Embroidery is definitely the oldest form of corporate ID decoration. It is also the most hard wearing.

It certainly gives a high quality feel to garments. The other great thing is you don't have to worry about how many colours there are in your logo, it will not cost any more.

DIGITIZATION

If you want to embroider your logo, you will have to have the image DIGITIZED. This is a one off process that converts the graphical image of your logo into stitches. The file can then be downloaded into the computerised embroidery machine, which in turn will embroider your garments. This usually costs some where between £15- £50 depending on the size and complexity of your logo.

Whereas embroidery can be used for garments such as jackets, which are often difficult to print, because of their bulk, I would not recommend it for t-shirts. This is because t-shirts are usually made of quite thin material, that tends to pucker when embroidered. The other problem is that t-shirts are usually worn next to the skin and the stitching can chafe against the skin.

IMAGE DEFINITION

Because your image will be made up of actual stitches, it gives a very grainy effect. Some say this is part af the charm, but some logos loose their appeal when the logo is embroidered rather than printed. I would suggest that you make the desition as to wether you are going to print or embroider the logo or crest before you get it designed.

COST

For small quantities of garments ( under 12 ) having to get the logo digitized, can make the job expensive. For larger quntities and repeated orders this problem looses its impact, making embroidery quite a cost effect method for decorating your uniform or workwear.

This applies only to smaller images. Larger images can be very expensive because they take a long time to manufacture. The stitch sizes stays the same so you have to have many more stitches for larger designs. An A4 sized image can take over an hour to embroider even on a high speed machine.

MATERIALS

Fabrics for embroidery can be grouped under two headings which are evenweave fabrics and plain weave fabrics. Evenweave fabrics have a regular weave with an exact number of threads in each direction. These are easy to count, making it straightforward to create stitches of an even size and spacing. Even where fabrics come in various grades, identified by the number of threads to the inch, which is called the fabric count. (The count is usually calculated to the inch, even in countries which generally use metric measurements.) The higher the count the more threads there are to the inch, and the smaller your stitches will be.

Conversely, the lower the count the fewer threads and the larger your stitches will be.
Plain-weave fabrics, which include home furnishing fabrics as well as dressmaking materials, can be made of natural or synthetic fibres and may be smooth or textured. The most useful fabric under this heading is plain cotton which is the easiest to apply embroidery to. Non-stretch synthetic materials can also be used but they require a backing such as iron-on  interfacing or lightweight cotton. It is possible to use stretchy synthetics (with a backing) but it is not recommended.

Backing fabric is normally used under the surface layer to prevent puckering except the small projects, when it isn't really necessary, especially if we are stitching on to medium weight cotton. We tend to use lightweight cotton as a backing for evenweave fabrics, such as 28 count Linda and 28/32 count Irish linen, and for both natural and synthetic plain weave fabrics.