Dude, I love you. You’re the reason why I made a lot of money sewing uniforms in my battalion. I HATED hash marks. Once you get to the 16 year hash mark, you’ll be glad to pay the uniform shop to do your hash marks. Here’s how to do your hash marks easier. 1. Remove the old patch. Then take your wife’s nail file and gently rub it over the area, inside and out. This will quickly pull off all the old cut threads. 2. Mark the sleeve for patch placement using chalk. 3. Pin or use glue tape to position the patch. 4. Turn the sleeve inside out. 5 begin sewing at the tip nearest the cuff. 6. You’re right about needle down when you need to turn corners. 7. When you get to the tip closer to your elbow, back stitch and cut your thread. 8. Start back down at the tip closest to the cuff. 9. Repeat steps 5-7 to do the other edge of the hash mark. 10. Invest in nippers. They are a little thread cutting tool that are sort of like little scissors. Keep them on you, especially inspection mornings. They will cost only about $5. Go over your patch and use these little beauties to trim any Irish pennants. Burning little stray threads is ok for blues and camis, but on whites you can get a black scorch mark. Good luck!
Nathan; I'm a 65 year old Navy grandma. I consider myself an experienced seamstress. My grandson asked if I would sew his patches on for him. It's been a lot of years since I sewed patches on any military uniforms. I decided to check out TH-cam to see if there was anything new I needed to know. I'm always looking to improve! Your video came up and it caught my eye. First of all, my hats off to your wife for letting you use her machine! My husband would not go near my machine. This obviously was not your first patch! I thought you did a really good job. The adhesive tape is always a great idea. There are some times when pins are not your friend. This is one of those. Some people, have what is called a free arm. I love mine! The piece around the presser foot comes off and expose a small arm for you to slide your sleeve on for easier sewing. Congrats on your video. You should do more. Enjoyed it!
Excellent! This 76 year old CAP Sr. Member learned so much from this video. The pocket patch idea is so simple! Duh...I never thought of seam ripping the pocket off temporarily. Thank you...8 years later.
I'm a self-taught sower and needed to sew some patches on a work uniform; I found this video VERY helpful, thank you for making it. And thank you for your service 💖
This was great! I’ve always outsourced my police uniform sewing to a third party but the time has come for my son to join cub scouts. I already had a Brother sewing machine but nobody was available to teach me. Your video has inspired me to not only sew my son’s cub scout uniforms but also handle my next round of PD uniform patches. Thanks so much!
Glad I could help, my friend! For some reason sewing isn't something that's really ever taught to guys. Perks of growing up in a frugal household, I guess.
This is a wonderful video, Nathan. I sew but I have never sewn patches before. My friend's husband is going to be a football referee and she asked me to sew the official patches on his uniform. I landed on your video and have found it "sew" helpful. Thank you very much!
You may like to know that there is a double sided sewing tape available called Wonder Tape and you can place that on your patch and then position it at the right spot on your uniform. No ironing required Then you can sew it with your machine. You may also want to take off the front part of the machine which would convert it into a free arm which makes it a lot easier with all that fabric especially on the sleeve. The sleeve would fit over the free arm and almost like a sleeve board for ironing for the most part you wouldnt have to deal with double layer of the sleeve trying to keep one layer out of the way.
I have been searching for over a year to find the tips you gave in this video. Everything I always found about sewing patches on long sleeves addressed jackets and coats, and everything I found addressing military uniforms talked about hand-sewing. What's even better is that you talked about the exact patches I'm dealing with. The SDWs are such a pain and the women's SDB jacket is worse, but I'm going to give them another shot now I found this. Thanks!!!
Thanks for this vid. I inherited my mother's machine 5 years ago and I felt that I need to start using it to sew on my patches instead of doing it by hand. This was very helpful . But more so I wanted to say, THANK YOU for serving our country for what's by now, 9 years. I am one that takes your's and everyone else in the US military's service, very personal. Thank You
Thank you so much! My nephew asked me to swap out some patches on his AF Uniform. I was frozen by fear of making a mistake. You reminded me that I would be able to correct any mistakes I might make. Thanks for the encouraging video, and for your Service.
Im a Brazilian jiujitsu practitioner and our uniforms could feature many patches, since this simple task could get very expensive I decided to invest on a sewing machine, perhaps even using it to repair my old uniforms (kimonos/gi) as well. This was such a good useful video and confidence booster. Well done, thank you.
So I am sitting at home trying to so some non-military patches on a shirt sleeve and I got frustrated and decided to look up a "how to" on TH-cam. So thrilled to find this video for two reasons number one you give me some great ideas and number two my son is been in the Navy for 5 1/2 years now and I have never asked him how he does it I will have to inquire if he has paid to have all of his patches sewn on or if he's been doing it himself or perhaps his wife is been doing it they're both in the Navy ..... Signed sincerely a mom who never learn to sew !!!!
Thank you for your in informative video. It really gave me, a DIYer, the confidence to know that I can sew the patch on myself, without having to pay someone overly priced to do it. Thank you!
Thank you for this clear and informative video! I agree with you on sewing fear and perceived roles. Adults should be able to do most things for themselves to be more rounded human. Thank you for your service.
Seriously.. thank you for being man enough to make this video. One thing I love and miss about my Dad & his generation is that they could do all the seriously rugged stuff like wrestle grizzly bears and build houses but they could also do basic sewing. I was winging it and sewing my husband's uniform patches on basically just like that but was afraid somehow I was doing it wrong so thank you! I really need to remember to use the tape instead of pins. Please do post more videos it's nice to see a real man handling business on TH-cam, Alterations is making bank over our lack of basic self sufficiency skills. I am making sure my sons and daughter can do basic sewing among other things we were never taught.
