sults, use capitalized letters in a sans serif font such as Arial (for text under ?”). (Your digitizer can advise you if the text in your design will sew out well at its original size.) The minimum letter heights listed below are for sans serif, block letters, sewn in a satin stitch.

Suggested minimum Letter Height by Fabric:

Pique, Terry cloth, Fleece .…. 1/ 4”

Twill, Most other fabrics …… 3/16”

MARKETING IDEAS

An upcoming trend in embellishment for women is metallic (studs) or crystal heat transferred designs. Currently showing up in the marketplace on casual attire as full chest, larger designs, the concept could also be incorporated into a smaller embroidered design. Gold or pink metals on a scoop neck tee tastefully accenting a corporate design, for example, would be striking and appeal to women.

Another suggestion that would make a difference in how often a woman would actually wear the item would be to offer a monochromatic scheme of separate items to coordinate with the men’s article of clothing (a multi-colored polo shirt, for example). A man’s Hunter Green shirt with Navy stripes cou

EMBROIDERING ON WOMEN'S APPAREL

Digitizing and Embroidery Tips

WHEN TO CHOOSE EMBROIDERY

Women represent more than 50 percent of the workforce today and are taking their place in upper level management positions in growing numbers. As women advance in the business world, promotional apparel is reflecting that move. The “unisex” treatment of promotional garments, using the same standard grade rules for both men’s and women’s sizing, is being replaced with designs sized to fit that make a fashion statement appropriate for each gender. With this evolution, women’s promotional business apparel can be an interesting and welcome addition to a woman’s wardrobe rather than a functional waste of billions of business dollars.

LOCATION

Left Chest - The industry standard for placement for a man’s left chest design is 8” down from the shoulder seam to the bottom of the design and 4” over from the center of the shirt. For women, this must be adjusted to 6” down from the shoulder seam and placed at a point that falls midway between the center front of the garment and the armhole seam. This is a good general rule for proper design placement on a woman’s bodice. (Think of where a woman places her hand on her chest when she places it over her heart.) If you’re uncertain of where left center falls, err towards the center front and neckline of the garment. You don’t want the design to extend under the armpit or too low on the chest. This is especially important with women’s fashions today moving toward tighter fitting, shorter tops.

Also, make sure that the design is small enough to fit comfortably in the space provided. Pinning a cutout of the design on an actual garment sample is a good way to check size and placement. A logo on a woman’s top may need to be reduced as much as 10 to 20 percent from one sized for a man’s shirt. (Be aware that as the logo or design is reduced in size, the text size will also reduce and may become too small to digitize properly. Re-designing the logo may be necessary to keep text no less than 3/16” or ?” in height.)

Center Front – A recent trend in design placement for women’s business apparel is center front on the garment bodice, approximately where the pendant of a necklace would fall. This works extremely well on a fashion tee, sweater or dress with a higher neckline. A coordinating cardigan creates a finished look and highlights the embroidered design rather than concealing it.

FABRIC

Fabrics that convey a professional image as well as offer a good working canvas for embroidery are the best choice for women’s business apparel. These include ring spun cotton, interlock and brushed rib, wool, cotton and rayon blends and other blended fabrics. Choose solid colors suitable for the office such as cream, natural, white, black, navy, red, dark green, or pastels. Select a fabric that is durable and soft enough to be comfortable. Look for quality. You may pay a bit more for a quality fabric, but it could save you money in the sewout process as well as last longer and provide a comfortable, stylish article of clothing that is worn frequently and keeps your customers coming back.

THREAD

With its vibrant colors and high sheen, the traditional choice of thread for women’s embroidered office apparel is rayon. Keep in mind that a cooler temperature with color-safe bleach will need to be used for items embellished with rayon thread.

Also, keep in mind that not all fabrics are created equal when it comes to determining an appropriate stitch density level for your chosen thread, whether it’s rayon, polyester, metallic or other specialized thread type. Make sure you choose an experienced digitizer who is familiar with many different types of fabrics and a variety of thread types. If, when a design is sewn out, the fabric pulls and puckers, there’s a good chance the density of the stitching is too heavy. If the fabric is showing through, the stitch density is probably too low. Letting your digitizer know the type of fabric in the garment and specifying the type of thread preferred will help them to provide you with a digitized tape that creates a quality image and sews out well and easily—the first time.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Letter size is an important consideration when creating a design for the embroidery process. This is especially true when embroidering on women’s apparel where the overall size of the design may need to be reduced. Serif fonts are not advisable for small text. For best results, use capitalized letters in a sans serif font such as Arial (for text under ?”). (Your digitizer can advise you if the text in your design will sew out well at its original size.) The minimum letter heights listed below are for sans serif, block letters, sewn in a satin stitch.

