Creating custom patches for a sheriff's medical bag

Custom Patches for a Medical Bag

Medical Bag out on Patrol

As we have always said, OMLpatches.com is all about custom patches - any size, any color, any shape that you require.  We are happy to work with you to perfect the patch that you need for your tactical gear.  Here is the patches in action story of creating very specific patches for a medical bag for a sheriff's office to use out on patrol.

The patches that were required to fit properly into the bag were unique indeed.  The customer measured the velcro space that was required to fit into 2 specific points inside the bag.  To make things more complicated, one of the velcro parts was the fuzzy side of the velcro and one of the parts was the hook side velcro.  He needed two very specific patches custom made to fit properly into the bag.   The velcro area was inside the bag, too.  This medical bag was divided into certain areas and sections with the velcro running in between those areas.  It required very specific custom patches to cover the whole area that he wanted.  He asked that one of the patches have the regular hook side velcro, and one have the fuzzy side of the velcro.  Of course we questioned this request, because we do not many (if any) requests to make patches with the fuzzy side of the velcro - mainly because the patches will not "stick" to anything except the hook side.  We also call the fuzzy side of the velcro the "anti-velcro" because it seems to gather up the other patches that are in production and makes a big mess of everything.  We keep the "anti-velcro" far away from our patches and any work stations.  However, he was sure that's what he needed and sent a few pictures of what he was looking for:

You can see in the second picture that the velcro on the bag is the hook side of the velcro, so he had to have the fuzzy side to make it work.

So the patches had to be designed with all that in mind - so far so good.  He wanted the patches to fit accross the length of the bag, to cover up the velcro.  

Another thing he wanted was to be able to put indicator arrows pointing in a direction to make his patch labels clear.  Was it possible to do this?  yes, of course it is - we can create anything that you need.  Another thing that makes OMLpatches.com stand out from the rest is that we do not charge any extra for little things like arrows pointing up.  Yes it is more work for us to create such specific patches, but we don't mind because we know that the customer will be getting exactly what he wants - a one of a kind patch specifically designed for his needs. 

Once we have all of the information in place we created the patch - white background, black lettering and merrowing, arrows pointing up and the odd size of 2inches x 12 inches.  Remembering that we do not have any minimums to order, he was able to order exactly what he needed - only one of each.  Once the patches were stitched, we did a QC on the patches to make sure the size was correct, etc. and double checked to make sure which patch needed the odd fuzzy side of the velcro. 

We completed the patches, and sent them out to the customer. They were a perfect fit, and the sheriff's office now had the patch lables that they wanted for the medical bag to take out on patrol with them.  Another satisfied customer.  The sheriff's office was also kind enough to send us pictures of the bag with the patches, which really makes our day - we love to see our patches in action!

Thanks for sending the pictures in!

Do you and your patches want to get featured in our PATCHES IN ACTION pages?  send in your awesome patch pictures and we may feature them on their own page! (plus patch pictures makes us happy :))

OML

FEATURED AIRSOFT TEAM: MURDER INC. AIRSOFT

FEATURED AIRSOFT TEAM:  

MURDER INC. AIRSOFT

Another successful airsoft team patched and ready to go!

Looking to create your own custom airsoft team patches?  you are heading  to the right place!  Go to OMLpatches.com and start creating your own patches today!

At OMLpatches.com, we have been creating patches for almost 9 years - we have lots of experience and we can help you create your own custom team patches!  Your team will thank you!!

Murder Inc. Airsoft sent us an amazing design for their patches - its a very creative design and looks amazing when it is stitched out.  We took their design and turned it into stitches and into a patch.  The team loved the patches!  During a game, you won't have any trouble finding Murder Inc. - their patches stand out for creativity and a great design. 

A special thank you to Murder Inc. for sending in awesome Patches in Action pics of our patches!

If you are looking to create your own airsoft team patches, you are in the right place.  To start the process, go to the CUSTOM PATCHES section and upload your file with the one time Digitizing Fee, and then pick the size of the patches that you want, and give us all the details that you want.   If you have any questions about making a custom order, then please CONTACT US and we will be happy to help out. 

Your team can look as good as Murder Inc. Airsoft out in the field:  Your team will thank you for it!!


OMLpatches.com:  patching the world one team at a time!

