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 ¼” 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
½”). (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.
Copyright 2005. Unauthorized Duplication Prohibited. Contact Fast Embroidery Tapes for permission.