Glad you enjoyed the video! I agree with you that a lot of the more "domestic" tasks are being lost generationally and especially on young men such as myself. My mom always patched my clothes as a child and I helped her do quilt work, as well. That really take the "edge" off of me doing this stuff on my own. The hardest part for me was stringing up my wife's newfangled sewing machine. It's radically different from the ones that my mom used and that I was familiar with. I've had a pretty rounded education by 1) living on farms as a child 2) my father did construction work 3) my mother was very domestically inclined and 4) I've gotten a lot of training in the military. I try to pass on as much as I can to my two little girls. And yes, the alteration shops are really making a lot of money. I've said before that I totally support small business and whatnot, but sometimes these shops are simply exploitive in their "services".
You sir are a lifesaver! I have been struggling with patches for my Cub Scout den. I am taking over as Cubmaster next year and I want to make sure my scouts have the opportunity to have crisp uniforms. I have already yanked two of my hand sewn patches off and have reattached them after watching your video. Looks great!
I wish I had a video like this 15+ years ago! I had to sew my husband’s uniform patches on by hand once. Just about killed my fingers. Now I’m sewing on our little girl’s Girl Scout patches.
I love the video! I have 2 boys in boy scouts and patches change so quickly! I was in the Air Force, my husband still, is and was a brat and saw my daddy's money and mine go with new rank and unit patches that had to be done. I wish I had started sewing earlier but it is saving money now. Thanks for sharing.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Early on in my time in the Navy I remember seeing my friends complain about how expensive it was to get their uniforms updated once they got promoted or had to get new unit patches. I figured back then that I would just nip that in the bud and learn how to do this. As you probably know from growing up in the military, the gates outside the base are always packed with warhawking, price gouging sewing shops that do a shoddy job at best most of the time.
Navy Veteran, I don't think the video is useless to the current fighting men & women of the armed forces. It can save them a few ###. Thank you for making and posting this video.
Hey, I want to say that I am very grateful for your video! I was having difficulty sewing on my service stripes. Happy to say, I just finished adding my third stripe and a new crow.
Thanks for the video. I pretty much only know the basics when it comes to sewing. My husband always asks me to sew on all his patches after he gets promoted, which is daunting for me considering how particular the Navy is about uniforms.
So, I've been in deployment for five months so far, haven't checked any of my TH-cam stuff. I'm pretty blown away we're at 36,000 views for this video.
Nathan Polichnia haven't met many, so it's nice to see a man that does. my boyfriend's uncle loves to sew, even more work on and fix sewing machines. you don't see many men sitting down at a sewing machine and knowing how to use one. 😃
Great video. I know how to sew patches on; but, I want to thank you for making this video for people to learn. You did an outstanding job. Thank you for your service - Shipmate. Go NAVY!!!
Thanks! Your suggestions made sewing my function badge onto ABUs so much easier. I might try sewing my stripes on my blues one day...that'll be advanced sewing!
Nicely done shipmate. I have been doing my own for a while now (11yrs) and I refuse to let anyone mess with my uniforms. On a side note, I once tried the sleeve seam disassembly approach one time and needless to say it hasn't and will not happen again. It became a nightmare
Thanks for the great demonstration and information. I have to sew a patch on my lab coat and uniform for nursing school next semester. Very helpful. Thanks!
Thanks for the video! I grew up (Army Brat) watching my mom sew my dad's patches on...My husband is not in the military but law enforcement and he just got promoted, so I sewed his patches on. My only complaint about your video is that you made it seem to easy! haha! His had to be placed below a large pre-sewn patch so about the middle of the biceps area. I think I will show him your video & let him see that guys can also explore the joys of sewing!! I will say that next time, because he has more uniforms coming, I will be seam ripping the sleeve!
Glad to see that someone liked the video! Being a male that sews in the Navy makes me a huge minority. Everyone thinks it's funny until they spend $80 getting new patches.
Hey this was literally what I needed to rid me of every worry I had haha, gonna have to sew my chevrons on soon, and this showed me everything I needed to see. thanks brother, s/f
This video is really helpful. I sewed on the rank patch on my boyfriends dress white but got confused and frustrated on the service stripe part. You saved our night lol. Cos I was getting a little irritated. Thanks again.
Your video says especially for men, military men... I also found it helpful. ;) Normally, the front storage case (where you load the bobbin) comes off for doing sleeves. That will save you a ton of effort and work! Great video though. I always had my patches sewn on by the shop, but now I'm a veteran trying to learn how to sew on motorcycle patches.
I have an alterations shop and do patches.For the sleeves I unpick the inside arm seam to get to the patches..its easy then just sew the arm back up.if its a lined jacket you have to also unpick the lining.Look for the opening from the factory..you will see where they left an opening basted over
Bloody hell. I'm happy to have found your video. I was about to give up on these bloody patches on the sleeves. I usually do the patches by hand sewing but sometimes I hurt myself on the needle or pins. Therefore getting blood on the uniform. I wanted to change it up.
That compartment case in front of the sewing foot should be able to detach. Can you tip it on it's side to see if it's a separate part? Most detach and have a little clip to snap back in afterwards. Thanks for the tutorial, I need to sew some patches for a project.
Can I suggest using an Elmers Glue stick instead of the webbing? Its easier to use, still iron it on, but it washes out. The iron on webbing doesnt wash off. It wont gum up your machine needle either.
skaldy no, but perhaps I should have. I should try to be the first one to put a hyperlink on their eval so the reviewing authorities can see my TH-cam video.
