Making Patches
We frequently see people asking how they go about creating their own patches. Like many areas in life, the more you want made the less per patch you are likely to pay. So getting a single custom patch made may cost you £15, £30, £50 depending on the size, complexity and manufacturing process. We've even seen sellers offering hand stitched "luxury" patches for over £100.
If you only want to make one for yourself then I'm afraid we can't be of much help. It is not financially viable for sellers, including VHI, to make a very small amount. If all you want is 1 patch for yourself all we can suggest is to try Etsy. For very small batches (say 10ish) it could be worth looking at brick-and-mortar stores print stores local to you. This will cost slightly more per item than ordering online but they may be willing to make smaller batches. For larger, bulk orders many sellers, including VHI, utilise foreign manufactures via online Business-to-Business (B2B) marketplaces. The process for this method is relatively straightforward:
1. Have a design idea.
- Ensure it is as simple as possible; small or very fine details may be lost completely or end up looking messy.
- Avoid gradients; unless you are printing (and you shouldn't be) gradients will not be possible. Many manufacturers use Pantone solid colour threads, so use pallete generators or colour pickers to give yourself the best opportunity of matching the design colours to available threads.
- Whilst there are other sites out there, realisticly you will be using Alibaba. There are literally hundreds of suppliers on the site based all over the world. Browse their pages, view their reviews and look at their product pages.
- Communicate with suppliers to tell them what you want. Most manufacturers will specialise in a certain style or process so ensure they will be able to create what you are envisaging.
- Do be open to revisions. In order to make a design workable the patch may need to be made larger or certain areas may need to be altered/removed.
- Ensure you get samples. Most suppliers will ship samples to you but this will cost more and take a large amount of time. A reasonable alternative, and in fact the norm, is having the company send photographs of each version alowing you to confirm that the design matches the reality. Once you are happy with everything give them confirmation to go into full production. If a company is reluctant to, or flat out doesn't provide samples, you probably shouldn't use them.
Buying/Selling Patches
You can buy and sell patches from pretty much any online marketplace.
- For "real" patches i.e. military unit, blue light service, other official etc, eBay is probably your best bet.
- Online market places like Etsy or Facebook Marketplace are generally where independent sellers who don't have the size or desire to set up their own website will establish themselves.
- Forum websites like Reddit have active communties of collectors willing to trade, sell and buy patches. This is also where smaller independent sellers will advertise their own websites and stores.
- Google is always your friend when using the right key words.
- Lists from social media and online communities can also help you find stores.
The question "what do you do with the patches" seems to come up very frequently. Essentially do with your patches as you want!
Many people choose to display patches on a wall hanging. The simplist method of doing this is with felt, although some stores do sell wall hangings specifically for patches. Basically you can use anything the hook part of velcro will stick to. Which is a lot, one guy even uses the road map play rug you last saw when you were 4!
If your patches come as iron on only with no velcro backing you can buy adhesive hook and loop tape to apply to the patch.
Depending on the product you have bought you may be able to get away with using the loop side of this for sticking to your backpack or other item you wish to put your patch on. But if you are planning on sticking the patch to an item of clothing or other practicle thing we would suggest stitching the loop section into place.