embroidery

patches and other embroidery I've made for friends

how to make an embroidered patch

you will need:

• embroidery thread in the colours you want
• nicely coloured felt!
• a small embroidery hoop (not as necessary for felt but still useful)
• a needle with a larger eye
• something to sketch a design onto the felt

method:

1. choose a small pattern to embroider. you want something simple with different blocks of colour, as opposed to gradients of colours (which is trickier but very cool, 'needle painting')
2. put your felt in the embroidery hoop and adjust it so it's taut.
3. lightly sketch your pattern on the felt. I don't have a washable fabric pencil so normally I just use a coloured pencil in a similiar colour to the thread I'm going to use. I used to use eyeliner or lead pencil but they stood out more.
4. choose your first colour and cut about an arm's length of thread. it should come with 6 strands, and depending on how thick you want your stitches to be, you separate the amount of strands you want. I normally use 3, but I'll use more or less for finer and bolder lines.
5. tie a double knot at the end of your thread and thread the needle, then bring it from under the fabric. the knot won't go through, and your thread is secure. start embroidering! just fill in the colour, you don't need fancy stitches.
6. once you've finished your design, you'll have a bunch of unglamorous thread and knots on the underside. cut the pattern out, leaving a felt border. then cut this same shape from some more felt, to be the back of the patch.
7. take a safety pin (or brooch pin, if you're fancy) and sew it onto the back piece of felt. consider what angle you want the pin to be when both layers of felt are sewn together.
8. now use some embroidery thread or some sewing thread and stitch the two layers together, always piercing the fabric through the same side so that the thread covers the edge of the patch, kind of like a ring binder in a notebook (see my skull patch if this is confusing). make sure all the underside knots and threads are sandwiched between the layers!
9. now you should have a lovely finished patch! alternatively you can skip the safety pin and sew this onto your bag or whatever instead, but for gifts I like using safety pins

patches are fun and simple to make! they're lovely to give to friends or make for yourself, and felt is a really forgiving material for embroidery. I hope you try making one sometime!