Thank you!! And so glad to see a man doing this!! My husband spends so much $ on this crap it's crazy. So he finally bought me machine in January. Then tells me last night he needs a patch seen into his coat cause he can't wear I without it and it's getting cold. And that he needs a couple things put on his coveralls. The lower one is going to close his pocket.. I know there's a way to keep the pocket open. Can you explain to me how? Do I just remove the top strip/flap of the pocket, sew the strip then sew it back on? That may be easier then doing just the flipped up part while it's still attached.. Opinion?
I'm assuming he's in the Navy (like me) if he's wearing coveralls and you're talking about a command patch on the right breast pocket, right? As far as the jacket goes, either you're talking about the name tape that goes on the left arm of the NWU Gortex jacket. The Gortex jacket is a relatively easy and straightforward patch job. The patch for the coveralls is a bit more involved... In order to maintain the function of the pocket you're going to have to break out your trusty seam ripper. I recommend pre-cutting some of that iron on glue that comes in a roll that I used for this video and getting that ready. Then, take your seam ripper and take the seams out of the two side and bottom seams on the breast pocket so it's still attached at the top. Once that's done, use the iron on adhesive and iron the patch into place. From there, sewing the patch on is relatively straightforward. Just go slow and steady. Don't push your machine too hard because those command patches are THICK and on top of that, they have that rubberized backing on them. Once the patch is in place, cut three more strips of the iron on adhesive and place them on the coveralls on the INSIDE pocket seams then iron it in place. Trust me, it will make your life MUCH easier having the pocket temporarily glued down. Switch out your thread to some dark blue thread and slowly sew the pocket back in place making sure to line up your new seam with where the old one was and try to keep your lines as straight as you can. If you use the adhesive like I mentioned, the right pocket will be a little narrower (from the glue strip) but after a few washes, it will open right back up like the left pocket. When you sit down and do the coveralls, just try to get them all done at once. It's kind of a lengthy project and you don't want to have to constantly be doing one or two at a time over a few month period. I'm no longer on a ship but when I was, I had six pairs of coveralls that I rotated and did this exact stitch job on all of them. Hope this helps.
Definitely not the only one in our generation, I think there's four or five more out there. Didn't grow up with much and I remember my mom in the early 90's teaching me how to sew patches onto jeans (when the knees get worn through) and it just kind of stuck. I took home economics (when that was still a thing) and always put forth the effort in the sewing portions of class. I'm 100% not an expert at this but I'm also not afraid of a sewing machine.
Nathan, your great video is much appreciated here in Massachusetts. I'd thought about the iron tape adhesive but I never used it for fear of damage. You're right, the devices should increase in size, so a patch or tape sure is better than fighting with needles when positioning these things. One question: how do you deal with residue left over after you take off an old patch to upgrade? Is there anything left behind? Say you were upgrading from two-stripe to three-stripe patches: does the old two-striper fight you coming off or does it come off easily? Does it leave any adhesive residue? Any tricks for removing the residue? Thanks for your service to the people of our great nation. Stay safe out there.
First, thanks for the kind words. Secondly, there is some residue when you take the old patch off. Depending how long it has been there will determine how persnickety it will be coming off. In my experience, my patches stay on at least a year or so before getting removed (rank is only one patch, there are unit chevrons, unit patches, warfare patches, etc. that move around frequently). After a year or so, the glue is all but gone and all you are left with under the patch is a faint white band where the glue used to be. After all the washes it will go through, it pretty much just disintegrates. I've never tried removing the residue before because as I mentioned earlier, the patches tend to get larger, at least with regards to the rank. For patches that vary in size, mainly your unit breast patches, I never use the glue all the way to the perimeter of the patch. I usually just use a little 1" strip right in the center of the patch to hold it down. This ensures that any patch that goes there in the future will certainly cover up the glue spot. Most unit patches in the Navy are AT LEAST 2.5" across. Hope that helps you out.
This video was very helpful! Thank you! I'm impressed you can do this on a flat bed machine as opposed to a free arm. One question, do you happen to know the brand of that sticky tape you are using? I got some that was extra sticky but my iron (which is a heavy gravity feed iron) wouldn't make it stick. I had to use my heat press machine.
Thanks and I'm glad you found this helpful. As far as the brand, I'm honestly not sure. My wife buys it at Wal Mart and it comes in a little white roll. The stuff I use is EXTREMELY thin, you can see right through it if you hold it up. It has tons of little perforations through it. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful...
I might have to end up getting a sewing machine. I don't have one, so I just hand sew all of my patches. I finally hit 3rd class, though, so I'm having to sew my crows on my NWUs. Should I fold the sides in like they usually come when the NEX does it? Or should I just cut it to fit, and do it like that?
Thanks for watching the video! The military is pretty fun, normally. It's a pleasure to do it. As far as who taught me, a combination of my mother and trial-by-fire on deployment. I was deployed in 2006 and was promoted during that time. I managed to get some used patches from some friends, but all I could find was this weird little hand held sewing machines that I found on the ship. That's pretty much how it started. My mom is a big fan of quilting and patchwork so helping her do that also helped me out a bit.
How is it going, Nathan? Finally, a video. By any chance, do you have any guidance on sewing a second warfare device and be able to use the same left pocket on an NWU?
+Alfred P A second warfare patch and still use the same pocket is unfortunately exactly as it seems. To make it look good, you'd have to remove the pocket flap from your blouse, sew the patch on, then re-sew the flap back on. I've seen some trashy jobs where people sew the patch directly onto the flap, but the stitching on the patch doesn't go up high enough. At the end of the day, you'd just have to sit back, clear your schedule, use a seam ripper, and remove it.
I thought my machine died a couple times. The needle stopped and made a jamming noise. It is VERY thick. It was his air warfare patch for the coveralls (took me forever lol). Thanks for the tips!