Suggested minimum Letter Height by Fabric:

Pique, Terry cloth, Fleece .…. 1/ 4”

Twill, Most other fabrics …… 3/16”

MARKETING IDEAS

An upcoming trend in embellishment for women is metallic (studs) or crystal heat transferred designs. Currently showing up in the marketplace on casual attire as full chest, larger designs, the concept could also be incorporated into a smaller embroidered design. Gold or pink metals on a scoop neck tee tastefully accenting a corporate design, for example, would be striking and appeal to women.

Another suggestion that would make a difference in how often a woman would actually wear the item would be to offer a monochromatic scheme of separate items to coordinate with the men’s article of clothing (a multi-colored polo shirt, for example). A man’s Hunter Green shirt with Navy stripes coul

eam. This is a good general rule for proper design placement on a woman’s bodice. (Think of where a woman places her hand on her chest when she places it over her heart.) If you’re uncertain of where left center falls, err towards the center front and neckline of the garment. You don’t want the design to extend under the armpit or too low on the chest. This is especially important with women’s fashions today moving toward tighter fitting, shorter tops.

Also, make sure that the design is small enough to fit comfortably in the space provided. Pinning a cutout of the design on an actual garment sample is a good way to check size and placement. A logo on a woman’s top may need to be reduced as much as 10 to 20 percent from one sized for a man’s shirt. (Be aware that as the logo or design is reduced in size, the text size will also reduce and may become too small to digitize properly. Re-designing the logo may be necessary to keep text no less than 3/16” or ?” in height.)

Center Front – A recent trend in design placement for women’s business apparel is center front on the garment bodice, approximately where the pendant of a necklace would fall. This works extremely well on a fashion tee, sweater or dress with a higher neckline. A coordinating cardigan creates a finished look and highlights the embroidered design rather than concealing it.

FABRIC

Fabrics that convey a professional image as well as offer a good working canvas for embroidery are the best choice for women’s business apparel. These include ring spun cotton, interlock and brushed rib, wool, cotton and rayon blends and other blended fabrics. Choose solid colors suitable for the office such as cream, natural, white, black, navy, red, dark green, or pastels. Select a fabric that is durable and soft enough to be comfortable. Look for quality. You may pay a bit more for a quality fabric, but it could save you money in the sewout process as well as last longer and provide a comfortable, stylish article of clothing that is worn frequently and keeps your customers coming back.

THREAD

With its vibrant colors and high sheen, the traditional choice of thread for women’s embroidered office apparel is rayon. Keep in mind that a cooler temperature with color-safe bleach will need to be used for items embellished with rayon thread.

Also, keep in mind that not all fabrics are created equal when it comes to determining an appropriate stitch density level for your chosen thread, whether it’s rayon, polyester, metallic or other specialized thread type. Make sure you choose an experienced digitizer who is familiar with many different types of fabrics and a variety of thread types. If, when a design is sewn out, the fabric pulls and puckers, there’s a good chance the density of the stitching is too heavy. If the fabric is showing through, the stitch density is probably too low. Letting your digitizer know the type of fabric in the garment and specifying the type of thread preferred will help them to provide you with a digitized tape that creates a quality image and sews out well and easily—the first time.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Letter size is an important consideration when creating a design for the embroidery process. This is especially true when embroidering on women’s apparel where the overall size of the design may need to be reduced. Serif fonts are not advisable for small text. For best results, use capitalized letters in a sans serif font such as Arial (for text under ?”). (Your digitizer can advise you if the text in your design will sew out well at its original size.) The minimum letter heights listed below are for sans serif, block letters, sewn in a satin stitch.

Suggested minimum Letter Height by Fabric:

Pique, Terry cloth, Fleece .…. 1/ 4”

Twill, Most other fabrics …… 3/16”

MARKETING IDEAS

An upcoming trend in embellishment for women is metallic (studs) or crystal heat transferred designs. Currently showing up in the marketplace on casual attire as full chest, larger designs, the concept could also be incorporated into a smaller embroidered design. Gold or pink metals on a scoop neck tee tastefully accenting a corporate design, for example, would be striking and appeal to women.

Another suggestion that would make a difference in how often a woman would actually wear the item would be to offer a monochromatic scheme of separate items to coordinate with the men’s article of clothing (a multi-colored polo shirt, for example). A man’s Hunter Green shirt with Navy stripes cou

fall. This works extremely well on a fashion tee, sweater or dress with a higher neckline. A coordinating cardigan creates a finished look and highlights the embroidered design rather than concealing it.

FABRIC

Fabrics that convey a professional image as well as offer a good working canvas for embroidery are the best choice for women’s business apparel. These include ring spun cotton, interlock and brushed rib, wool, cotton and rayon blends and other blended fabrics. Choose solid colors suitable for the office such as cream, natural, white, black, navy, red, dark green, or pastels. Select a fabric that is durable and soft enough to be comfortable. Look for quality. You may pay a bit more for a quality fabric, but it could save you money in the sewout process as well as last longer and provide a comfortable, stylish article of clothing that is worn frequently and keeps your customers coming back.

