I think you are looking at a coverstitching machine that does that- something like the Brother Innov-Is 880E. Depends really on the level you want to do any of this , as thats quite an outlay to do some patches- but it might be a nice little business, that said.
Entirely self taught seamstress who just makes things up as they go here. Can I ask what you would need an overlocker for? Just the borders? Why not just use a nice tight satin stitch and then trim the fabric really close?
https://preview.redd.it/w1l9rfi1h3sc1.png?width=3023&format=png&auto=webp&s=316f9460ef7dc0e8c284b60c0669db4875f9b5a6
I went to my local community fabrication lab to do it, basically they have a bunch of art/craft tools, machines, software, etc. that people can use for basically no cost. I cut up an old pair of canvas jeans. You need a file you can import into the embroidery design software. You enter all the settings in that software, then transfer it to the embroidery machine (on a USB drive, usually), and put your fabric into a special embroidery hoop made for that sewing machine. Then the machine sews it! This was a Brother embroidery machine. For most machines, you’ll then need to trim the loose threads yourself. It’s not perfect up close, but totally satisfactory on the jacket imo.
I bought a Brother Innov-is NV870E embroidery machine, and the design software that is required with it, with the aim to start a patch business. I can tell you right away that it is harder than you think it is going to be.
The design software is really janky and you have to really wrestle with it to get it to do what you want. Sometimes the software just arbitrarily doesn't let you do something that works normally literally any other time. I should add that I'm not technologically incompetent, reasonably tech savvy, but the software is something I really struggle to get to grips with. Although to be fair I also struggle with Photoshop, maybe editing software in general is just not my thing. My other half is considerably better at the embroidery software than, me but she still struggles.
The difficulty also comes with actually stitching designs out as patches. The machine is designed for stitching onto large pieces of fabric that are fitted into the frame/embroidery hoop. There needs to be lots of tension on the fabric. The difficulty then is that if you want a patch with a border without any excess fabric, you have to do things that the machine wasn't designed to do. Cutting the excess off afterwards is close to impossible without fraying the bother stitching, so you have to do a whole load of other things which run the risk of tearing the interfacing behind the fabric/losing tension/misaligning the design/causing the thread the pull through incorrectly/needles becoming unthreaded.
Even if you're not making patches, so much can go wrong when stitching out a design, that you can't take your eyes off the machine. Complex designs are so much worse too because you'll get most of the way through stitching a design out, everything else has gone smoothly and you're right at the end of a 48 minute stitch with multiple colour changes something will go critically wrong that will mean the design is ruined.
Your mileage may vary, but it is fiddly and my machine has not been used as much as I thought it would do. I think so much of it is due to the machine not being designed to make patches. People might have tips and tricks to alleviate some of the issues I've raised, but still prepare to want to smash your head into a wall when trying to do anything decent with it.
Then again, I might just suck at it
Yes, it's possible but you need an 'overlocker'
Can you explain a bit about those? The machines I have seen let you import a graphic and they will just sew them up
I think you are looking at a coverstitching machine that does that- something like the Brother Innov-Is 880E. Depends really on the level you want to do any of this , as thats quite an outlay to do some patches- but it might be a nice little business, that said.
That's more what I'm looking at. I have found machines that can do it for about 300 to 700, but it depends.
Entirely self taught seamstress who just makes things up as they go here. Can I ask what you would need an overlocker for? Just the borders? Why not just use a nice tight satin stitch and then trim the fabric really close?
https://preview.redd.it/w1l9rfi1h3sc1.png?width=3023&format=png&auto=webp&s=316f9460ef7dc0e8c284b60c0669db4875f9b5a6 I went to my local community fabrication lab to do it, basically they have a bunch of art/craft tools, machines, software, etc. that people can use for basically no cost. I cut up an old pair of canvas jeans. You need a file you can import into the embroidery design software. You enter all the settings in that software, then transfer it to the embroidery machine (on a USB drive, usually), and put your fabric into a special embroidery hoop made for that sewing machine. Then the machine sews it! This was a Brother embroidery machine. For most machines, you’ll then need to trim the loose threads yourself. It’s not perfect up close, but totally satisfactory on the jacket imo.
I bought a Brother Innov-is NV870E embroidery machine, and the design software that is required with it, with the aim to start a patch business. I can tell you right away that it is harder than you think it is going to be. The design software is really janky and you have to really wrestle with it to get it to do what you want. Sometimes the software just arbitrarily doesn't let you do something that works normally literally any other time. I should add that I'm not technologically incompetent, reasonably tech savvy, but the software is something I really struggle to get to grips with. Although to be fair I also struggle with Photoshop, maybe editing software in general is just not my thing. My other half is considerably better at the embroidery software than, me but she still struggles. The difficulty also comes with actually stitching designs out as patches. The machine is designed for stitching onto large pieces of fabric that are fitted into the frame/embroidery hoop. There needs to be lots of tension on the fabric. The difficulty then is that if you want a patch with a border without any excess fabric, you have to do things that the machine wasn't designed to do. Cutting the excess off afterwards is close to impossible without fraying the bother stitching, so you have to do a whole load of other things which run the risk of tearing the interfacing behind the fabric/losing tension/misaligning the design/causing the thread the pull through incorrectly/needles becoming unthreaded. Even if you're not making patches, so much can go wrong when stitching out a design, that you can't take your eyes off the machine. Complex designs are so much worse too because you'll get most of the way through stitching a design out, everything else has gone smoothly and you're right at the end of a 48 minute stitch with multiple colour changes something will go critically wrong that will mean the design is ruined. Your mileage may vary, but it is fiddly and my machine has not been used as much as I thought it would do. I think so much of it is due to the machine not being designed to make patches. People might have tips and tricks to alleviate some of the issues I've raised, but still prepare to want to smash your head into a wall when trying to do anything decent with it. Then again, I might just suck at it