Hey, not a problem. Those patches can be tricky. Just wait until you tackle the unit patch on the breast pocket that I described earlier. You'll REALLY want to go slow for those. It may be beneficial for you to go ahead and buy a denim needle for your machine. They are a bit thicker and are less likely to break under the strain of pushing through all that fabric. Glad it worked out for you, though. Now do you see why I say just get all the uniforms done at one time? It sucks going back and doing it multiple times over the months.
I was trying to find out how they sew on NWU second Warfare Device to the pocket flap. I see others have it sewn up to the bottom of the "U.S. NAVY" patch, which is over that double stitching and several layers of fabric and bottom holes in the way. I'm trying it now to see if I can separate the fabric and sew in between.
keith Yeah... About that second warfare device... You'll more than likely have to seam-rip the pocket flap off and sew that patch on that way. Once the patch is one, you'd have to re-attach the pocket flap. I've never done it personally, but I can imagine that it'll take a while. A lot of the ones that I see come back from the sewing shops are kind of bass ackwards and don't look very professional. They tend to not get uppermost stitching on the patch all the way to the top of it, likely due to the fact that they are sewing with the pocket still attached. Thankfully I'm stuck to cruisers and destroyers, so it's just an ESWS patch for me! Best of luck to you.
What if you have a brand new uniform with NO rank patches on it? How do you measure where the rank patches go on the shoulder area ? There's got to be some way to determine the vertical centering and the horizontal centering on the sleeve. And how do YOU determine the outer vertical center of a jacket sleeve? When you find the center/center marks, do you align the TOP of the patch to your center/centers, or do you align the CENTER of the patch to the center/center of the jacket sleeves? Thanks!
Holy cow that's a lot of questions. I would direct you to the United States Navy Uniform Regulations for each and every question. They are very specific with the patch placement and don't leave much to the imagination. Just use Google to find them.
Probably too late to help you with this but you'll want to cut it first. Cut between the first and second chevron, tuck the excess under, the sew up the seam.
Nice! These comments were VERY helpful. Once you retire from "living the adventure" you are sure to do well in a second career as a teacher or trainer.
Awww... Shucks ;) Thanks. Truthfully, once the great adventure is done, my plan is to move out to the Ozarks and start an orchard. I've always wanted to make apple cider and apple jack. I'd like to sell it locally to stores and whatnot. Kind of weird, I know... But after 20 years in the Navy, I think that I'd like to just settle down and be casually productive outside. Pirates in Somalia really kind of takes a toll on you :).
Whitney C with great patience and determination. I hate doing those covers because the material is so thick and it's hard to get it to pass under the foot of the sewing machine. If memory serves me correctly, I actually did a lot of it by turning the machine by hand with the little crank on the upper portion of the machine
I know this was a while ago but I'm so glad I found this. I'm literally sitting here with my husband's whites and service stripes, trying to figure this out lol So thank you! I got out before I had to do my own lol
Dude, I love you. You’re the reason why I made a lot of money sewing uniforms in my battalion. I HATED hash marks. Once you get to the 16 year hash mark, you’ll be glad to pay the uniform shop to do your hash marks. Here’s how to do your hash marks easier.
1. Remove the old patch. Then take your wife’s nail file and gently rub it over the area, inside and out. This will quickly pull off all the old cut threads.
2. Mark the sleeve for patch placement using chalk.
3. Pin or use glue tape to position the patch.
4. Turn the sleeve inside out.
5 begin sewing at the tip nearest the cuff.
6. You’re right about needle down when you need to turn corners.
7. When you get to the tip closer to your elbow, back stitch and cut your thread.
8. Start back down at the tip closest to the cuff.
9. Repeat steps 5-7 to do the other edge of the hash mark.
10. Invest in nippers. They are a little thread cutting tool that are sort of like little scissors. Keep them on you, especially inspection mornings. They will cost only about $5. Go over your patch and use these little beauties to trim any Irish pennants. Burning little stray threads is ok for blues and camis, but on whites you can get a black scorch mark.
Good luck!
I'm a dad just trying to sew Boy Scout patches on his son's uniform. Great video -- helped me tons. And thank you for your service, sir!
Nathan;
I'm a 65 year old Navy grandma. I consider myself an experienced seamstress. My grandson asked if I would sew his patches on for him. It's been a lot of years since I sewed patches on any military uniforms. I decided to check out TH-cam to see if there was anything new I needed to know. I'm always looking to improve! Your video came up and it caught my eye. First of all, my hats off to your wife for letting you use her machine! My husband would not go near my machine. This obviously was not your first patch! I thought you did a really good job. The adhesive tape is always a great idea. There are some times when pins are not your friend. This is one of those. Some people, have what is called a free arm. I love mine! The piece around the presser foot comes off and expose a small arm for you to slide your sleeve on for easier sewing. Congrats on your video. You should do more. Enjoyed it!
Excellent! This 76 year old CAP Sr. Member learned so much from this video. The pocket patch idea is so simple! Duh...I never thought of seam ripping the pocket off temporarily. Thank you...8 years later.
I'm a self-taught sower and needed to sew some patches on a work uniform; I found this video VERY helpful, thank you for making it.
And thank you for your service 💖
This was great! I’ve always outsourced my police uniform sewing to a third party but the time has come for my son to join cub scouts. I already had a Brother sewing machine but nobody was available to teach me. Your video has inspired me to not only sew my son’s cub scout uniforms but also handle my next round of PD uniform patches. Thanks so much!
Glad I could help, my friend! For some reason sewing isn't something that's really ever taught to guys. Perks of growing up in a frugal household, I guess.