THREAD

With its vibrant colors and high sheen, the traditional choice of thread for women’s embroidered office apparel is rayon. Keep in mind that a cooler temperature with color-safe bleach will need to be used for items embellished with rayon thread.

Also, keep in mind that not all fabrics are created equal when it comes to determining an appropriate stitch density level for your chosen thread, whether it’s rayon, polyester, metallic or other specialized thread type. Make sure you choose an experienced digitizer who is familiar with many different types of fabrics and a variety of thread types. If, when a design is sewn out, the fabric pulls and puckers, there’s a good chance the density of the stitching is too heavy. If the fabric is showing through, the stitch density is probably too low. Letting your digitizer know the type of fabric in the garment and specifying the type of thread preferred will help them to provide you with a digitized tape that creates a quality image and sews out well and easily—the first time.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Letter size is an important consideration when creating a design for the embroidery process. This is especially true when embroidering on women’s apparel where the overall size of the design may need to be reduced. Serif fonts are not advisable for small text. For best results, use capitalized letters in a sans serif font such as Arial (for text under ?”). (Your digitizer can advise you if the text in your design will sew out well at its original size.) The minimum letter heights listed below are for sans serif, block letters, sewn in a satin stitch.

Suggested minimum Letter Height by Fabric:

Pique, Terry cloth, Fleece .…. 1/ 4”

Twill, Most other fabrics …… 3/16”

MARKETING IDEAS

An upcoming trend in embellishment for women is metallic (studs) or crystal heat transferred designs. Currently showing up in the marketplace on casual attire as full chest, larger designs, the concept could also be incorporated into a smaller embroidered design. Gold or pink metals on a scoop neck tee tastefully accenting a corporate design, for example, would be striking and appeal to women.

Another suggestion that would make a difference in how often a woman would actually wear the item would be to offer a monochromatic scheme of separate items to coordinate with the men’s article of clothing (a multi-colored polo shirt, for example). A man’s Hunter Green shirt with Navy stripes cou

need to be used for items embellished with rayon thread.

Also, keep in mind that not all fabrics are created equal when it comes to determining an appropriate stitch density level for your chosen thread, whether it’s rayon, polyester, metallic or other specialized thread type. Make sure you choose an experienced digitizer who is familiar with many different types of fabrics and a variety of thread types. If, when a design is sewn out, the fabric pulls and puckers, there’s a good chance the density of the stitching is too heavy. If the fabric is showing through, the stitch density is probably too low. Letting your digitizer know the type of fabric in the garment and specifying the type of thread preferred will help them to provide you with a digitized tape that creates a quality image and sews out well and easily—the first time.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Letter size is an important consideration when creating a design for the embroidery process. This is especially true when embroidering on women’s apparel where the overall size of the design may need to be reduced. Serif fonts are not advisable for small text. For best results, use capitalized letters in a sans serif font such as Arial (for text under ?”). (Your digitizer can advise you if the text in your design will sew out well at its original size.) The minimum letter heights listed below are for sans serif, block letters, sewn in a satin stitch.

Suggested minimum Letter Height by Fabric:

Pique, Terry cloth, Fleece .…. 1/ 4”

Twill, Most other fabrics …… 3/16”

MARKETING IDEAS

An upcoming trend in embellishment for women is metallic (studs) or crystal heat transferred designs. Currently showing up in the marketplace on casual attire as full chest, larger designs, the concept could also be incorporated into a smaller embroidered design. Gold or pink metals on a scoop neck tee tastefully accenting a corporate design, for example, would be striking and appeal to women.

Another suggestion that would make a difference in how often a woman would actually wear the item would be to offer a monochromatic scheme of separate items to coordinate with the men’s article of clothing (a multi-colored polo shirt, for example). A man’s Hunter Green shirt with Navy stripes cou

sults, use capitalized letters in a sans serif font such as Arial (for text under ?”). (Your digitizer can advise you if the text in your design will sew out well at its original size.) The minimum letter heights listed below are for sans serif, block letters, sewn in a satin stitch.

Suggested minimum Letter Height by Fabric:

Pique, Terry cloth, Fleece .…. 1/ 4”

Twill, Most other fabrics …… 3/16”

MARKETING IDEAS

An upcoming trend in embellishment for women is metallic (studs) or crystal heat transferred designs. Currently showing up in the marketplace on casual attire as full chest, larger designs, the concept could also be incorporated into a smaller embroidered design. Gold or pink metals on a scoop neck tee tastefully accenting a corporate design, for example, would be striking and appeal to women.

Another suggestion that would make a difference in how often a woman would actually wear the item would be to offer a monochromatic scheme of separate items to coordinate with the men’s article of clothing (a multi-colored polo shirt, for example). A man’s Hunter Green shirt with Navy stripes could be coordinated with two separate items for the women. A Navy scooped neck tee, with the customer’s logo placed at the center-front “pendant” location, and a Hunter Green cardigan would look sharp and make a welcome, practical addition to any woman’s wardrobe.