What is appliqué?
Appliqué lays a piece of fabric — felt, twill, or a contrasting knit — onto the garment in the shape of your design and stitches it down with an embroidered satin edge. It gives a large, bold, dimensional mark with far fewer stitches than embroidering the whole area.
Why it matters
Large letters and numbers — varsity style — would take tens of thousands of stitches as solid embroidery and stiffen the garment. Appliqué covers the area with fabric and stitches only the edge.
On our floor
Fabric is laser- or die-cut to the shape, tacked, then edge-stitched on the embroidery heads. Priced on the edge stitch count plus the fabric.
Common questions
- What is appliqué best for?
- Large letters, numbers and simple shapes on jackets, hoodies and sweatshirts.
- What fabrics are used?
- Felt, cotton twill, or a knit matching the garment for tonal appliqué.
- Is appliqué durable?
- Yes — the stitched edge holds the fabric permanently through washing.
- Can it combine with embroidery?
- Yes — a fabric letter with an embroidered detail on top is standard varsity construction.
Related terms
embroidery
Embroidery stitches your artwork into the garment with thread, from a digitised file that tells the machine where every stitch goes. Priced…
chenille patch
Chenille is embroidery worked in looped yarn that stands up as a soft, fuzzy pile — the texture of a classic varsity letter. It is usually…
3D puff embroidery
3D puff embroidery lays a sheet of foam under the stitching so the thread wraps over it and the design stands two to three millimetres off…
Where this applies
Put it to work
Price any garment, decoration and quantity live in the calculator, or send us what you have for a quote within a working day.
Get a quote