"Knock knock"
Good dad, raising his kid to show respect and raising us to take care of ourselves.
Thank you papa Nathan
I try, dude. I like to think there are other like-minded people out there doing the same.
This is a wonderful video, Nathan. I sew but I have never sewn patches before. My friend's husband is going to be a football referee and she asked me to sew the official patches on his uniform. I landed on your video and have found it "sew" helpful. Thank you very much!
You may like to know that there is a double sided sewing tape available called Wonder Tape and you can place that on your patch and then position it at the right spot on your uniform. No ironing required Then you can sew it with your machine. You may also want to take off the front part of the machine which would convert it into a free arm which makes it a lot easier with all that fabric especially on the sleeve. The sleeve would fit over the free arm and almost like a sleeve board for ironing for the most part you wouldnt have to deal with double layer of the sleeve trying to keep one layer out of the way.
Ursula Leach this comment is very helpful. Thanks ☺️
I have been searching for over a year to find the tips you gave in this video. Everything I always found about sewing patches on long sleeves addressed jackets and coats, and everything I found addressing military uniforms talked about hand-sewing. What's even better is that you talked about the exact patches I'm dealing with. The SDWs are such a pain and the women's SDB jacket is worse, but I'm going to give them another shot now I found this. Thanks!!!
Thanks for this vid. I inherited my mother's machine 5 years ago and I felt that I need to start using it to sew on my patches instead of doing it by hand. This was very helpful . But more so I wanted to say, THANK YOU for serving our country for what's by now, 9 years. I am one that takes your's and everyone else in the US military's service, very personal. Thank You
Thank you so much! My nephew asked me to swap out some patches on his AF Uniform. I was frozen by fear of making a mistake. You reminded me that I would be able to correct any mistakes I might make. Thanks for the encouraging video, and for your Service.
Im a Brazilian jiujitsu practitioner and our uniforms could feature many patches, since this simple task could get very expensive I decided to invest on a sewing machine, perhaps even using it to repair my old uniforms (kimonos/gi) as well. This was such a good useful video and confidence booster.
Well done, thank you.
So I am sitting at home trying to so some non-military patches on a shirt sleeve and I got frustrated and decided to look up a "how to" on TH-cam. So thrilled to find this video for two reasons number one you give me some great ideas and number two my son is been in the Navy for 5 1/2 years now and I have never asked him how he does it I will have to inquire if he has paid to have all of his patches sewn on or if he's been doing it himself or perhaps his wife is been doing it they're both in the Navy ..... Signed sincerely a mom who never learn to sew !!!!
Thank you for your in informative video. It really gave me, a DIYer, the confidence to know that I can sew the patch on myself, without having to pay someone overly priced to do it. Thank you!
Thank you for this clear and informative video! I agree with you on sewing fear and perceived roles. Adults should be able to do most things for themselves to be more rounded human. Thank you for your service.
Seriously.. thank you for being man enough to make this video. One thing I love and miss about my Dad & his generation is that they could do all the seriously rugged stuff like wrestle grizzly bears and build houses but they could also do basic sewing. I was winging it and sewing my husband's uniform patches on basically just like that but was afraid somehow I was doing it wrong so thank you! I really need to remember to use the tape instead of pins. Please do post more videos it's nice to see a real man handling business on TH-cam, Alterations is making bank over our lack of basic self sufficiency skills. I am making sure my sons and daughter can do basic sewing among other things we were never taught.
Glad you enjoyed the video! I agree with you that a lot of the more "domestic" tasks are being lost generationally and especially on young men such as myself. My mom always patched my clothes as a child and I helped her do quilt work, as well. That really take the "edge" off of me doing this stuff on my own. The hardest part for me was stringing up my wife's newfangled sewing machine. It's radically different from the ones that my mom used and that I was familiar with. I've had a pretty rounded education by 1) living on farms as a child 2) my father did construction work 3) my mother was very domestically inclined and 4) I've gotten a lot of training in the military. I try to pass on as much as I can to my two little girls.
And yes, the alteration shops are really making a lot of money. I've said before that I totally support small business and whatnot, but sometimes these shops are simply exploitive in their "services".
Thanks for this. Sewing patches on my FIL uniform. We are honoring him next week. RIP.
Wish I knew this 20 years ago but now I get to practice on my son's scout uniform! Thanks for your service shipmate and thanks for the video!
You're video is point on!! The piece to the front of the machine slides off for sleeves, pant legs etc.. Thank you for the video!!
You sir are a lifesaver! I have been struggling with patches for my Cub Scout den. I am taking over as Cubmaster next year and I want to make sure my scouts have the opportunity to have crisp uniforms. I have already yanked two of my hand sewn patches off and have reattached them after watching your video. Looks great!
Not a problem, my friend. I'm sure there are other ways to do the same thing but this just makes the most amount of sense to me.
I wish I had a video like this 15+ years ago! I had to sew my husband’s uniform patches on by hand once. Just about killed my fingers. Now I’m sewing on our little girl’s Girl Scout patches.
I love the video! I have 2 boys in boy scouts and patches change so quickly! I was in the Air Force, my husband still, is and was a brat and saw my daddy's money and mine go with new rank and unit patches that had to be done. I wish I had started sewing earlier but it is saving money now. Thanks for sharing.
I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Early on in my time in the Navy I remember seeing my friends complain about how expensive it was to get their uniforms updated once they got promoted or had to get new unit patches. I figured back then that I would just nip that in the bud and learn how to do this. As you probably know from growing up in the military, the gates outside the base are always packed with warhawking, price gouging sewing shops that do a shoddy job at best most of the time.
This video helped me sew on my husband’s navy patches. Ty!
This really helped me sew patches on my Sea Cadet uniform! Thanks!
