I had posted this information as a response to questions in the StitchArtist Digitizing Fans group the other day and thought that it would make a nice blog post.  This is about a 7″x7″ patch and its being stitched on a Janome 550e. I’ve stitched patches on all my machines including my 28 year old Brother PE150, Brother PR600, Janome 550e and Viking Topaz 50. They all work

The camping design is one that I created myself in StitchArtist.  The process has been documented in a two part video on my Vimeo Subscription channel linked here.

I purchase my polyester twill and heat seal from Gayle’s Nest.  She sells this in a kit with and without a hot knife for clean cutting.  Here is the link to the product category page.

Here are the steps that I took for this particular patch. Not the right way or the only way – just the way that I chose to follow for this particular project.

Since this was a big patch and I needed it to be a color to match the other items that I am making, I used the light fill option in the Edge properties.  For instructions on how to use Merrowly or the Edge properties in StitchArtist L3 –  please refer to the PDF instructions linked above or the various videos on the Embrilliance YouTube channel.

– I fused Heat N Bond to the back of my polyester twill.  I use Heat N Bond Stretch as it doesn’t gum the needle.  The purpose is to make the polyester twill stiff and easier to cut with less loss of registration.  It has nothing to do with fusing the finished patch at this point – I will be embroidering thru it and the bobbin thread will be on the back side.

– I printed an actual size template of the patch. File > Print from Embrilliance.

– I sprayed the paper backing of the fused polytwill and attached it to my printed template and trimmed my “patch” to the outer size of the merrow edge.  Think about how you are stitching this design when you cut it out.  You want the Heat and Bond adhesive side be facing the hoop.

– I removed the printed template. I will be making another one for the picnic tote so I will do this again.

– Can you use a digital cutter?  Sure!  If you have one, follow the instructions for using it and have some fun!  That is a whole other set of instructions and not how I made my patch.

I removed the backing from the fused polytwill.

I hooped my nylon mess stabilizer and stitched color #1 directly on the stabilizer.  This is simply the placement line for the patch material.

This is the nylon stabilizer I use instead of washaway. Even for my all thread patches.  It is awesome for patches because nylon has a lower melting point than polyester.  As you can see I use one layer in the hoop.  It is cutaway so there is nothing to pull and distort the stitches.

Put the “precut” patch dead on balls in the stitched line and fuse into place.

I fused the precut patch into the sewing line on my mesh stabilizer.  Steam is not necessary – I use my mini heat press on a silicon mat.

Carefully return the hoop to the machine and I have it set up to stitch another running stitch which basically “kissed” the edge of my precut patch in the hoop.  Necessary?  Not really.  Just the way I set mine up and I am giving you the steps that I took.

Now I stitched the light fill with the colored thread.  The light fill has no underlay – it is simply there to give the illusion of a full thread background with the color that is desired.

It then stitches the merrow edge and now it is stitching the design on the patch.

Remove the hoop from the machine and carefully trim closely to the edge.

The patch is rather “wobbly” looking because it really has no body.  This is where the heat seal comes into play.

As mentioned earlier, I get this product from here.  Gayle’s Nest

Once I have fused the heat seal to the back of the patch, I finish the edges with a flame.  I don’t see why you can’t do this step before you apply the heat seal – like I said, I’m showing you the steps that I took to make my patch.

The patch is iron on because of the heat seal. The other quality that this product adds is that it has a professional looking finish on the back and the patch feels like a real patch without using excessive amounts of stabilizer or other products.

Kitchen towels are from AllAboutBlanks.com – my preferred source for consistent high quality kitchen towels. She provides a coupon for my followers – use Embrilliance10 for an additional 10% off your purchase.  Yes, I hand sewed the patch to the quill pocket.  My preference – easier than trying to wrangle it on the sewing machine or in an embroidery hoop.  Pick your battles 🙂

This is how I did my patch and it works fabulously.  You will find other ways of creating patches – gather all the information available, try out all the techniques and determine what way works best for you!