What would you do if asked to quote a price for large custom patch order? Let’s say you own a small home based embroidery business with one or two single head commercial embroidery machines. A customer approaches you with an inquiry about ordering patches for his gun club. He would like the patches to be round and 3” to 4” in diameter. He also tells you that he will supply camera ready art work of their logo to be digitized. Initially he would like to order 100 patches with the possibility of needing 100 more within a month or so.

Sounds like the perfect job doesn’t it? You should be able to make a fairly nice profit on an order this size with the potential for even more down the road. If you do your own digitizing you can make even more money. But let’s take a closer look at what we’re facing.

Can you make patches on your machine? Sure you can. Patch making is done by small home based embroidery businesses all the time. There are any number of techniques used to make custom patches. Choosing one is a matter of personal preference. The question is, should you take on such a project? Is it the right thing to do? Considering how long it would take to make 100 patches is it really worth the time and material required to complete an order this large? Is it the most cost effective method? Can you really turn out top quality patches? Can you make any money?

Digitizing

The first step in making patches is creating the design. Digitizing designs for patches is a bit different than digitizing for garments. The design must have the proper densities and the proper underlay to prevent show through. The resulting sew out should be virtually smooth to the touch. If you are familiar with digitizing for patches you’re good to go there.

Sew outs

Sewing out 100 patches is going to take a considerable amount of time. You can’t avoid that. The only choice you have is to use the largest hoop available for your machine and sew as many patches as possible in one sew out. If you have multiple heads you can reduce the sewing time required accordingly. When the sewing is complete you will then have to painstakingly cut out each one of the patches. You can’t be too careful here. One slip and a patch could be ruined.

The edges

This is a real biggie in my opinion. All commercially produced patches have a merrowed edge that is applied with a special merrowing machine. This merrowed edge is a series of tight overlock stitches that prevent the patch from ever coming unraveled, even under heavy wear. Much heavier weight thread, nearly 3 times as heavy as standard embroidery thread, is normally used for this edge. Unless you own a merrowing machine you won’t be able to finish your patches the way they should be finished. A regular satin stitch border may look nice, but it’s nowhere near as secure and stable as a merrowed edge. Satin stitches can be pulled or snagged causing them to break and the edge to unravel. If this happens your customer won’t be too happy with his patches and will unlikely be back for more.

When you consider how the patches will be used and where they will be worn the edge becomes even more important. There is a good chance the patches requested by our customer from the gun club will be worn on hunting jackets. Moving through heavy brush, climbing trees, or brushing against rough tree trunks will surely take its toll on those patches.

The back side

Finishing the back side is another important step to consider. Every patch should be sealed on the back side with a heat activated adhesive. It’s this adhesive that really gives the overall patch its strength and prevents any of the stitches from unraveling. When applied properly the adhesive will bond the stitches together almost as a single unit. You will need to find a source for this adhesive and factor in the cost when quoting your customer a price per patch. You’ll also need a method of applying the correct amount of heat to properly set the adhesive.

Making money on patches

Your customer will mostly likely be unwilling to pay your actual labor costs for this project. When you consider the amount of time and materials it will take to make 100 patches, it’s doubtful you will make a dime. If it took you a combined total of 45 minutes to complete one 20,000 stitch patch, your labor charge would 75 hours. If you felt $15.00 per hour was a fair wage, the total labor cost would be $1,125.00. Add to that $100.00 for your digitizing fee and another $50.00 to cover fabric and other consumables, the total charge would be $1,265.00 plus tax if applicable. Do you think your customer would be willing to pay that much for 100 patches?

More options

There is a way you can make money on large patch orders. By outsourcing this work to a commercial patch company you can make a nice profit while doing very little work yourself. Most of them will even do the digitizing for you as part of their service. In fact, most of them prefer to do their own digitizing to make sure the design is correct for a patch.

Basically it's very simple. Here's all you have to do.

• Take the order from your customer.
• Contact the patch company for a quote.
• Call your customer to quote his price.
• Send the art work with your order to the patch company.
• Wait for the completed patches to arrive.
• Deliver them to your customer.
• Collect your money.

The difference in cost will likely be substantial. Let’s say your cost for 100 patches is $3.00 per patch. You decide on a mark up and add it to the cost of each patch. Assuming a 40% markup, you would charge your customer $4.20 per patch. His total cost would be $420.00 plus tax if applicable. Your profit is $120.00 for doing not much more than making a few phones calls and delivering the patches. Don’t forget to factor in a little extra for any shipping charges incurred.

The more patches you order the less your cost will be. You can then pass a larger savings on to your customer, or increase your own profits. In the mean time, while you are waiting for the patches to arrive you can concentrate on other embroidery work that actually earns you a profit.

It is not my intention to discourage you from making patches. If that's something you enjoy doing then go for it. Just be aware there are other viable options. You don’t have to turn down that large order for patches or kill yourself trying to meet a deadline. Help is available if you choose to take advantage of it. Unless you don’t mind burning a lot of midnight oil and working for peanuts outsourcing patches is the way to go.