Merrowed Border

A merrowed border is the raised, thick, overlocked thread edge that finishes a traditional patch perimeter. It is the look most people picture when they think of patches: varsity letters, military insignia, scout badges, and boy/girl-scout merit badges all use merrowed borders. The name comes from the Merrow Sewing Machine Company, which manufactured the overlock machines that finish these borders.

Merrowing happens after the embroidery is complete. The embroidered patch is cut roughly to shape, then fed into a merrow machine that simultaneously trims the excess fabric and wraps a thick overlock stitch around the cut edge. The result is a finished perimeter with no raw edges and a slightly raised rope-like border in the patch trim color.

Merrowed borders work best on simple convex shapes: round, oval, rectangle, shield, and slightly curved custom shapes. They cannot follow tight inside corners or concave shapes (like a star or a lightning bolt) because the merrow stitch needs a continuous outer path. For those shapes, laser-cut or hot-cut borders are used instead.

The border color is typically a contrasting thread (often matching one of the main design colors), creating a clean visual frame around the patch art. Standard merrow widths are roughly 2.5mm to 3mm. The thickness of the border, combined with the dense embroidery face, gives patches their characteristic stiff, sturdy feel and is what distinguishes a traditional embroidered patch from a printed or applique patch.