Tag Archives: patches

How to apply embroidery patches to hats

3 Ways to Apply Embroidered Patches to Hats

More than likely when designing custom hats you’ll want to consider embroidery, specifically embroidered patches. You know, those patches on the side arm of uniforms like military garments or sports teams.

Embroidered patches on hats serve a few purposes: brand placement and uniqueness. These detailed patches from BrandSick allow a company or brand to express their brand identity in a subliminal manner but also differentiate itself from competition or simply, other custom hats. Make sure to read our tips on custom hat embroidery and get some extra insight into the process!

Some of the most common hats that include embroidered patch work are trucker hats, baseball hats and dad hats.

Let’s cut to the chase. You got some new blank hats, maybe corduroy hats from Delusion MFG. But you also have some embroidered patches that you want to attach to some of those amazing blank hats, but how?

Easy, here’s how.

Applying embroidered patches to your blank hats is simple. There are 3 different ways you can achieve this: gluing, hot ironing and sewing. Each method is successively better than the one before in terms of durability.

Let’s go through each method of applying embroidered patches in detail below.

How to glue embroidered patches on hats

Let’s start off with the easiest way out of three. Obtain glue or fabric glue form your local retailer (or Amazon) and simply squeeze a layer of glue onto the backside of the embroidered patch. Place firmly on the custom hat and hold for 30 seconds or more. Done.

As you can tell it is very tempting to use adhesives to apply your embroidered patch in order to save time and effort. Unfortunately, being fast and easy comes at a price.

Using adhesives like glue or hot glue is only good as a temporary solution. Using glue will weaken your hat’s fabric and eventually it will rip apart. At this point, some of you might be thinking about fabric glue. The answer to that is simple: fabric glue won’t work on every piece of fabric, especially slick ones.

And after a couple of washes, the glue is bound to melt away before it’s too late.

How to hot iron embroidered patches on hats

Ironing on a patch is not that hard. Well it’s harder and more time-consuming than using glue but the upside is that chances of your patch standing the test of time is way higher. But before we get on with how you iron on an embroidered patch on custom hats, it must be warned that before you use an iron, you must make sure that the fabric of your hat won’t be damaged by heat or doesn’t have high elasticity.

With that out of the way, let’s proceed.

First off, your custom hat should be placed on a flat and heat-resistant surface. All you need to do now is to place your embroidered patch on the right spot and heat the iron to its highest available setting. (Don’t burn yourself now).

Make sure the steam setting is off and your hot iron isn’t full of water. Then, place a thin towel over the patch for protection and be careful not to move the patch from the position you settled it.

When the hot iron is heated enough, press it on the patch firmly for 10 to 15 seconds.

Lastly, remove the iron and the towel and allow the patch to cool off before handling or using it.

Very much like gluing a patch, this method is not completely foolproof since the patch will come off if the hat is washed frequently. We suggest that you do not wash it more than necessary and if you have to, wash it with your hands using cool water. You can use a washing machine but be sure to turn your hat inside out before you start the process.

We made sure to include all necessary steps and make it easy for you to hot iron patches on your hats. However guys from BrandSick made a detailed guide on this topic, check it out if you’d like to know more!

How to sew embroidered patches on hats

Sewing is the most preserving and permanent solution to put customized patches on your hats.

There are two ways of going about sewing an embroidered patch to a hat.

  1. Hand sew
  2. Sewing machine

With the latter, you can rest assured as it will withstand washes better than any other method explained above.

Similar to the ironing method, you first need to find your preferred position for the patch but this time around, secure it with two pins or more on the fabric of your hat. Place the pins in the center of the patch or any other part of it that won’t get in your way of sewing later on. If you are not a fan of using pins you can also use small amounts of washable glue to secure your patch. After you’re done with securing the position, make sure to turn your hat inside out. Now that all these steps have been taken care of, you have to choose one of the two mentioned methods of sewing.

If you’re sewing with hands, use a heavy-duty needle because the fabric of hats are usually dense and thick. Choose an appropriate color for thread and start going through the cap with the needle and work your way around the patch and continue until you reach the starting point. When you reach that point, simply tie the thread in a knot and you’re done.

If you’re sewing with a sewing machine, you also need to use a heavy-duty needle. Set your machine to zig-zag setting. This setting is basically designated for sewing embroidered patches. Use the narrowest zigzag possible because patches are typically small and you’ll need to make sure the stitches are not too obvious to the eye. Now like the hand sewing method, start sewing around the edges of the patch and when you reach the starting point, your job is finished.

Where can I get my embroidered patches for my hats?

