Patches, sewn

Create a Post
libertycustomframes

libertycustomframes

CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
Joined
Oct 26, 2011
Posts
203
Loc
Torrington, CT
Hi All,

I have a framing job that consists of mounting 100 embroidered patches, all different sizes and shapes, but mostly 3-4" in diameter. I will be spreading these out over 5 frames. The customer wants me to quote the job with sewing the patches, and with the patches just glued in. What is your normal labor fee for something like this? The patches will most likely me applied to suede matting. I already have the price for all other materials-- I'm just not sure how much labor this is really going to be....I'm excited, yet scared at the same time!

Thanks for your input!
 
Cliff Wilson said:
Use a tag gun.

A few bucks a patch.
Click to expand...

I was thinking that-- I have black and white fasteners, but some patches are a royal blue or a cardinal red, and the fasteners are very visible. I'm wondering if the clear fasteners are really all that clear....
 
libertycustomframes said:
What is your normal labor fee for something like this?
Click to expand...

Don't mean to be curt but it is not what someone elses labor fee is but yours that is important. How long do you think it would take to stictch each patch down? Do a test and multiply that by the number of patches and how much you need to make per hour to cover all of your costs. Don't discount the fact that this takes you away from other projects in that time.

Cliff's suggestion of a tag gun is a very good one unless the edges are extremely rolled on the patches.





PS. Pat from Attach EZ has color fast markers you can use to color those clear or white tags to match.
 
j Paul said:
Don't mean to be curt but it is not what someone elses labor fee is but yours that is important. How long do you think it would take to stictch each patch down? Do a test and multiply that by the number of patches and how much you need to make per hour to cover all of your costs. Don't discount the fact that this takes you away from other projects in that time.

Cliff's suggestion of a tag gun is a very good one unless the edges are extremely rolled on the patches.





PS. Pat from Attach EZ has color fast markers you can use to color those clear or white tags to match.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the Post Script-- that solves my problem. One of those "duh!" moments!
 
Takes me about 10 or 15 minutes to stitch down a patch. I usually tack in 8 places. I charge $10 each. Don't glue...
 
Why not glue them? I did a similar job but with 400 patches. These were all newer patches that had a plastic backing. I use cornerweld to glue them down which has held up great. They can easily be removed because of the plastic backing.

Now that was my job and your's maybe very different. I wouldn't do this on old or valuable patches.

You can check out my FB page or dig though the archives to see photos.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...5756638.-2207520000.1360865157&type=3&theater
 
The tiny tags used in the Micro Tach gun are less than 1/8" long and really skinny - they blend right in to embroidery - and the LePlume pigmented pens make them virtually invisible.
 
What's on back of the patches? I heard that some patches these days have velcro on the back. Or could you stich hook/loop material on the back and stick it the mate of the hook/loop material stapled to the mat. This would be pretty easy to position.
Susan
 
I like the velcro idea. Or the AttachEZ
Otherwise if you stitch each one by hand its going to take forever getting the thread to match and rethreading all for 4 or 5 stitches per patch. :popc:
Good luck! Sounds fun!
 
Tag gun or sew = happy
Glue or Spray adhesive = not so much.

Glue will release in a few years, especially if the patches have that plastic backing. don't ask me how I know but I saw it Somewhere.

Trust me. No fun to do a second time for free.
 
Military patches often have velcro on the reverse,easy enough. Otherwise a FEW small stitches,imho. I actually collect AF patches,have a wall covered in them. I have fabric wrapped cork panels screwed to the wall.Patches are held up with 4-5 color coordinated map pins around the perimeter of each ,never through the patch. Velcro bearing ones are stuck to a small piece of mil spec velcro pinned to the board.No glazing of course. If I had them framed and discovered you'd glued my babies,er..patches...... I'd murder you,just sayin. L
 
blackiris said:
I like the velcro idea. Or the AttachEZ
Otherwise if you stitch each one by hand its going to take forever getting the thread to match and rethreading all for 4 or 5 stitches per patch. :popc:
Good luck! Sounds fun!
Click to expand...

Our son was in scouting and eventaully went on to earn his Eagle Scout rank. So there were a lot of badges and those things had to be sewn down tight to withstand abuse. Before he was old enough to do a decent job of sewing them on his own shirts, I got pretty good at sewing them down with matching thread. As the boys grew, the parents had to buy new shirts and sew them all on again. The sash would take care of some of them, but it seemed like there was an awful lot of stuff that had to go from shirt to shirt. I have thought about framing them all as an example for the shop, but every time I think about all that sewing, I put it off for another year. I need Ellen, the sew and sew, to do this for me ;-) For framing purposes, Attach-Ez might work if I could hide the tags without disturbing the colored embroadered border on each. I wish I could have taken the military patches class at WCAF/PPFA, but it confilicted with my classes. Did anyone take this? Tips?
 
The micro tags, colored with the light fast pens, turned so they run in a seam or with the grain of the edge embroidery, really do disappear. (Even to most framers, who see things a customer would never see). Seriously, stop stressing about the visibility of those tags.
 
I'm not as fast at sewing as Ellen . . and as the fingers get stiffer, the price goes up.

I would quote this at $20/patch for sewn down, or $5 per for Attach EZ with
the micro. I can wiggle a micro into twenty placed in the perimeter (and even Laura
would know) in under a few minutes.