Custom Patches for Working Dogs

Custom Service Dog Patches

 Create your own working dog patches

Service Dogs are truly amazing, and continually help their human companions in many ways each and every day.  We have heard from many working dog owners that it can be difficult to find patches for their working dog’s vest.  We have listened and have made it very easy for you to get patches for your working dog.   We also enjoy hearing how happy owners are with their custom patches - they get exactly what they wanted for their working dog and love the results!

Our very happy Service dog is Cashew who loves his new patches created specifically for him!  Thanks Cashew for sending in great pictures - we think you look great!

Yes, you can buy some pre-made and pre-designed patches that sort of fit on the dogs vest and are standard and expensive and exactly like many other patches, OR you can have a custom patch that will say exactly what you want, it will fit perfectly, and fit exactly where you want it to fit.   

Instead of the standard black background with red and white lettering, make your patch stand out with different colours for lettering - how about pink?  People tend to notice bright different colors as opposed to the regular colors normally used.  Make your patch stand out and be noticed and read properly, the instructions understood clearly. 

 

Service dog patches can be sewn to your vest or attached with velcro to identify your dog as a service dog, therapy dog, working dog, police dog, search and rescue dog to name a few.  They also can be used to describe the service your dog performs such as, medical alert dog, guide dog, hearing dog, seizure alert dog, diabetic alert dog, PTSD dog, Psychiatric dog etc.  Service dog patches can also be used to inform others that your dog is working do not pet him, that he is friendly and it is ok, or to ask first.   Get your message read clearly through patches for your Service Dog.

 

You can use any space available on your dog’s vest - measure the space and be sure, and measure the available velcro space and we can make a patch that will fit perfectly!   You can make custom patches in a stop sign shape with bright coloured thread, or you can make nametapes that are 1 inch in height and as long as you need it to be.  You can also add in a paw print or a silhouette of a K9 to add to the overall look of the patch.  

 

You can get as creative as you can, and make your own original custom Service Dog Patch and design it how you want it too look.  

Get exactly what you need at OMLpatches.com!

New and improved site design at OMLpatches.com

New and improved OMLpatches.com website. 

Yes, we think we look pretty good now!


We have changed the whole entire website and added some easy to use features on the website that will make finding your patches quick and easy!  Check them out:

1.  Simple design:  we have changed the whole design of the site to make it look more simple, but still tactical colors. We hope that the simple design makes the pictures and the articles easier to read and find!

2.  Drop down menus:  at the top of each page you will now find DROP DOWN MENUS to make the site navigation even easier!  Have a question?  hover over the FAQ title and the drop down menu will display the questions and offer you some step by step guides on how to order patches.  

3.  The whole website is now responsive.  What does that mean to you?  it means that you can look at the website on a cell phone, any tablet or any sized monitor and the website will adjust to look GREAT at any size.  Just one more thing to make shopping easier and quicker. 

4.  New sub category twirl down menus.  Ok, not a big deal really, but we can further categorize the patches to make them much easier to find.  Some of the categories already have some sub-categories listed with them - all you have to do is click the little arrow to the right and the sub-categories will pop out!  check out the Patches category which now has sub menus of SEASONAL and TACP.  thats a good start!

5. Searching:  we have made searching much easier and quicker to find.  Its on the top left of every patch in a search box.   Simply type in what you are looking for and the search will find it for you and even offer suggestions for you.

6.  Patch Sorting:  Oh, i like this one.  On each product page, you can sort the patches in that category!  Awesome!  You can sort the patches by newest first, alphabetical, most popular and by price.  

We hope that you find the new site easier and better to use!  If you have any issues with the site or would like to offer suggestions, please contact us and we will be happy to help you out!

OMLpatches.com

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

High quality materials make high quality patches

At OMLpatches.com, we only use the best materials, sourced from the USA.  

FABRIC BACKGROUND MATERIAL

Our multicam material is made from real Rip-stop straight from the manufacturer - no middlemen.  It is the same high quality material that the uniforms are made from.  If we were to use the cheaper, ever available crappy knock-off multicam material, the patches would fall apart.  We accidentally got send some of this material, and we threw it all out because we could not even cut the material with sharp scissors.  Does anyone really want that for their patches?  Nope.  When you search patch images online, if you zoom in, you can see the quality of the materials used in creating the patches.  If the patches don't have the Rip-Stop lines on them, you know that it is second rate material.  Its a good sign that the company is using low quality cheap materials, and in turn making low quality cheaper patches that will eventually fall apart.   Of course, not all of the camo and solid colour materials come in Rip-Stop by design, but we know that multicam does, so that is a good place to look.  Multicam also comes in different camps - Multicam Black, multicam arid and multicam tropical.  We of course bought all of that material directly from the same manufacturer, Duro Textiles in the USA.

