Thank you to everyone who stopped by our booth at the PPAI Expo Las Vegas and the ISS Long Beach 2012.

We handed out our embroidered peel’n stick hearts at the show and decided to “capture the moment” with these photos.

Thanks for loving our embroidered heart sticker appliques. Enjoy the photos!

HPI Emblem Booth at PPAI Las Vegas 2012

HPI Emblem booth at ISS Long Beach 2012 show

Nosa’s workstation is a portable sewing table that he built and designed himself. The “solar sewing rover” features a Singer sewing machine, an inverter wired to a 12-volt, deep-cycle marine battery, and cabinets to store Nosa’s array of colorful thread and fabric. It also displays his collection of original patches, each inspired by a “scenario,” an idea expressed in five or fewer words. According to Nosa, the rover took a year to plan and design and two months to build.

Nosa is currently trying to raise $7,500 through the online crowd-funding website Kickstarter to take his solar sewing rover on the road. From May through October, he plans to visit art shows, craft fairs and street festivals in major cities across the U.S. to make custom embroidered patches powered by alternative energy. In his kickstarter video, Nosa’s patrons receive custom embroidered patches depicting phrases like, “I love you more,” “hairdresser on fire,” and “train of thought.” If they want, Nosa’s customers can do their part by juicing up the sewing rover using the bike generator. Ten minutes of biking can power 10 hours of sewing.

Nosa says that his mission is to inspire people’s imagination and creativity by providing them with something tangible representing their ideas, and teaching them how to use alternative energy sources. Starting in his hometown of Tucson, Ariz., Nosa will transport his entire rig in a big green van (which also has a solar panel on the roof) to cities along the West Coast including: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. He then plans to head east to Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., with many more stops along the way. His work and installations have been previously featured at San Francisco’s Exploratorium, Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, Oregon Country Fair, Harmony Festival, Bumbershoot, New York Art Expo and many other venues.

You can support Nosa’s project by visiting his kickstarter page (where you can also watch a video of a dog sewing a patch with a bone on it). Pledges of $10 receive a hand-drawn scenario mailed to you. Pledges of $20 or more receive a custom patch from his collection.

By Lauren Craig @ earthtechling.com

Happy Chinese New Year! According to Chinese Five Element Astrology Calendar, 2012 is the year of the Black Dragon (Year of Water Dragon) which brings many possibilities for good prosperity. The color of Water in Five Elements system is related to Black. Therefore we can say 2012 is a Black Dragon, Water Dragon or Black Water Dragon.

We’re all familiar that fun and quick way to shape your brand is applying your brand identity to your environments such as uniforms, t-shirts, aprons, hats and so on. Among hundreds of promotional products that we help to brand and identify your clients, we’re happy to share Brian’s Shave Ice custom embroidered patch caps that they turned around in few weeks to add some accent on their store opening party.

We love how they attached their fun logo to colorful caps which goes well with Brian’s Shave Ice’s colorful theme- shave ice flavor color. We can feel the energy of the store and delightful and refreshing flavor along with cool breeze of sweetness. Make me want to visit their store and have a scoop of chilled ice berg. Yum~.

We’re so please to see simple sketch of their logo turned into such a characteristic strong brand that ties their products. Awesome rainbow color them with simple black and white hand drown-ish loosed font style was perfect for their logo. Congrats to Brian’s Shave Ice for successful store launched and we love to see many more stores around our neighborhood!

Share with us if you have successful and fun case with your client’s products. HPI love to share good happy stories!

Pressure Adhesive patches are like embroidered stickers. Just peel of the backing and stick onto a clean surface for a secure (non-permanent) hold. You can peel off the patch from a garment and use on another garment up to 4 or 5 times. Pressure Adhesive patches are popular for special events and promotional items. You can sew on a Pressure Adhesive patch to get a permanent hold.

B. Iron On

Heat Seal backing allows a patch to be ironed on to a garment. Heat Seal is a quick and easy way to get a secure, permanent hold with precise positioning. For those that don’t have time to sew on patches, Heat Seal is a great alternative. You can take heat Seal patches to a dry cleaner for professional heat pressing.
Or you can do it yourself using these instructions:

1. Preheat iron for five minutes on a high setting. Do not use steam.
2. Iron area of the garment where the patch will be placed for 25 seconds.
3. Place the patch on the garment.
4. Place a lightweight cloth over the emblem. Using a back and forth motion, press firmly     with iron for 25 seconds. Do not apply hot  iron directly to the patch.
5. Gently turn garment inside out. Using a back and forth motion, iron the back side of     the emblem for 45-60 seconds while pressing firmly.
6. Turn the garment right side out. Place a lightweight cloth over it. Iron edges to insure that they are properly sealed. Do not apply hot iron directly to patch.
7. Allow to cool thoroughly.

C. Sew On

Even with the development of adhesives that make patch application easier, sewing is still the traditional and most widely used method of patch application. Sewing allows for a secure hold and can be permanent with the option of removal. A sturdy patch can be removed and sewn onto other garments many times.

D. Rip On

You can also get velcro put onto the back of the patch so that it can be applied and taken off as many times as you like.

