#handmade patch

Tutorial for a simple straight stitch, specifically for sewing on patches!

MATERIALS

❥Needle, threaded and knotted at one end

❥Scissors

❥Patch (shown here as striped ribbon)

❥Item you’re sewing your patch onto (shown here as purple fabric)

Start with just your patch. Pull the thread through so that the knot lies on the BACK of your patch.

Pin your patch face-up to whatever you’re sewing it onto.

Then, moving your needle over (about 0.5 to 1cm from your starting place), push it through BOTH the patch and the fabric. Pull it taught.

Flip your piece over to the back. Again, move the needle over slightly then push it through, making sure to catch the fabric AND the patch. Pull it taught.

(TIP: make the stitches on the backside as small as you’re comfortable with if you’re sewing your patch onto a bag or piece of clothing. You don’t want the things in your bag or parts of your body catching on and tearing your stitches! I haven’t had a stitch break because it snagged from the outside, but I often snag them from the inside!)

Flip it back over and repeat, moving the needle over and then pulling it taught, flipping the piece over, and repeating.

Once your piece is sewn all the way around, make sure your needle is on the backside of your fabric, like shown:

Push your needle through a neighboring stitch

Pull that until there’s a slight loop, wind your needle into that loop, and pull it taught.

Repeat if you want it extra secure.

You can cut the tail there! If you’d rather hide the thread tail, here’s how I do it.

1 Push the needle through the fabric but NOT the patch

2 Feed the needle through the patch so it comes out somewhere in the middle.

3 Pull it so taught that it wrinkles

4 While it’s wrinkled, cut the tail as close to the patch as you can. You might have to wiggle the patch back and forth, but the tail should end up hidden behind the patch

And that’s it! Here’s how it’ll look:

COMMON PROBLEMS:

-Stitches don’t hold/cause the fabric to fray: You’re stitching too small or too close to the edge! Make your stitch wider and move away from the edge of your fabric!

-Needle refuses to go through patch: either your needle is dull or your patch is too thick!

First, try sharpening your needle: If you have a pincushion, it should have a little emery strawberry! Push the needle tip into the strawberry and twist! If you don’t have a pincushion, get a nail file and twist the needle tip carefully on the filing edge.

If sharpening the needle doesn’t work, then your patch might be too thick! If you try to force a long needle (like the No.5 DMC I’m using) into too-thick fabric, it might bend and break. I recommend getting a short, thin, sharp needle and a thimble. If you don’t have a thimble, my method when I was younger was to duct tape a soda cap to my thumb and use that as a thimble. If your needle still won’t go through even when it’s small, thin, sharp, and you’re pushing it through with a needle, then try superglue. That’s honestly my best advice.

-stitches are messy/different sizes: this one honestly just takes practice! if it REALLY bothers you, get a ruler and a pen and mark dots along where you’re going to sew, 0.5cm apart from one another. It’ll take some trial and error getting the needle on the dots from the back, but from the front it’ll be a breeze.

-Thread keeps knotting/breaking: Another problem solved by practice, try using a shorter piece of thread or pulling it through more gently.

-Patches end up “bubbled” instead of laying flat: First, try adding more pins to hold it on. If that doesn’t work, take an Elmer’s washable glue stick and glue the patch on before you pin it down. You’ll have to use an emery strawberry or an emery board to clean your needle every once in a while, but the glue washes right out when you’re done.

DM me, send an ask, or leave a reply if you need any extra help, I’m finishing up a big commission right now but I should answer within a day or two.

Hope your creating goes well! If you wanna support my work, check my pinned for some ways to do that. I send my love!

❤️Kay

Working on some little things! (I have he/him and mlm items too I’m just not working on them right now)