Here at Delusion MFG we offer services like creating custom embroidered hats. Many of our customers enjoy this service, especially the ones that design custom hats for their own companies.

To get custom embroidered patches at best prices you should visit Brand Sick and check out their amazing offers!

Each custom designed hat is crafted with care and the highest quality of fabrics. We’re able to create full custom hats down to the choice of fabric and even how much paneling you’d like. (If you want a hat with 6 panels using cotton twill fabric, we’ve got you covered).

Reach out to one of our reps within the chat on our site or give us some project details here.

3 Types of Patches for Custom Hats

3 Types of Custom Patches For Hats/Easiest Methods For Customization

If you want a custom hat then it will likely have a patch on it. This is mainly because manufacturers work with blanks and to put the necessary design on it they need to involve another item. In most cases, this means using patches, because they are the easiest method for customization.

But there are several types of custom patches for hats that can work best on your choice of style. Some work better, some work worse. Because of this, you need to know these small details, so your hat’s design will last longer.

1. Embroidery Patches

Let’s be honest, embroidery patches are amazing for anything. They have a certain texture that pops right off the original material (sometimes literally, this 3D effect can be astonishing). This causes people to immediately focus on it and thus, it makes an impression within seconds. But of course, for this to be more effective, the actual design needs to be good.

Which is pretty easy to achieve with these patches, though. Embroidery works really well if it has high contrast or intense colors. Because of this, you can go wild with the design. You don’t need to worry about color coordination, shading, and depth. If you have an already existing logo, then your job is even easier. Simply toss it into Photoshop or any design program that you usually use, and intensify the colors. Get rid of the shading and all the useless color changes. You want it to look at simple as possible.

But let’s talk about the technical parts. How durable are embroidery patches? Well, that depends on the manufacturer, but if they have some decent quality then you will be just fine. Embroidery patches withstand some rough handling and they won’t be harmed even if you take it through hell and back. But there are some people who wonder if the seams will come apart. A perfectly valid concern, completely understandable. If you were worrying about this, then we can tell that you haven’t used embroidery patches yet. They don’t fall apart unless you purposefully cut into them.

Because of its’ durability, embroidery patches are perfect for hats.

As for the price… One of the cheapest types of custom patches for hats out there. There’s no need for overly expensive equipment or materials. Some heavy fabric, thread, and an embroidery machine. That’s it.

2. Chenille Patches

There is a high chance that you don’t really know what this kind of patch is. It’s okay, but now is the time to learn this important fact.

Chenille patches are made of wool. They are fuzzy, warm and cute. Pretty feminine patches if we may say so, but if used correctly then they can be masculine as well. It’s just harder to do because of all the fuzz.

These patches work extremely well with warm colors. Red, orange, and pink are the ones that should be the highlight of it all because they represent the whole style of chenille patches. You can, of course, use different colors, but they don’t pop as much and it can kind of ruin the vibe.

Besides that, these patches can work extremely well with school gear. It’s the typical one that has a university’s logo on it, for example. So if you plan on wearing your hat to school then these patches will look great.

But they can also complement your style if you are more into the old school. After all, chenille patches are a bit “dated”, but they are coming back into style. Because of this, you can wear a baseball cap with a patch like this and it will go perfectly with basically anything. You will just have a little bit of an old school vibe to yourself.

The only bad part about them is the price. They are usually not worth as much as they are selling it for, as they are not durable at all. They break pretty easily and can cost quite much.

3. Printed Patches

They are exactly what you think they are. Pieces of fabric that you can use as a patch, but they just have something printed on them. We are not going to lie, these can seem a bit lazy and weird if not made correctly. Because the technique is not complicated many manufacturers stop focusing on quality.

Which is really a shame, because these patches would be amazing otherwise. They can have photo-realistic pictures on them. Very detailed pieces that you couldn’t make into a patch with any other method. These look great on hats, especially if you put it on the side or the back.

If you have a good looking photo that you want to turn into a patch then you can do so by printing it. All of the other methods require you to tone things down. To get rid of shading, color flows and depth. With this one, you can just use the original picture and have it on a patch straight away. Pretty simple.

Their durability is… Questionable. In a lot of cases, the ink starts fading after the first couple of washes, so if you want to keep the color intensity then we highly suggest not dirtying your hat. These patches don’t deteriorate in any other way though, so you have got that at the very least.

The price is the best part though. Printed patches are the literal cheapest ones. Manufacturers can make them in seconds and not many materials are needed, therefore they have a great price.

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Conclusion

So, these were the best custom patches for hats to use. They all have their positives and negatives. Make sure you take everything into consideration before making the decision.

Which patch type did you like most? What do you like about it most? Tell us down in the comments below!