Apparel Decoration, Make It Pop
Apparel Embroidery
Embroidery dates back to the 5th century BC in ancient China, and has come a really long way since. For the promotional products arena, embroidery has been elevated to incredible levels of versatility and, dare we say, artistry. The techniques being applied to embroidery allow marketers to be creative with decorating and make things really pop.
On the very basic end of embroidery you are dealing with stitches and stitch count, typically starting at 8,000 stitches. But, you need to be careful as embroidery is definitely a place where more is not always better.
Take this example provided by Vantage Apparel, where the first image has just the right density, or number of stitches for this design. You can see the logo is clear and there are no interruptions of space between stitches. Compared this to the second image, where the stitch count is too low for the size of the embroidery.
At the other end of the spectrum, the over stitched embroidery shows a distorted or even “bloated” decoration. Clearly too many stitches in the space. This may also incur extra costs for the additional stitch count.
Once the design and dimensions are determined, a good apparel embroiderer can guide you on the best stitch count.
As you consider your options, let your imagination wander a bit. Here are some options you may want to consider.
Sequin Embroidery
Some really cool and creative embroidery can be done with sequins. These are particularly popular for apparel intended to be presented to a mostly female audience.
From the basic silver sequin embroidery to the mixed color, you can do some fun things. Take a look at the Rangers artwork. The basic dark blue is highlighted with various color sequins, making the design stand out.
A really neat application is the Grand Hyatt Kauai. This combines four colors of sequins to create the parrot with the traditional embroidery stitch for the resort name. Someone really got creative with this design!
Developing the right apparel decoration can be a lot of fun. Working with traditional stitching and blending colors can produce stand out creative shirts, sweaters and jackets. Throw sequins into the mix and you can make decorations pop!