Anatomy of a patch part 1

ANATOMY OF A PATCH

What makes a good patch?

Designing and creating patches is no simple matter.  Everything has to be done correctly and professionally or the patch will fall apart and won’t look good.  A perfect example of poor craftsmanship is having the velcro pull off the back of a  patch - that makes a velcro patch pretty much useless.   At OMLpatches.com, we take the time for each and every patch to ensure the highest quality.   We take the time to manually digitize the patches,  stitching and processing is hands on,  and each patch gets merrowed by hand and checked for quality throughout the process.

Patches are all about details

The patch itself must start with high quality fabric as a backing.  Here at OMLpatches.com, we take the extra time to search out the proper fabric.  Our multicam fabric line is direct from the manufacturer and is a quality RIPSTOP material.  I have seen quite a few patches out there that do not use RIPSTOP material and instead use a cheap substitute multicam material.  I can tell the cheap material immediately because the stitches are not sitting properly on the material and do not form proper lines and definition, and overall looks crappy. The stitching on the patch itself has to be tightly set and have no loops or loose places, or have any white bobbin showing.   Again, we use the highest quality threads in the proper colours to make our patches stand out.  Moving on to the merrowing.  The merrow is the thick edge that you should find on most patches.   Merrowing is the detail that makes the patch - none of the material or the backing is showing through, no trimming errors show at the sides, and merrowing gives the patch the final professional look that finalizes the patch.  It is the last step in patch processing and takes a large amount of time to do it properly.   Lower end manufacturers usually skip this process and save themselves lots of time;  however, the patches are not high quality and will not last long.  Granted, there are some shapes of patches that you cannot marrow, however those are few and far between, and there are many ways of taking more time to make the patch professional.  I have seen far too many patches where there was no merrowed edge, and they used a bright colour to sew on the velcro, and you can see every sewing mistake that they made.    That brings me to the next point - velcro.    It is very easy and a lot cheaper to get off brand velcro - you can buy it at your local sewing store and it doesn’t cost very much compared to the real Velcro brand.  If a manufacturer uses off brand velcro, the patch will have hardly any staying power.  Velcro brand makes a softer and stronger velcro, and you can see the difference and feel the difference.  High quality makes all the difference if you want your patch to stay where you place it. 

So now you know some of the details to look for in a patch - why settle for anything less?  You should be able to wear your patch proudly, and be able to create “patch envy” wherever you go!

Until next time, 

OMLpatches  

Patches and Tails

What are the tails on a patch? and why?

Everyone has seen them - those nasty tails that stick out from one corner of a patch.  But what are they?

The outside of the patch is done with a very very special machine - one of a kind, really.  When you see a patch that is not merrowed, you know they don't have the right equipment to make a professional patch.  The machine is called a merrow machine.  It only does one thing - the edges of a patch.  Nothing else.  Expensive for one machine, but its well worth it. 

The merrow stitch is quite complex...it consists of 6 different threads.  That is why it is nearly impossible for a merrowed edge to come apart -its solid and thick.  Unless that is if you mess with the tail.   The tail is simply the end of the merrowing stitches.  Why?  well, where are they going to go?  all you have to do is tuck them in behind the patch, and they will stick to the velcro and stay put.  If you were to cut the tail to the patch, you would not get a finished corner or edge, and the threads (all 6) would poke up eventually...not a nice look, really.  Even if the threads are poking up, the merrow will still not unravel, the stitches are very intricate and complicated.  

So please don't cut the tails too short. 

If you don't have any velcro to tuck the tails, then all you have to do is find a bit of tape or a tiny bit of glue to secure them behind there.  Don't use too much - it won't look good having a big blob of glue on the patches when you sew them down.   Tape is probably better - it will hold the tails in place and won't show on the other side of the patch.  After all, you are about to sew it onto your uniform or bag, so no one will know that you have tape on the other side!

That is all for today. 

OMLpatches.com