Can Tailors Sew On Patches?
If you have a hole in your jacket or trousers, you might be wondering if you can get a tailor to sew on patches for you to repair them.
Indeed a tailor can sew on patches to your clothing if needed, although you can also ask at the dry cleaners are any other alteration shops.
We’ve put together a small guide below which will discuss what tailors can and can’t do as well as how to sew your patches to save money and time.
Why Get Patches Sewn On?
Patches can be useful for covering holes, you can also sew badges onto clothes to add style or use embroidery patches to add more of a decorative touch to your normal clothing.
In areas where garments get worn down like the elbows or knees, these are places where patches are often sewn.
What Can A Tailor Can & Can’t Do?
If you’ve taken your clothes to the tailor to be fixed or altered, you should be aware that there are some things a tailor can and cannot do.
A Tailor Can
- Make length – Tailors can make trousers longer by opening their hem which adds a couple of inches.
- Shorten straps – To make a dress shorter or the bust higher a tailor can move straps upwards.
- Remove pockets – By stitching down a tailor can take off unneeded pockets on the front of trousers.
- Shorten sleeves – For sleeves that are too long a tailor can shorten them.
- Add fasteners – Where shirts might gape open you can ask a tailor to add an extra button or another fastener.
- Line a garment – For see-through clothing, a tailor can add a lining underneath, enabling you to wear it outside.
A Tailor Cannot
- Take too many inches out the back of your jeans, otherwise, the pockets will be too close together!
- Remove seams from a silk garment – Taking out the seams on silk garments that would be showing stitch marks will show holes.
- Take off shoulder pads – Even expert tailors cannot take out shoulder pads on jackets since the jacket would then not fit you properly.
- Lengthen a jacket – The seam allowances on jackets are limited therefore you can only make them shorter, not longer.
How To Sew Your Patches On Your Clothing
If you want to avoid patch sewing costs you can always grab your sewing machine and sew your quality patch?
We’ve listed some steps for sewing cheap patches with a sewing machine or hand sewing below.
Sewing Machine Patch Sewing
- Trim around the hole to make it square, snip around 1/4-inch in each corner, press your turned edges under then cut a matching square match out of a similar fabric that is 1/2-inch bigger.
- Place the patch underneath the hole then secure it with some pins, stitch round the outsides either using a straight stitch or a zig-zag stitch.
Hand Sewing Patches
- Double thread your needle and insert it up the back of your patch then sew over the edges continuously, finish with the needle at the back of the fabric and knot it through to finish.
Final Words
Overall, tailors can sew on patches when needed to cover holes and make repairs, but you can also sew rectangular patches and square patches on without a professional tailor by using your sewing machine or simply hand sewing the patch onto the material.
