The
embroidery process begins with an idea or a piece of artwork. That artwork
then has to be "digitized" which is the specialized process of converting
two dimensional artwork into stitches or thread. The digitizing computer
software will allow numerous machines to embroider (stitch) the logo/design
repetitively onto the various garments.
Contrary to popular opinion, you cannot take a particular format of art such
as a jpeg, tif, eps, bmp, and convert it to an embroidery tape. The
digitizer has to actually recreate the artwork using stitches, meaning, the
digitizer is programming the sewing machine to sew a specific design, in a
specific color, with a specific type of stitch. This is the process known as
digitizing. Embroidery three dimensional and thus allowing some exciting
effects to be included to "spruce up" a normally flat piece of artwork
The digitizing of an image can be simple to very complicated (more expensive)
depending on the size and the detail of the image. When an image is
digitized, our technicians/craftsmen use a digitizing computer program that
assists in accurately converting your logo or electronic artwork into a
system of stitches that the embroidery machine can read. This activity is as
much an art form as it is a science. Skill and creativity are essential.
The embroidery digitizing, is normally a one-time process. It requires
relatively clean artwork as a starting point. While, a business card,
letterhead, or a decal will suffice as this artwork, camera-ready or
computer generated graphics from a program such as Corel Draw or Adobe
Photoshop may result in truer finished embroidery.
While the digitizing
process automates the machine stitching, much of the process continues to be
hands on. Before the sewing can begin, specific thread colors must
be loaded by hand into the machines. A spool of thread for each
color for each sewing head must be loaded. The machine itself is
programmed by the operator to sew the design in a particular color
sequence and a particular sewing speed. The garments must then be
"hooped" individually, again by hand, and then loaded into the
machine. Once the design has completed sewing, the garment is taken
off the machine, un-hooped, and then sent to the next step in the
production process.
The actual embroidery stitching consists of:
1. Fixing the area of the garment to be embroidered in a device
called a hoop;
2. Attaching the hooped garment to the embroidery machine so that it
can be embroidered; and
3. Removing extraneous stitches accumulated during the embroidery
process and removing the backing material used to stabilize the
fabric during embroidery (commonly referred to as “cutting, tearing,
and trimming”)
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Selecting the type of
garment/apparel material is an important consideration when embroidering. A
T-shirt for example will likely have fewer stitches than denim given that
the fabric is not as heavy and will not hold as many stitches. Polyester
fleece, on the other hand, (and the 'underlay' stitches that you don't see
on the finished product) will likely have different stitches. Fleece has 'loft', meaning that it's relatively thick and springy.
Underlay stitching is required to 'squash' down the fleece where satin
stitches will be placed otherwise stitches may be 'lost' in the springy
fleece (and not be seen).
Often you may use one logo on many different types of fabrics. However, to
ensure the best presentation, we appreciate and recommend working with us in
advance when selecting the garment and fabric type that will be embroidered.
1330 Commerce St.
Petaluma, CA 94954 Tel. (707) 762-2280 /
Toll free (800) 680-0123