Navy Veteran, I don't think the video is useless to the current fighting men & women of the armed forces. It can save them a few ###. Thank you for making and posting this video.
Hey, I want to say that I am very grateful for your video! I was having difficulty sewing on my service stripes. Happy to say, I just finished adding my third stripe and a new crow.
Congratulations! FCPO now?
Thanks for the video. I pretty much only know the basics when it comes to sewing. My husband always asks me to sew on all his patches after he gets promoted, which is daunting for me considering how particular the Navy is about uniforms.
So, I've been in deployment for five months so far, haven't checked any of my TH-cam stuff. I'm pretty blown away we're at 36,000 views for this video.
Thanks for the amazing tutorial and thank you for your service. Your country appreciates you :)
Nathan Polichnia hey I got my new army fatigues and I'm not sure how to sew on my name and branch tape, could you make a video how to do that?
time to make chief, FC1 so you can create a new vid
You're telling me, man. LDO results should be coming out this week, I'm hoping my name is on there.
ssstttaaannnddd bbbyyy
Thanks! You did help! Can't believe i sewed patch on hard way up the sleeve to the very top of sleeve! After such a hard time found you! LOL
Not sure if your still in the service as I’m watching this during quarantine 2020... but, regardless, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!! 🙏🏽💕👍🏽
A man that knows how to sew... Love it.
Melody Ann Well, gee whiz. Thanks! We're a rare breed, aren't we?
Nathan Polichnia haven't met many, so it's nice to see a man that does. my boyfriend's uncle loves to sew, even more work on and fix sewing machines. you don't see many men sitting down at a sewing machine and knowing how to use one. 😃
Very good idea of using "wonder under" to help hold it in place!
Great video. I know how to sew patches on; but, I want to thank you for making this video for people to learn. You did an outstanding job. Thank you for your service - Shipmate. Go NAVY!!!
Thanks! Your suggestions made sewing my function badge onto ABUs so much easier. I might try sewing my stripes on my blues one day...that'll be advanced sewing!
best video about this. literally saved me the night before an inspection!
Vanessa McEwen well, I'm very glad I could help! Those inspections sneak up on you!
Nicely done shipmate. I have been doing my own for a while now (11yrs) and I refuse to let anyone mess with my uniforms. On a side note, I once tried the sleeve seam disassembly approach one time and needless to say it hasn't and will not happen again. It became a nightmare
Thanks lots. Pregnant Airman here, sewing rank on maternity uniforms and couldn't understand how to do sleeves until now.
Thank you, sir. Just started sewing this year. Learned something new this morning 🌞. Ps Thank you for your service.
Thanks for the great demonstration and information. I have to sew a patch on my lab coat and uniform for nursing school next semester. Very helpful. Thanks!
Thanks for the video! I grew up (Army Brat) watching my mom sew my dad's patches on...My husband is not in the military but law enforcement and he just got promoted, so I sewed his patches on. My only complaint about your video is that you made it seem to easy! haha! His had to be placed below a large pre-sewn patch so about the middle of the biceps area. I think I will show him your video & let him see that guys can also explore the joys of sewing!! I will say that next time, because he has more uniforms coming, I will be seam ripping the sleeve!
Glad to see that someone liked the video! Being a male that sews in the Navy makes me a huge minority. Everyone thinks it's funny until they spend $80 getting new patches.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge - and thanks for your service. Exactly the information I needed to update my LE uniforms.
Perfect description and video. You had answers for all the worries I had. Thanks!
Glad it helped!
Hey this was literally what I needed to rid me of every worry I had haha, gonna have to sew my chevrons on soon, and this showed me everything I needed to see. thanks brother, s/f
This video is really helpful. I sewed on the rank patch on my boyfriends dress white but got confused and frustrated on the service stripe part. You saved our night lol. Cos I was getting a little irritated. Thanks again.
Your video says especially for men, military men... I also found it helpful. ;) Normally, the front storage case (where you load the bobbin) comes off for doing sleeves. That will save you a ton of effort and work! Great video though. I always had my patches sewn on by the shop, but now I'm a veteran trying to learn how to sew on motorcycle patches.
I have an alterations shop and do patches.For the sleeves I unpick the inside arm seam to get to the patches..its easy then just sew the arm back up.if its a lined jacket you have to also unpick the lining.Look for the opening from the factory..you will see where they left an opening basted over
Thanks for uploading this. I'm sewing on my friends patches. Once again thanks
Bloody hell. I'm happy to have found your video. I was about to give up on these bloody patches on the sleeves. I usually do the patches by hand sewing but sometimes I hurt myself on the needle or pins. Therefore getting blood on the uniform. I wanted to change it up.
That compartment case in front of the sewing foot should be able to detach. Can you tip it on it's side to see if it's a separate part? Most detach and have a little clip to snap back in afterwards. Thanks for the tutorial, I need to sew some patches for a project.
Can I suggest using an Elmers Glue stick instead of the webbing? Its easier to use, still iron it on, but it washes out. The iron on webbing doesnt wash off. It wont gum up your machine needle either.
Sewing on rank really does add up.
Thank you for making this tutorial FC1!!
You are my MVP!!!! thank you.. and thank you for your service!
Great job on this video, very helpful! Thank you for your service!
Turn that sleeve inside out and use Clover Wonder Clips to hold the excess out of the way - little "pro" tip for you! Thanks for the great video!
Thank you!!! I need to do exactly this on my daughters brownie vest. :-)
Yay! Thank you! I’m sewing 🧵 a patch on my husband’s firefighter 👩🏾🚒 cost for the winter.
Hi Doesn't the front pull off for doing sleeves. I think it does. All Brother machines have that feature.
