Merrowing Custom Patches

Why OMLpatches.com is better than the rest.

WHAT EXACTLY IS MERROWING?
Merging is a standard addition to most custom patches. A merrowed border is a standard option for custom patches and can be applied to a circle, rectangle, square or triangle. The merrowed border option will give your custom patch a finished, professional and polished look. This border is 1/8″ is that overlocks the patch edge. This option also prevents unwanted frayed edges. Merrowed Border will give your patch long lasting durability.  At OMLpatches.com, we have modified our Merrow Machine so we can merrow the velcro right on to the patch itself - no sewing the velcro on afterwards like most companies do.   This is one of the reasons that Omlpatches.com is better than the rest.

What does this mean to you?  it means that the velcro will never come off, ever.  It has 4 strands of embroidery thread plus two clear polyester threads interwoven to hold everything together.  It is not going to come off.  In fact, if the Merrow Artist makes a mistake and has to remove some of the merrowing, it can take hours of work to take out all of those threads.  So the velcro will stay on, and the patch will not separate from the velcro, or fall apart.  It is made to last through anything you do.  
Here are some more information on the history of merrowing, taken from the Merrow.com website:

The Inventor of Merrow Machine Company

Merrowed Borders and custom patches compliment each other beautifully. It’s hard to believe that if it weren’t for one man, merrowed borders would have never been created. Joseph M. Merrow was born on June 24, 1848. Mr. Merrow was born and raised in Mansfield, Connecticut. In 1938 the Merrow’s family business was established. This small family business started out as a manufacturer of knit cotton goods. This business would not last long, a small fire would destroy their whole factory and would change the appearance of patches forever. Merrow Mills was soon developed and the first industrial overlock sewing machine was created. Today, Merrow Machine Company is the leading merrow machine manufacture and is the oldest manufacture to produce sewing machines in The United States of America. Merrow Machine Company is the only company in the entire world to produce a machine to do patches and emblems.    its one of a kind!

Merrowing Process

The process of merrowing a custom patch using the merrow machine is very difficult, time consuming and takes skill to get it right, especially with tabs. Its a good idea to know a bit about the process of merrowing because it will give you a good idea of one of the many steps that we use for custom patches and what goes into producing them. Our production team goes through each custom patch one by one and uses the merrow machine to do the merrowed edge border one at a time. This is a time consuming process, where every patch is done individually. When it comes to custom patches, there is no such thing as mass production. It takes time, patience, and talent.  But it makes for great patches that are made to last.

Yep, above is a merrow machine.  Its kinda funny looking and reminds me of a very old fashioned sewing machine.  It is of course very different from a sewing machine....it only does one thing - the edges of patches and nothing else.  

Advantages of Merrowing a custom patch:

• Merrowed borders makes patches more durable than any other patch borders
• Protects against frayed edges
• Gives the patch a polished professional look
• Looks better and cleaner
• Gives the patch a decorative edge
• Makes patches stand out
• Holds on to the velcro, and will never let go.
• Looks great on any patches - play around with colors and match the merrowed border to the rest of the patch
• we have the same colour thread for the merged edge as the embroidery, so patches will look put together and completed properly
• subdued colors if needed - so no bright edges unless that is what you are looking for.
• merrowed edge matches the camo or solid coloured background

Disadvantages:

• The smallest size for a merrowed patch is 1.5”x1.5”
• limitation on what patches you can marrow, but we find most patches can be merrowed.
• Available for rectangle, triangle, circle and shield shapes (simple basic shapes only)
• Can only be used on smooth borders
• time consuming, requires still and patience and hours of work to do properly
• needles are stupidly expensive (well that has nothing to do with you, i just get mad when I break a needle)

visit us today and get the best patches available - we have over 950+ custom patches and adult (funny) patches.

OMLpatches.com