We use the following process when designing and embroidering the MeowFire patches that have a 100% fill and satin edge borders. The extra steps are necessary in the patch design and embroidery process. When followed these steps will create a quality product that looks great. Here at MeowFire we use Inkscape with the Ink/Stitch extension to design our standalone patches. We have a separate post on designing a patch with Inkscape and the Ink/Stitch extension.

When creating a patch that will be sewn on to cloth, you need to use a heavy weight transparent water soluble wash-away stabilizer as the base in the embroidery hoop. This ensures that the base stabilizer is not visible in the fill or edges of the final patch. This stabilizer is not as durable as fabric based stabilizer, depending on the patch design, closeness of stitches and number of needle penetrations, you may have to use 2 layers.

At MeowFire we use heavy weight canvas with and additional fusible backing on the fabric to provide a base for the patch. This increases the durability and quality of the patch.

Design the patch in Inkscape

Extra layers in your design are needed to produce a nice looking patch. The extra layers will help line up the fabric backing and hide most of the edge threads of the fabric backing. These extra layers are not needed when embroidering directly to fabric. Typically we will first design to embroider to fabric and test the end product (as this is cheaper and faster). Once we have a design that works we will add the extra layers to the design turn it into a standalone patch.

Outline layer

The outline layer is the first layer that your embroidery machine will sew when creating a patch. This layer will act as a guide to place the fabric with fusible stabilizer backing of your patch on the base transparent water soluble stabilizer.

In Inkscape, copy the fill layer and create a new a layer that has just the stroke color showing and the fill color disabled. We use a color that will force a thread change as we want the embroidery machine to stop after this layer so we can remove the hoop to attach the fabric to the stabilizer. It really dose not matter what color this thread is as it is used only as a guide to line up the fabric.

The Ink/Stitch parameters for this layer is a running stitch with no lock stitches. We disable lock stitches as this is just an outline to act as a guide for us to line up the fabric backing to the patch. This running stitch will be covered by other layers and adding lock stitches just creates an even bigger knots on the back of the patch.

Initial satin edge layer

The initial satin column (blue) is smaller than the final satin column (green) of our patch. This layer is key in making our patches look nice.

You can copy the final satin edge layer (green) from the initial design and use it for this new layer. The smaller satin stitch sews the fabric backing of the patch to the water soluble transparent base stabilizer in the embroidery hoop. The image below shows the blue initial satin edge is a little smaller than the green finial satin edge. This allows the final satin edge (green) to be sewn around the initial satin edge (blue), further hiding any fabric threads that. We try not to have the needle take the same path multiple times as the water soluble transparent base stabilizer will weaken and eventually break with needle punctures that are close together.

The outline layer provides another function, as the initial satin column stitches (blue) will provide some more bulk to the final satin edge. The extra lift will not be much but give just a littler bit of more height to the border of the patch.

Enable the ‘Center-Walk underlay’ stitch with a 50% position via the Ink/Stitch params for this layer. This will initially sew a running stitch in the center of the where the satin column zig-zag stitches will be sewn. Thus, first quickly sewing the fabric to the transparent stabilizer with the Center-Walk underlay stitch before the satin column is sewn. If this initial running stitch is not on the fabric then you will have to adjust the size of the fabric or the design.

Fill layer

You may need to shrink the fill layer a little as you want it to just barely go inside of the initial satin edge layer. Having a smaller fill will save on thread and save your needle from having to sew through the thickest part of the initial satin edge.

Border satin edge layer

The final layer for the patch it the satin edge border. This is a satin column (green) that is slightly larger than the initial satin edge (blue).

Use a ‘Center-walk underlay’ for this layer, but set the position to 25%. This will sew a running stitch that will be on the border of the fill (gray) and initial satin edge (blue). We have found that this stitch is good at locking down any fill loops that are not tight that may poke out of the final satin edge border.

Additional, we add a ‘Zig-zag underlay’ to add a little more bulk to the edge and catch any stray threads from the fabric backing.

Preparing the patch for embroidery

With the patch design finished we are ready to prepare the embroidery hoop and fabric to create the patch.

Preparing the embroidery hoop

We use 12 in (305mm) wide transparent water soluble wash-away stabilizer as our base. We can not stress enough the need to use this type of stabilizer for patches.

Prior to loading the stabilizer in the embroidery hoop, we print out (on paper) a grouping of patches that will maximize the transparent water soluble wash-away stabilizer.

For our 4 in (101mm) hoop we found that a 12in (304mm) x 8in (202mm) strip of transparent water soluble wash-away stabilizer can hold 3 patches. We print out 3 patch designs on paper and then mark where the patches will be on the transparent water soluble wash-away stabilizer. This helps as a guide when moving the transparent water soluble wash-away stabilizer in the hoop to embroider the next patch. As you can see the marks need not be perfect as they are use only as a guide.

With the transparent water soluble wash-away stabilizer marked we line up and load the embroidery hoop for the first patch to be sewn.

Scotch tape is our best friend when we find ourselves needing a little help loading and tightening the transparent water soluble wash-away stabilizer in the embroidery hoop. The tape provides a grip to tighten up the stabilizer in the hoop and can act as a ‘third hand’ to keep the stabilizer in place when lining up the hoop.

Preparing the fabric

The cut of the fabric needs to be just a little bit smaller then the final satin edge, hence we ‘take the line’ when we cut. The goal is for the outside of the satin column stitch to be about 1mm away from the edge of the fabric. This makes for a nice rounded border of the patch and contains loose threads in the satin column as the stitch loops thread around the edge of the patch.

Embroidering the patch

Embroidering the patch requires some manual steps. When followed these steps will produce a nice end product.

Stitch the outline

The first layer is an outline of stitches to act as a guide to place the fabric on when embroidering a patch. Once the running stitch is finished a thread change is called and this should pause a single needle machine.

Attach the fabric

Place the cutout of the fabric that is attached to the fusible stabilizer in the outline guide. The fusible stabilizer is face down touching the transparent stabilizer in the embroidery hoop.

The fabric should be slightly inside or to just setting on the outline of thread. It is best if the fabric is inside of the outline with a 1mm gap to the thread. The underside view shows where the patch is setting and in this picture the fabric need to be trimmed. This is why we like to use transparent stabilizer.

As the initial running stitch is being sewn make sure that the fabric stays flat. It is good to watch the running stitch when embroidering a patch to ensure that the stitch is on the fabric and all looks good. We use scotch tape to keep the fabric in place. Once this layer is finished we remove all the tape.

We find that folding the tape on both ends makes it easier to remove. Gently remove the scotch tape as the transparent stabilizer has been weakened with the many punctures made by the initial satin column.

Fill and Text

We do a 100% background fill and then embroider text and images on top of the background fill of our patch. As the patch is made we will trim jump stitches and any stray threads as needed when we change the thread colors.

NOTE: The patch above shows what happens when the fill is too far into the initial satin stitch. This patch turned out OK, but we shrunk the field for this patch in Inkscape to make sure there was no overlap in future patches. You can also see thread from the fabric poking through the initial satin column, which means that the fabric could be trimmed before you tape and sew the fabric to the transparent stabilizer.

Final satin edge

All of the above steps are designed to get to this point. Our goal is to have a nice solid and round satin edge border when we are finished with our patch embroidering process.

The above image shows edges where black fabric thread is poking through. Trimming the fabric with fusible stabilizer should eliminate this when embroidering our patch creating the patch you see below.