What is embroidery?
Embroidery stitches your artwork into the garment with thread, from a digitised file that tells the machine where every stitch goes. Priced by the stitch count, which the design's size and density set. It outlasts the garment and reads as premium from across a room.
Why it matters
Caps, polos, fleece and workwear are embroidery garments — it survives industrial washing indefinitely and looks more expensive than any print. It cannot do fine lines, small text or gradients.
On our floor
Digitising is done in-house, once, for around $25; a left-chest logo adds roughly $1.60 per garment at 50 pieces from our current rate sheet. A sample stitch-out precedes every bulk run.
Common questions
- What is a stitch count?
- The number of stitches in the design — set by size and density — and what determines machine time per piece.
- How small can embroidered text be?
- About 5 mm tall to read cleanly. Below that, enlarge, simplify or print.
- Can you match thread to a Pantone?
- To within a shade from a range of several hundred threads; the stitch-out is where you confirm.
- Does embroidery work on t-shirts?
- For small logos on 180 gsm or heavier, yes. Large or dense designs pucker light fabric.
Related terms
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…
digitising
Digitising converts your artwork into a stitch file — the instructions an embroidery machine follows for every stitch: its position,…
stitch count
Stitch count is the number of stitches the machine makes to embroider a design — set by the design's size, its density, and how much of it…
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…
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