Carol Clouser that part is for hemming sleeve cuffs and pant legs. Patches is a different story because it has to be rotated on the actual sleeve
Did you put this on your eval?
skaldy no, but perhaps I should have. I should try to be the first one to put a hyperlink on their eval so the reviewing authorities can see my TH-cam video.
Thank you for your service!
Thank you!! And so glad to see a man doing this!! My husband spends so much $ on this crap it's crazy. So he finally bought me machine in January. Then tells me last night he needs a patch seen into his coat cause he can't wear I without it and it's getting cold. And that he needs a couple things put on his coveralls. The lower one is going to close his pocket.. I know there's a way to keep the pocket open. Can you explain to me how? Do I just remove the top strip/flap of the pocket, sew the strip then sew it back on? That may be easier then doing just the flipped up part while it's still attached.. Opinion?
I'm assuming he's in the Navy (like me) if he's wearing coveralls and you're talking about a command patch on the right breast pocket, right? As far as the jacket goes, either you're talking about the name tape that goes on the left arm of the NWU Gortex jacket. The Gortex jacket is a relatively easy and straightforward patch job. The patch for the coveralls is a bit more involved...
In order to maintain the function of the pocket you're going to have to break out your trusty seam ripper. I recommend pre-cutting some of that iron on glue that comes in a roll that I used for this video and getting that ready. Then, take your seam ripper and take the seams out of the two side and bottom seams on the breast pocket so it's still attached at the top. Once that's done, use the iron on adhesive and iron the patch into place. From there, sewing the patch on is relatively straightforward. Just go slow and steady. Don't push your machine too hard because those command patches are THICK and on top of that, they have that rubberized backing on them. Once the patch is in place, cut three more strips of the iron on adhesive and place them on the coveralls on the INSIDE pocket seams then iron it in place. Trust me, it will make your life MUCH easier having the pocket temporarily glued down. Switch out your thread to some dark blue thread and slowly sew the pocket back in place making sure to line up your new seam with where the old one was and try to keep your lines as straight as you can. If you use the adhesive like I mentioned, the right pocket will be a little narrower (from the glue strip) but after a few washes, it will open right back up like the left pocket.
When you sit down and do the coveralls, just try to get them all done at once. It's kind of a lengthy project and you don't want to have to constantly be doing one or two at a time over a few month period. I'm no longer on a ship but when I was, I had six pairs of coveralls that I rotated and did this exact stitch job on all of them. Hope this helps.
Thank you so much for the video! Just had to see on new patches on to my husband's dress whites and got stuck on that very patch! LOL
owlgal1980 I'm glad you enjoyed it. It took me many tries to figure out how to do it with a conventional sewing machine.
Uh homie that is toooooo a fancy seam ripper. Haha! Cool someone taught you to sew. I thought I was the only one in our generation.
Definitely not the only one in our generation, I think there's four or five more out there.
Didn't grow up with much and I remember my mom in the early 90's teaching me how to sew patches onto jeans (when the knees get worn through) and it just kind of stuck. I took home economics (when that was still a thing) and always put forth the effort in the sewing portions of class.
I'm 100% not an expert at this but I'm also not afraid of a sewing machine.
thank you for your service and this video.
Nathan, your great video is much appreciated here in Massachusetts. I'd thought about the iron tape adhesive but I never used it for fear of damage. You're right, the devices should increase in size, so a patch or tape sure is better than fighting with needles when positioning these things.
One question: how do you deal with residue left over after you take off an old patch to upgrade? Is there anything left behind? Say you were upgrading from two-stripe to three-stripe patches: does the old two-striper fight you coming off or does it come off easily? Does it leave any adhesive residue? Any tricks for removing the residue?
Thanks for your service to the people of our great nation. Stay safe out there.
First, thanks for the kind words. Secondly, there is some residue when you take the old patch off. Depending how long it has been there will determine how persnickety it will be coming off. In my experience, my patches stay on at least a year or so before getting removed (rank is only one patch, there are unit chevrons, unit patches, warfare patches, etc. that move around frequently). After a year or so, the glue is all but gone and all you are left with under the patch is a faint white band where the glue used to be. After all the washes it will go through, it pretty much just disintegrates. I've never tried removing the residue before because as I mentioned earlier, the patches tend to get larger, at least with regards to the rank. For patches that vary in size, mainly your unit breast patches, I never use the glue all the way to the perimeter of the patch. I usually just use a little 1" strip right in the center of the patch to hold it down. This ensures that any patch that goes there in the future will certainly cover up the glue spot. Most unit patches in the Navy are AT LEAST 2.5" across. Hope that helps you out.
Im just trying to sew my e-3 patch on my dress
whites, damn this virus
Awesome video. Need to patch my welding pants.
This video was very helpful! Thank you! I'm impressed you can do this on a flat bed machine as opposed to a free arm. One question, do you happen to know the brand of that sticky tape you are using? I got some that was extra sticky but my iron (which is a heavy gravity feed iron) wouldn't make it stick. I had to use my heat press machine.
Thanks and I'm glad you found this helpful. As far as the brand, I'm honestly not sure. My wife buys it at Wal Mart and it comes in a little white roll. The stuff I use is EXTREMELY thin, you can see right through it if you hold it up. It has tons of little perforations through it. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful...
Thanks!
Thank you I'm sewing my grandson's patches 9n his dress whites from Sea Cadets.
Very good information great job will try 👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Your front comes off for sleeves. Good video. THX
Loved your video Sailor!
The tricky stuff is to sew a patch on a jacket that has lining. You should do a follow-up on that.
Please advise if you are sewing directly on the thick edge of the patch, or is it just inside the edge so that the edge is free?
