so that it evenly adheres. It is important that the design fits entirely in the hoop and isn’t too close to the edge.

3. Choose your thread colors.
Next, choose the colors you’d like for your design. For my mountain patch, I chose a realistic color palette that included multiple gray hues. You can choose whatever colors you’d like for your design!

4. Start stitching.
Now that everything is prepped, it’s time to start stitching. The important thing to remember when creating a patch is to use short stitches that are close to the felt. Longer embroidery stitches will pop away from the fabric, making them easier to snag on things and ruin the patch.

For my patch, I used the long and short satin stitch to fill in the front of my mountains, the back stitch to add the mountain shadows, and the stem stitch to add the jagged details and outlines.

Here’s how to create each of these stitches:

• Long and short satin stitch
  The long and short satin stitch is a good filler stitch and creates a smooth appearance. This stitch is also a great way to fill in large areas with color or blend colors.
  1. Take your needle and thread and create one straight stitch.
  2. Bring the needle up again next to where the first stitch started.
  3. Now make a stitch that is either shorter or longer than the first stitch. Keep the stitches close to one another, and work in rows as required to fill the design.
• Back stitch
  The back stitch creates a solid line made of short dashes. This stitch is very versatile and is great for outlining and filling in sections.
  1. Begin by pulling the needle and thread up through the fabric from the back to the front about ¼ an inch away from the start of the line.
  2. Bring the needle back down at the end of the line, filling in the space.
  3. From underneath, space the needle out the length of your desired stitch (~1/4 inch or less), pull the needle up through the fabric and bring.
  4. Then bring the needle back down through the fabric at the end of the previous stitch.
• Stem stitch
  The stem stitch creates a thin line that is great for outlining and looks like a coiled rope.
  1. To start, bring the needle up through the fabric, at the start of the line.
  2. Go back down through the fabric ¼ an inch away from where you came up through the fabric. Do not pull the thread taught against the fabric, instead, hold it off to one side of the line.
  3. Next, bring your needle back up through the fabric in the space between where the thread is going up and down through the fabric. Gently tug the thread so that it’s flush with the fabric.
  4. Repeat until the line is filled in. With this stitch, it is important to hold the thread off to the same side every time to create the rope-like effect.

Once you’re done stitching the patch, remove it from the embroidery hoop. Run the stitched felt under warm water so that the pattern dissolves. Do not scrunch the felt. Lay it flat to dry.

After the embroidery is dry use a pair of scissors to trim the felt to ¼ an inch away from the edge of the embroidery.

Now, pin the embroidery to another layer of felt with sewing pins. This second layer will add additional protection to the back of your sew-on patch.

Using the back stitch, embroider along the outer edge of the first layer of felt to connect the two layers.

Then trim the second layer of felt to ¼ an inch away from the edge. Now your patch is complete!

To attach your patch, pin it in place with sewing pins. Then use the back stitch to sew the outer edge of felt to the garment or textile.

Iron-On Patch

Needed Materials:

• A finished embroidery
• Embroidery needle
• Embroidery thread (I like DMC thread because it’s color-fast and available in lots of colors. You can use any brand you like, however, if your patch is going to get wet or washed, you want to make sure the thread colors won’t bleed.)
• Additional fabric for backing
• Scissors
• Pencil or another marking tool
• Heat n Bond LITE iron on adhesive
• An iron and ironing board
• Something to iron your patch on to

How to Turn Any Embroidery into an Iron-On Patch:

1. Start by removing the finished embroidery from the embroidery hoop.

2. Using a sharp pair of scissors, trim the fabric to about ¼ an inch around the embroidered design.

3. Next, trace the outline of the embroidery onto the Heat N Bond LITE. Cut the Heat N Bond LITE to this shape.

4. With your iron on medium heat, iron the Heat N Bond LITE to the back of your embroidery.

5. Peel off the backing of the Heat N Bond LITE. Place the embroidery with the Heat N Bond LITE side down onto the backing fabric. Keeping the iron on medium heat, iron the three pieces together.

6. Using a pair of scissors, trim down the embroidery so that all the layers are even.

7. Thread your needle with embroidery thread. Then use the whipstitch to sew the edges of your patch. This will help keep the edges from fraying.

Here’s how to make the whip stitch:

• This stitch is great for covering the edges of a fabric. Start by bringing the embroidery needle through the back of the fabric.
• Next wrap the thread around the outer edge of the fabric and bring the needle back up through the fabric next to where the first stitch was made.
• Continue wrapping the thread around the outer edge of the design until you’ve gone all the way around the patch.
• Knot thread on the back of the fabric at the end.

8. Next, trace the embroidery onto the Heat N Bond LITE. Then cut the piece of Heat N Bond LITE slightly smaller than the outline. Using the iron on medium heat, adhere the Heat N Bond LITE to the back of the patch.

9. When you’re ready to attach your patch to a textile, peel off the backing. With the iron on medium heat, iron it onto whatever you want. If you’re not sure what to stick your patch to, save this step until you’re ready.

More Patch Inspiration From MCreativeJ

All photos and patterns courtesy of MCreativeJ.