THREAD

Believe it or not, thread quality makes a big difference.  We only use the best thread, Madeira Threads and have carefully chosen the perfect colours to match the background fabric.    I have seen that some companies use less quality threads, and it shows in their work.  The thread looses colour and frays easily.  That doesn't make your patch last longer.  We also use the same thread for merrowing the edges - making the marrow and the thread match perfectly and also keeping with our high standards of quality materials.  The thread keeps its colour and doesn't fray at all.  Some merrowing threads fray the minute you touch it to the fuzzy side of the velcro, and that is why we use the more expensive but higher quality embroidery thread for merrowing (the merrowing is the thick outside edge stitching on the outside of the patches, as shown below)

VELCRO

As discussed in the last blog, velcro makes a big difference for patches.  You can have an awesome patch, but if it falls of in the field because the velcro is cheap, what good does it do you?  Not much.  We only use Velcro Brand Fastener, the best of the best, and we only get it directly from the manufacturer in the USA.   Sure, we could use an off brand velcro and save a ton of money, but its not worth it for quality.  The hook Velcro on the back of your patch is the only thing holding your patch on!  If it is going to fall off, its just not good enough.   the Velcro is virtually guaranteed to stay on the fuzzy size of the velcro - the "velcro real estate" on most uniforms, gear and bags is meant for this purpose - to hold on to the patches and keep them safe.  

SO THE QUESTION IS, WHY SETTLE FOR LESS THAN THE BEST?  

Sure you can get patches for $1.75 or $4.00 but you really get what you pay for.    When you pay a little bit more for the high quality professional patches that are made to last, that is exactly what you get.  I have friends that are still using their patches that we made 8 years ago - the patches have been out in the field, in different climates, sand, rain and other inclement weather and they still look good!  Can anyone else say that about their patches?  I doubt that. 

GET THE BEST PATCHES WITH THE HIGHEST QUALITY AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET. 

CUSTOM MADE TO ORDER, CUSTOM MADE TO LAST. 

OML

Quick History of Patches

The Knights Templar Shield Patch

Badges and patches have been collected since ancient times…as far back as Greek and Roman times.  The pilgrims made collections of small images of gods and made them into emblems.   The patches started off as metal pin badges.  These badges were collected as souvenirs to remind them of special occasions or holidays. 

Early in the 20th Century Europe, hiking became popular, people began sewing badges to show how many resort towns they had visited, sort of a badge of honour and proof of their accomplishments.

There were a few uniform patches authorized in WWI, but towards the end of WW II, American soldiers started a new trend and sent their badges back stateside to show their loved ones where they were stationed or what accomplishments they made.  These badges were famously known as “sweetheart badges” and became very popular to collect.Patches began to steadily become very popular in WWII but were still given limited usage on the uniform, and quickly became a source of pride to all those who wore them. 

The oldest patch on record belongs to the 1st Infantry Division.  Their first patch was created in 1918 and was a very simple patch - a banner shape with a large red number 1.   The 1st infantry patch is still one of the most recognizable and sought after patches to this day.  The 1st Infantry has a long and rich history, and therefore a large amount of honour and pride, strength and valour is associated with the patch. 

Division identification patches were being heavily regulated in WWII, but still the divisions and brigades began creating their own patches that were unique to each division.   During the Vietnam War, the patches started to subdue their colours, and the bright reds, greens and yellows were subdued more to match the uniforms.    The patches began as simple insignia - small in size, simple shapes and very simple designs.  Their importance however, was very big.  Patches gained in popularity, and also grew in size and complexity of the designs. 

As Patches grew in popularity they became more complex and more detailed with different shapes and sayings on them and are very different from the earlier first patches.  

Today patches are still a mark of honour that is easily identified.  Patches are good to boost morale, and are a mark of pride and history of a group or division.   When you see someone wearing a military patch you don’t recognize, there will most likely be a rich history behind the patch, and a great story to tell.   So ask and learn a bit of history!

OMLpatches.com

When in doubt...Empty the mag!

When in doubt, empty the mag...true or not true?

Lots of funny morale patches, custom patches too, only at http://www.omlpatches.com/

OMLpatches