I might have to end up getting a sewing machine. I don't have one, so I just hand sew all of my patches. I finally hit 3rd class, though, so I'm having to sew my crows on my NWUs. Should I fold the sides in like they usually come when the NEX does it? Or should I just cut it to fit, and do it like that?
Way to go......and thank you for your service to our country! Who taught you how to do this?
Thanks for watching the video! The military is pretty fun, normally. It's a pleasure to do it. As far as who taught me, a combination of my mother and trial-by-fire on deployment. I was deployed in 2006 and was promoted during that time. I managed to get some used patches from some friends, but all I could find was this weird little hand held sewing machines that I found on the ship. That's pretty much how it started. My mom is a big fan of quilting and patchwork so helping her do that also helped me out a bit.
Nathan Polichnia Please let me know if your mother has presented you with a Quilt of Valor!
How is it going, Nathan? Finally, a video. By any chance, do you have any guidance on sewing a second warfare device and be able to use the same left pocket on an NWU?
+Alfred P A second warfare patch and still use the same pocket is unfortunately exactly as it seems. To make it look good, you'd have to remove the pocket flap from your blouse, sew the patch on, then re-sew the flap back on. I've seen some trashy jobs where people sew the patch directly onto the flap, but the stitching on the patch doesn't go up high enough. At the end of the day, you'd just have to sit back, clear your schedule, use a seam ripper, and remove it.
Do you have to sew patches on a uniform that has an inner lining like a dress uniform and how do you deal with that with your sewing machine
I thought my machine died a couple times. The needle stopped and made a jamming noise. It is VERY thick. It was his air warfare patch for the coveralls (took me forever lol). Thanks for the tips!
Hey, not a problem. Those patches can be tricky. Just wait until you tackle the unit patch on the breast pocket that I described earlier. You'll REALLY want to go slow for those. It may be beneficial for you to go ahead and buy a denim needle for your machine. They are a bit thicker and are less likely to break under the strain of pushing through all that fabric. Glad it worked out for you, though. Now do you see why I say just get all the uniforms done at one time? It sucks going back and doing it multiple times over the months.
I was trying to find out how they sew on NWU second Warfare Device to the pocket flap. I see others have it sewn up to the bottom of the "U.S. NAVY" patch, which is over that double stitching and several layers of fabric and bottom holes in the way. I'm trying it now to see if I can separate the fabric and sew in between.
keith Yeah... About that second warfare device...
You'll more than likely have to seam-rip the pocket flap off and sew that patch on that way. Once the patch is one, you'd have to re-attach the pocket flap. I've never done it personally, but I can imagine that it'll take a while. A lot of the ones that I see come back from the sewing shops are kind of bass ackwards and don't look very professional. They tend to not get uppermost stitching on the patch all the way to the top of it, likely due to the fact that they are sewing with the pocket still attached.
Thankfully I'm stuck to cruisers and destroyers, so it's just an ESWS patch for me! Best of luck to you.
What if you have a brand new uniform with NO rank patches on it? How do you measure where the rank patches go on the shoulder area ? There's got to be some way to determine the vertical centering and the horizontal centering on the sleeve. And how do YOU determine the outer vertical center of a jacket sleeve? When you find the center/center marks, do you align the TOP of the patch to your center/centers, or do you align the CENTER of the patch to the center/center of the jacket sleeves? Thanks!
Holy cow that's a lot of questions. I would direct you to the United States Navy Uniform Regulations for each and every question. They are very specific with the patch placement and don't leave much to the imagination. Just use Google to find them.
Thank you!! So very helpful.
Good job. Just put on my name tapes on my nwus since it got changed last night.
Great video! I might be able to make some side money with these new type IIIs and the biannual advancements!👍👍👍👌
This real helpful , thank you
What foot and stitch did you use
how do you modify a 1st class badge (3chevrons) into a 3rd class badge(1 chevron)?
Great video. You could use a sewing machine with a removable arm. It makes sewing on sleeve patches cake.
this was great! thank you for sharing!
Thank you from a girlscout mom!
You're welcome from a Girl Scout dad!
How to sew my third class patch on my dress white? Do I cut it first or do I sew it first?
Probably too late to help you with this but you'll want to cut it first. Cut between the first and second chevron, tuck the excess under, the sew up the seam.
Nice! These comments were VERY helpful. Once you retire from "living the adventure" you are sure to do well in a second career as a teacher or trainer.
Awww... Shucks ;)
Thanks. Truthfully, once the great adventure is done, my plan is to move out to the Ozarks and start an orchard. I've always wanted to make apple cider and apple jack. I'd like to sell it locally to stores and whatnot. Kind of weird, I know... But after 20 years in the Navy, I think that I'd like to just settle down and be casually productive outside. Pirates in Somalia really kind of takes a toll on you :).
This is helpful, but how would you sew on a crow to the NWU Cover?
Whitney C with great patience and determination. I hate doing those covers because the material is so thick and it's hard to get it to pass under the foot of the sewing machine. If memory serves me correctly, I actually did a lot of it by turning the machine by hand with the little crank on the upper portion of the machine
What is the name of that Iron on stuff he used??
I know this was a while ago but I'm so glad I found this. I'm literally sitting here with my husband's whites and service stripes, trying to figure this out lol
So thank you! I got out before I had to do my own lol
Lol! Service stripes are super intimidating, in my opinion. I know i"m late in responding, but I hope you pushed through it!
Well done and thank you!
rivergal47 Not a problem, my friend!
Thank you so much for this! Its really gonna help me out today:3
Ashley Sabrina Glad that it helped out!
so how do you remove patch if you used the heat adhesive tape??
Great video!!