The time isn't how long to sew a patch..... it is everything.... getting your stuff together,
setting up the table, sitting patch after patch.... But then, I don't have anyone else to
do the "other stuff" like Ellen does. So figuring out how long for 50 patches.... I would
guess that I would be at it more than two days, and maybe even three. Tagging would
take me less than two hours start to ready to fit.

Pat is my biggest hero. I don't care what other people want to say or think; they didn't
see the potential... they didn't develop all of the different ways.... every time I watch her
videos.. I learn or relearn something else.

I think of all the millions of dollars that framers over the years have pissed through their
fingers sewing stuff on a Sunday because it "Free time" and the customer "would never
pay the true value of the labor".
 
BTW, No one has ever mentioned it.. but I hope you are all using glover's needles when you stitch to board? Nothing better,they have SHARP faceted points,and work like magic on thick or difficult surfaces. L
 
Use a thin awl to pre-poke the board before tagging. Your work will be easier, and you will not bend or break your tagging needles. Good awls can be found at bookbinding or art supply stores.
:cool: Rick
 
Rick Granick said:
Use a thin awl to pre-poke the board before tagging. Your work will be easier, and you will not bend or break your tagging needles. Good awls can be found at bookbinding or art supply stores.
:cool: Rick
Click to expand...

The micro tools works woderfully for doing patches. Any pigmented ink will work to color match the fasteners and you can have all 100 of them done in about 15 minutes, maybe less once you get the hang of it. The micro tool has ball point needles and does no harm and the patches can be removed if needed. If you sew, which is your choice to do, you will never be able to charge enough for labor. Listen to Baer, he knows what he is talking about.
 
Baer Charlton said:
I'm not as fast at sewing as Ellen . . and as the fingers get stiffer, the price goes up.

I would quote this at $20/patch for sewn down, or $5 per for Attach EZ with
the micro. I can wiggle a micro into twenty placed in the perimeter (and even Laura
would know) in under a few minutes.


Pat is my biggest hero. I don't care what other people want to say or think; they didn't
see the potential... they didn't develop all of the different ways.... every time I watch her
videos.. I learn or relearn something else.
Click to expand...
 
Wow! Laying out, measuring and attaching 100 patches of all different shapes and sizes in less than 15 minutes? Pat, you need to put this on your next DVD! We all need to know how to do this.
 
Baer Charlton said:
I would quote this at $20/patch for sewn down, or $5 per for Attach EZ with
the micro. .
Click to expand...

$20/patch....100 patches......$2000 just for sewing some patches onto a glorified piece of cardboard. Now I know why custom framers get the reputation for being overpriced and super expensive. Sorry Baer, but even $5/patch is a little steep in my neck of the woods.

Looks like about an hour's work with an Attach EZ....$75 tops.
 
susang said:
Wow! Laying out, measuring and attaching 100 patches of all different shapes and sizes in less than 15 minutes? Pat, you need to put this on your next DVD! We all need to know how to do this.
Click to expand...

I didn't say anything about the layout design. I'm only talking about attaching them after the measurements are done and they have been laid out.
 
hangupsgallery said:
$20/patch....100 patches......$2000 just for sewing some patches onto a glorified piece of cardboard. Now I know why custom framers get the reputation for being overpriced and super expensive. Sorry Baer, but even $5/patch is a little steep in my neck of the woods.

Looks like about an hour's work with an Attach EZ....$75 tops.
Click to expand...


My point exactly Steve.

But back in the day... before Pat . . . framers knew their customers would never pay for
the hours of sewing.... so they would bid it out at maybe 2 hours......

and then sew way into the night. Ask old framers how many had 13" TVs in their shops
for all of the late nigh sewing jobs . . . you would be shocked.

And that is why you will occasionally find merit badges brought in because the ATG has
given out and a few have dropped..... and many of us used to just tack them down with
drops of glue.... what the heck.... they're replaceable.
 
All this talk about sewing/tagging badges - how big are the badges anyways?

I used the tagging gun on these embroidered medallions (they were between 2.5" and 3.5") and it took 2-4 tags per each and about 5 minutes to secure them all down - eyeballing the layout.

Then (here comes my secret) - I took a photo of them, and since one or two looked slightly off, I cut them off and repositioned them and re-tagged them. Maybe another 5 minutes.

The two strips around the outside took slightly longer because I had to do so tweaking and folding to get everything to line up.

65337_10151049904805773_1581146478_n.jpg
 
Framar said:
All this talk about sewing/tagging badges - how big are the badges anyways?

I used the tagging gun on these embroidered medallions (they were between 2.5" and 3.5") and it took 2-4 tags per each and about 5 minutes to secure them all down - eyeballing the layout.

Then (here comes my secret) - I took a photo of them, and since one or two looked slightly off, I cut them off and repositioned them and re-tagged them. Maybe another 5 minutes.

The two strips around the outside took slightly longer because I had to do so tweaking and folding to get everything to line up.

65337_10151049904805773_1581146478_n.jpg
Click to expand...

Nice job, Framar. Glad the tools worked so well for you. It does take a lot of hours off the labor side of a job like that. Thanks for sharing.
 
Framar said:
All this talk about sewing/tagging badges - how big are the badges anyways?

I used the tagging gun on these embroidered medallions (they were between 2.5" and 3.5") and it took 2-4 tags per each and about 5 minutes to secure them all down - eyeballing the layout.
Click to expand...

Good eyeballing!
 
Create a Post
Back
Top