The backpatch for my main vest is a Deceased “Surreal Overdose” shirt. I love that album, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a legitimate Deceased backpatch. So, since I’ve made my own backpatches, I found a way to turn a shirt into a backpatch. It’s taken a few attempts, but I’ve found a way that works pretty well. One of my friends had asked me for help turning one of his old shirts into a patch, so I’m making this to help him out. I’m admittedly way behind on this, but hey better late than never huh?

To turn a patch into a vest, you’ll need the following: a shirt, a vest, scissors, an ironing board and iron, a spray bottle filled with water, a handkerchief, SF101 Interfacing (from Joann’s), a sharpie, two pieces of cardboard, and Fabric Fusion (an adhesive that can be bought at Michaels). 

The obvious first step is to get a vest and a shirt that you’d like to turn into a patch. I will use two shirts for demonstration’s sake but focus primarily on the Necrofier shirt below. 

Cut off the front half of the shirt and set it off to the side briefly. It should look something like the image below. If you are using the back of the shirt, cut the back half. Either way, just have your design cut out with the rest of the shirt surrounding it.

Set up your ironing board and iron, and fill the spray bottle with water. While the iron is heating up (or after you’ve cut out the front half of the shirt), size up the design. So on the Necrofier shirt, you can see the outermost design edges. The two swords on the sides indicate the widest parts of the design. The red line on the bottom and the top of the horns on the “O” are the tallest parts of the design. Those edges define the outermost edges of the design. Each shirt will be different, but you’ll essentially be looking for the same thing on whatever shirt you use. 

Once the edges are defined, cut out a piece of SF101 interfacing about an inch bigger than the outermost edge. For example, if your design’s outermost edges measure 4 inches x 5 inches, the interfacing should be 5 inches x 6 inches. The interfacing edge will be where you fold the fabric later. The reason for leaving this space is so you have some extra room to sew through. By now, your iron should be heated up. The last thing you’d want is to sew through the design you want as a patch. 

Interfacing has a smooth side and a rough side. The rough side will connect with the fabric when it’s ironed. Lay the smooth side down on the ironing board, and lay your shirt (with the design facing UP) on top of it. Center the design with the interfacing as best as you can. (Line the center of the design with the center of the interfacing). You don’t need to get it lined up exactly. Lay the handkerchief on top of your design flat, and spray it with water. Then take your iron and lay it on top of the handkerchief, like below.

In the image above, the rough side of the interfacing is facing up, as is the design on my shirt. When you lay the handkerchief on top of the design, it should look something like this.

The way I do it is I keep the iron in one spot for 10 seconds. Then move it to another spot for another 10 seconds. Rinse and repeat, moving around the perimeter of the handkerchief. What this does is ensure that the heat gets to every part of the fabric, and the interfacing melds with the shirt well. If you need a more direct visual example, this video from Pellon can explain it visually. (The main difference between my way and the video is that I just let the iron sit stationary for 10 seconds instead of moving around.)

Once the interfacing is fused to the shirt, let it cool for like 2-3 minutes. Once it’s cooled, you can begin folding. Take the sides of the shirt and fold them in towards the interfacing. Get an edge that you are comfortable with and press down on that edge. Make sure you have some space around the design when you fold. Pressing down helps define that final edge that will become your patch. Do this for all sides. For our example, the spaces marked below will be cut away.

Now that the excess has been cut off, lay your shirt on a piece of cardboard. Take the fabric fusion and apply the adhesive on the outer parts of the remaining edges. Apply the glue on the side with the interfacing facing up. Applying glue on the side with the design won’t do you anything. Do NOT apply glue along the folds! You’ll eventually be sewing this onto something, and sewing through dried glue is a bitch and a half! Once your glue is applied, fold the edges onto the interfacing. It should look something like below.

Once your edges are in place and you are comfortable with the patch’s borders, place the second piece of cardboard on top. Place some weight on top of the second cardboard piece, and spread it evenly. A few books should do this well. Let the entire thing sit for 3 hours (the glue takes about 2-4 hours to dry). After 3 hours, your glue should be dried and you can take it out from between the cardboard. 

With that, your shirt has been turned into a patch! I’ve only done this with rectangular-shaped designs, but it should work with circular ones. You’d just have to adjust accordingly for whatever shape you want your shirt to end up looking like. But generally speaking, the process should work well for whatever shape you go with. I’d recommend you try all this on a sample piece of fabric (something small you don’t mind losing), before trying this on your shirt. I hope this helps you in turning your shirt into a patch!