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Resources · Embroidery

Stitched,
not printed.

Embroidery rebuilds your design in thread. That is a different craft from printing, with different limits — and understanding them is the difference between a logo that looks sharp on a cap and one that fills in.

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What digitising actually is

Artwork is not converted to stitches automatically. A digitiser rebuilds the design as stitch paths, deciding type, density, direction, and sequence.

It is a separate craft
The quality of the digitising matters as much as the quality of the artwork. Two digitisings of the same logo can look noticeably different.
One-time per design and size
A design resized significantly usually needs re-digitising. Stitch density that works at three inches does not simply scale to eight.
Vector art helps
AI, EPS, PDF, or SVG gives the digitiser clean shapes to follow rather than pixels to interpret.
Simplification is normal
Some detail gets removed or consolidated on purpose. That is the design surviving the medium, not being degraded.
Watch out for

Small text and fine detail cause more disappointment than anything else. Thread has physical width, so detail below roughly a quarter-inch tends to close up and become illegible. A logo that is perfectly readable on a business card may not survive at chest size.

Art to stitch

The stitch types you will hear about

Satin
Long parallel stitches with a sheen. Used for lettering and borders. Has a practical width range — very wide satin snags, very narrow satin disappears.
Fill
Rows of shorter stitches covering a larger area. Direction and pattern are design decisions, not defaults.
Underlay
Stitches beneath the visible ones that stabilise the fabric and stop the top stitches sinking into a knit. Invisible, and the reason a design sits crisply.
Run
A single line of stitches. Fine detail and outlines.

Fabric changes everything

Knits stretch
Polos and tees move under the needle. Backing and underlay are chosen to compensate.
Fleece and pile
The nap swallows stitches. Designs need heavier underlay, and very fine detail is a poor fit.
Performance fabrics
Thin and slick. They need a lighter touch and show needle penetration more readily.
Caps are curved and seamed
A cap front is not a flat panel. Placement works around the seam, and the design usually stitches from the centre outward.

Patches on hats

A patch is made separately and then applied, which changes what is possible.

More detail than direct stitching
Because the patch is produced flat, it can carry finer work than a design stitched straight onto a curved, seamed cap front.
A defined edge
The patch has its own border, so the design sits inside a deliberate shape rather than floating on the fabric.
Send the artwork and tell us the hat
Shape and size options depend on the cap. Ask us and we will tell you what fits the one you have chosen.

Rather than guess

Ask us when…

  • Your logo contains text smaller than about a quarter-inch at final size.
  • The design has gradients, or more colours than it obviously needs.
  • You are decorating an unusual fabric — waterproof, fleece, or heavily textured.
  • You want the same logo on caps, polos, and outerwear and want it to look consistent.
  • You are considering patches and are not sure whether they suit your design.

None of these are a problem. They are the points where two minutes now saves a reprint later.

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Will your logo stitch cleanly?

Send it over and we will tell you honestly — including where detail will need to change, before anything is digitised.

  1. 1 Start your project
  2. 2 Tell us what you're creating
  3. 3 Receive your estimate
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