Everything you need to know about embroidery

Embroidery benefits customers and operators

​The benefits of embroidery are that it gives an elegant finish and screams quality when stitching a company's logo. Embroidery operators find personal satisfaction while stitching a clean, crisp logo and seeing the customer smile. Embroidery operators must possess hand-eye coordination to take a thread and insert it through the embroidery needle. Our operators find stitching healing and allow them to relax and get their minds off of everyday stress. Operators have also mentioned it builds confidence, improves eyesight, and reduces anxiety. 

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What can be embroidered?

​Embroidery is applied with a needle and thread, limiting the design's small detail. Owner Jim Mickelson says, "If you can draw it with a Sharpie felt tip pen, we can embroider it." The left chest logo position is the most popular embroidery location. It is on the left chest because when shaking hands with a customer, they will be able to read your logo. The left chest design is usually 2" tall and 4" wide, making it able to be viewed from 3 to 5 feet away. Embroidery isn't the best option for items you can't frame a circular embroidery hoop. Troublesome embroidery items include backpacks with zippers, polo shirts with a pocket, jackets with seams running down the back, and any lightweight fabric, making securing a stitch impossible. 

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How does embroidery pricing work?

​Embroidery's pricing unit is based on the "stitch count" in a design. Generally, an embroidery machine can stitch 550 stitches per minute. Multi-head embroidery machines can have different heads, from one to 12 sewing heads, making larger embroidery machines more efficient and pricing lower. A typical left chest embroidery logo has 8,000 stitches and 3 thread colors and is the optimal design for an embroidery machine to be productive. Pricing embroidery is based on the number of stitches, machine speed, labor rate, and factory overhead. For example, if you know your factory rate is $100.00 per hour, use an 8-head embroidery machine and can produce 16 logos per hour. The calculation would be $100.00/16 = $6.25 per logo. I also suggest taking the worst-case production rate and dividing it into the factory costs, so you can factor in the operator's bathroom breaks, inefficiencies, and machine problems. To be safe on the above calculation, I would say the hourly rate is 12 units, which would increase the cost to $8.33 per logo

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What should I charge for monogramming shirts?
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​Monogramming shirts using embroidery takes a lot of time since you can only do 1 personalized name at a time. I have seen so many shops price personalization too cheaply. You need to think hourly factory rate again at $100.00 per hour. Operators can stitch 6 monograms per hour on average, which is not a very good production rate. Once again, divide your $100.00 shop rate into your units per hour; $100.00/6 units = $16.66. You probably think, "I could never charge that to my customer."  When you have a loyal customer base and provide excellent service and products, the price doesn't even come up in discussion. 

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Is embroidery profitable? ​

​The question, "Is embroidery profitable?" is not a clear-cut answer due to many factors I will explain. Many people get into the embroidery business because they know many people and belong to organizations such as the PTA, churches, kid's baseball league, and civic groups. These organizations are a great starting place to sell your embroidery, but what happens when you are finished selling to them and need customers for the next 8 months? Newbies should create a business plan that consistently brings in monthly orders. I know your eyes are seeing dollar signs, but you need a solid marketing program to keep the embroidery orders rolling to stay profitable. An embroider starting out with a marketing plan, business fortitude, and doing everything correctly could see a $30,000 profit at year's end. 

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How to purchase an embroidery machine

​If I haven't yet scared you away about joining the embroidery industry, please keep reading about how to purchase an embroidery machine. Our factory at Northwest Custom Apparel uses 100% Tajima embroidery machines, and we have been using Tajima embroidery machines since 1977. When purchasing your first embroidery machine, you need to determine how many embroidery heads you need to be profitable. A single-head machine is for the hobbyist that works out of a bedroom and stitches for friends and family. I will focus on the multi-head embroidery machines with 4,6,8 and 12 embroidery heads that will make you profitable. There are several different manufacturers of embroidery machines, and the popular ones in the United States are Tajima and Barudan. I prefer Tajima due to its durability, uptime, and low maintenance costs. Hirsch is the distributor of Tajima in the United States, and I suggest you talk to Kris Janowski, the Vice-President, and remember to tell Kris, "Northwest Embroidery sent me." 

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How do I digitize my own embroidery designs?

Jim Mickelson, owner Northwest Embroidery, punches a design in 1982 using a digitizing board.

​We started digitizing in 1977 using jacquard punch tapes and a digitizing board where an 8,000 stitch logo could take all day to punch. We have gone through the struggles in the early years of punching embroidery tapes. Technology has evolved, and digitizing is simple with the correct digitizing software. Our preferred digitizing software is Wilcom, which is user-friendly and has enough bells and whistles to keep the professional digitizer happy. Wilcom is worth its price with the increase in productivity and the quality of stitching and is a must-have for a beginner embroider. There are free copies of embroidery software out on the internet by just doing a Google search "Free embroidery software download." Due to the glitches and lack of technical support on the free digitizing software, I do not recommend this digitizing route. Another suggestion is contracting your digitized designs to a professional digitizing company with low cost, quick turnaround, and fantastic quality. You will then ask, "the digitizers are in India, and their quality is horrible," which is the opposite since they digitize 8-10 hours a day, 6 days a week, and are graded by their quality of work. The company we use for our digitizing is www.qdigitizing.com, and the contact is Steve Freeman, who has been a US digitizer for over 30 years. 

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How to choose Embroidery Thread

​Embroidery thread is available from a plethora of manufacturers all over the world. I suggest you pick a thread supplier that is US based and has longevity in the thread industry. Since 1977, Northwest Embroidery has used Robison Anton thread for its vast inventory of thread types and colors. Madeira embroidery thread is our second choice when Robison Anton doesn't offer what a customer is requesting. Once you pick a thread supplier, stick with the supplier and form a long-term business relationship because there will be a day you are in a pinch and need a special favor. 

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Conclusion

​As people tell you, the embroidery industry is not always lucrative and easy; however, with a marketing plan, you will be more successful than 80% of the other embroiders. Keep your head up and chest back and always stay positive, and you will one day have a profitable embroidery business. Erik Mickelson is available to answer your questions about starting your new embroidery adventure, and feel free to reach out to me. 

Operations Manager, Erik Mickelson, shows off his Mr. Rags Hoodie.

Author

Erik Mickelson is a contributing co-author for Northwest Custom Apparel and has over 25 years in the embroidery industry. Questions on how to start an embroidery company, please reach out to Erik at [email protected] 

Northwest Custom Apparel