ISO Little Embroidery Patches for "Lil' Alligator Style"

December 2, 2014 11:08 PM

Looking for ready-made patches smaller than 1 inch to sew onto home-made shirts, but am finding patches twice as large or websites that invite me to create a custom order of their top quality wares.

I find a little breast emblem nicely finishes a modestly detailed shirt and am not looking for "statement pieces", rather something subtle, but am only finding the kinds of patches high-schoolers sew onto their Dakine backpacks (and I really appreciated a juvenile nod to Nirvana) or websites that anxious to prove they can really make my hypothetical company's logo "pop". I'm more looking for something wee that people will barely notice, but will subconsciously (and/or irrationally) make me feel more polished. Any suggestions?

posted by alice_curiouse to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (6 answers total)

Are you looking for a particular motif? Or just something juvenile like this (which, now that I've checked the centis, is too big). Is it something that can be created using the embroidery stitches on sewing machines (I've never opened up that booklet on mine)? Is there a reason you don't want to do a custom image? Have you considered doing small embroidered labels with your logo or whatever; folding them and sewing the tab into a side seam or stitching it flat onto the back yoke/pocket/sleeve?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 12:20 AM on December 3, 2014

You could try a search under "appliqués" instead of patches. I've found ladybugs and butterflies and such that are under an inch by Simplicity, in sew-on or iron-on appliqués.. The problem is that the smaller you go, of course, the less detail you are going to get. The 5/8 inch ladybugs have very little detail.

Even the blue alligators on this page are a little over an inch in size.
posted by misha at 1:59 AM on December 3, 2014

You may be able to have a custom one made on etsy. It might be neat to have your own little design on your shirts. A teeny book, feather or monogram or something personal.
posted by beccaj at 6:13 AM on December 3, 2014

Have you considered just embroidering something instead of sewing on a patch? It will take a little longer but then you can have exactly the size and design you want.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:50 AM on December 3, 2014

> Have you considered just embroidering something instead of sewing on a patch? It will take a little longer but then you can have exactly the size and design you want

Or you could take your shirts to a custom-embroidery company. That'll give it a more polished look than sewing a patch on will.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:51 PM on December 3, 2014

I assume you don't have an embroidery module for your sewing machine. If you do and haven't learned to use it or whatnot, I encourage you to try it out; it's fun!

I found a few things close to size by searching etsy for mini iron on patches. These were the smallest I found in my initial search:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/121791325/star-tattoo-iron-on-patch-three-mini
posted by freezer cake at 4:16 PM on December 5, 2014