The holiday season is upon us! There’s nothing quite like the combination of cold weather, bright lights, festive decorations and music, and the promise of a new year within reach. This year HPI decided to capture the spirit of the holidays with our first-ever scented “peppermint patch”, a full embroidered patch that is double-sided. Your customers will be able to see, feel, and smell the holidays when they slap on one of these babies. Check out the videos below to see what all the fuss is about. We hope you’ll join the HPI family in celebrating this joyous season with some refreshing peppermint patches. Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

Check out the video below and GET THE SENSATION!

Yodeling Librarian gets the sensation of the Peppermint Patch

No one knows who started the fad on support ribbons. However, there is no denying that this phenomenon has caught the world by storm. Thus, cause awareness ribbons have started to surface giving everyone the chance to take his or her pick from the many colors to wear that will represent his particular advocacy.

While wearing one will make you feel a part of the organization, knowing the different awareness ribbons meanings is a must. In so doing, you will be able to show your support for an advocacy that you feel you can relate to.

Perhaps, the most common of all support ribbons is pink. Everybody knows that of all the awareness ribbons meanings pink is the most popular of all because of its association with breast cancer. Thus, come every October support ribbons in pink are seen in women’s clinics and establishments.

Awareness ribbons meanings vary according to colors but there are those that are in duplicates. For instance, the color green is the ribbon that represents both the advocacies on organ donation and mental health. In like manner, a combination of colors can only stand for one awareness ribbons meanings such as red and yellow for hepatitis.

Practically, no color is left untouched in as far as support ribbons are concerned. However, if there is one that really stands out from the crowd, it is the rainbow colored or jigsaw ribbon that is intended for autism. What makes this ribbon different from all the rest is how it represents a community of people who are in themselves unique. Just like the ribbon that pertains to them, autistics are very special and they deserve all the attention that they can get from everybody.

There is a long list of awareness ribbons meanings that you can not practically remember each one of them. However, before you take your pick from this list, evaluate first if what you think is your passion. If you have been a victim of domestic violence and physical abuse, purple is definitely your color of choice. However, if you defy suicide and condole with the families left behind by the victims, then it has to be yellow for you.

EMS is defined as Emergency Medical Services while EMT means Emergency Medical Technician. Despite the fact that the two terms are interrelated, their meaning is very different and cannot be interchanged. This is the reason why they have their own EMT and EMS patches to distinguish one from the other.

EMS is the medical service that has the custody of the patients who has to be transported to a hospital or moved to other protection facility for more needed medical care. The medical worker who works within the EMS system is the EMT. EMTs take care for patients on the ground while they are being transported. So if you need attention during troubled times then approach the person with an EMT patch on their uniform for direct attention and go to the one with the EMS patch if you need urgent transfer to another location.

EMS systems are ambulances that are send out when a distress call is receive by 9-1-1. Some EMS systems only move patients between medical services instead of taking action to emergencies.

EMS chain of command starts with the federal or local governments EMS 9-1-1 systems. Some emergency systems are operated by private ambulance services when government systems are not available.

EMTs are a relevant part of EMS since they work in the same field of Emergency Medical Services. There are different levels of training to be a part of the EMT in preparatory emergency medical care. The first level of EMT is basic, then intermediate and the highest level is Paramedic. Paramedics are well trained in complete and rigid training that employ clinical time and test before being certified. They even have their own EMT patches called paramedic patches.

Those who wear the uniform with the EMT and EMS patches should be proud of themselves since they know that they play a very important part of the rescue effort that the government is giving.

While those persons who are collectors of these EMT and EMS patches can avail of them by the use of online buying, there are lots of them available for you to choose. Who knows, maybe you can get the rare ones and have them framed and placed on the center of your collection.

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One sad thing about buying your shirts or bags in department stores is you are most likely to end up seeing someone having exactly the same color, style and design as yours. Well, that can now be avoided with an iron appliqué. Even if you wind up with the same designs of appliqué iron on, you can still manage to make your outfit look like a real stunner by putting them in your shirt’s sleeves or at its back.

Indeed, giving a twist to your clothing has never been made easier by an iron appliqué. There are so many designs to choose from such as letterings, animals, flowers and just about anything that you can ever think of. There are also designs for boys which mostly come in the form of numbers similar to those found in jerseys.

On the other hand, if you want to put a personal touch in your linens and blankets, appliqué embroidery will definitely be the ultimate choice. Elaborate and colorful, they will make your home essentials look more elegant and chic. Even cloth diapers of your baby can use cute appliqué embroidery as an excellent accent. Nowadays, one can find an appliqué embroidery machine wherein designs can be automatically downloaded from the internet. Not really intended for personal use, this can be an excellent business venture for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Thinking of a uniform for your group, organization or team becomes a lot easier by putting an iron appliqué which design represents your logo or symbol. It is also very easy to make since all you need is to have the appliqué iron on the jersey fabric. You just have to ensure that the design and its color will match your uniform.

Any kind of fabric is suitable for appliqués whether they are embroidered or ironed on. The designs will look better if they compliment the background or the color of the fabric where they will be ironed on. Thus, in shopping for the best appliqué designs, you must already have a background color in mind. Nonetheless, you can always request that yours will be customized.