< Would be open to making a new image if preferred

I say go for it, might as well rearrange it a bit or something to fit a patch better.

< Would be open to making a new image if preferred

I also got the feeling that NEDM might be able to whip up something worth of making a patch. Maybe you should collaborate :D (if he is still around, can't say I've been actively following stuff happening here)

thread OP has been updated as of now, please re-read before commenting/asking anything

I need more badges to sew onto my overalls anyways so yes please. Don't count on me contributing anything other than money tho.

Are you going to order from here? https://merkillinen.fi/?languageSelected=1

you are talking about patches, I was referring to badges:

though a tuubachan patch might be hella cute too, though I'm unsure about it's visual viability

Are you going to order from here? https://merkillinen.fi/?languageSelected=1

the patch!tuuba project
the basics
we're making a run of 50 patches (because that's the minimum quantity I'm finding everywhere) and selling them to tuubas. you will be able to buy from me a real life depiction of an anime girl blowing a tuuba (and no, that's not a weird fetish).

the questions
Q. gee whiz, what's gonna be on the patches?
A. we don't know yet! my first and most obvious idea was tuuba-chan (this lovely girl who lives on the bottom right corner of the forums), but I'm open to all suggestions. I will try to get some actual visual design proposals in here soon.
Q. I don't like this idea at all, can we have something else on a patch?
A. probably not because the MOQ is 50 and I don't really want to have tens of different tuubachans that no one wants! please make sure you are happy with the design and I know it if you want in on this
Q. how many patches do we get?
A. however many you're willing to pay for. if you decide you want to coat a whole wall in tuubachans fucking go for it
Q. so how do I get one?
A. I don't know yet because I don't know where we're ordering these fuckers from, but it will probably involve the mail service to some extent (unless I can organise something very fucky boat trip magic to happen for the finntuubas)
Q. so how is this being financed?
A. I don't know, using the remnants of my hopes and dreams, everything sucks
once I get a quote, we'll most likely have a sign-up phase where everyone who wants one signs up, then pays, then I actually order the patches.
Q. how much will it cost?
A. we will not know until I request a full quote, but a lot. the preliminary amount is looking to be around 90-150€, and that's just for the actual physical making of them. the cost will be divided per the amount of people who want them, so if we get people to get a lot of them, it will be cheaper for everyone in the long run. (how about getting five patches and peddling them off to your non-tuuba friends?) there is also shipping costs to consider on top of that.
alternatively we can crowdfund a very expensive embroidery machine for me, after which everyone gets as many patches as they want about anything they'd like at material cost, but I think that's a stupid idea and I'd feel bad about it
Q. what will happen to any money we give you that is left over?
A. I absolutely do not want to profit from this in the end, so if by some miracle we manage to cover the entire thing (I'll definitely have to pay out of pocket for at least some of this), I have a few options in mind:
1) provide patches to certain esteemed members of the community;
2) pay for part of the server/domain costs;
3) support the artist - Brian deserves our love and our money;
4) donate it to a tuuba buying fund. no, I'm not kidding, I would donate it to a music school near me with the stipulation that it supports the buying of a tuuba or possibly another brass instrument.
open to suggestions, though!

the (tentative) schedule
here's how I'm seeing this work out
1. early interest check (september/october)
1a. design decisions and finalisation (through october until however long it takes to reach a design we're all happy with)
2. signups, trying to get people to please give me their money (end of year)
3. order put in, The Wait, hoping this shit actually gets made (start of next year)
4. patches hopefully come and get sent out/delivered (springtime/april/something like that)

I'm interested, what do I do?
please tell me, I need to know how badly I'm bankrupting myself with this project

edited 2017-09-25: full overhaul of whole OP because y'all want patches