# applique or embroidery



## dominici (Apr 22, 2007)

I've been looking into getting something similar to what's attached embroidered onto my t shirts and also into the applique possibilties of it. I've road tested the applique and applied it by hand iron to a t shirt. It looks good but I'm not sure how resilient they are after washing.

Dos anyone have any thoughts on whether it's more expensive to get something embroidered directly onto a t shirt rather than buy appliques and have a finisher apply them properly using a heat press?

Are there any pros or cons to each method?

Any help would be most appreciated as I have no idea!


----------



## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

If you own an embroidery machine, it is certainly less expensive to do direct embroidery. 

Heat applied applique would be quicker to apply and when made with the heat glue already applied, they should hold up fine.


----------



## dominici (Apr 22, 2007)

Thanks for the reply. I dont have an embroidery machine so any idea whether it would still be more cost effective to embroider directly? Looking at it without any experience, it looks reasonably complicated but I've no idea whether a specialist would consider this an easy/cheap job or not.


----------



## lauerja (Aug 8, 2006)

You could also look into the having someone do this out of shirt vinyl of flock. It can be cut on a plotter then heat applied. It stands up great wash after wash after wash.


----------



## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

dominici said:


> Thanks for the reply. I dont have an embroidery machine so any idea whether it would still be more cost effective to embroider directly? Looking at it without any experience, it looks reasonably complicated but I've no idea whether a specialist would consider this an easy/cheap job or not.


What size is it? Is this the only decoration you will have on the garment? How many pieces are you doing?


----------



## dominici (Apr 22, 2007)

I dont think flock would have the same effect though as the embroidered version but I am looking into having flock done on something else. Any rough ideas on embroidery pricing for the image above?


----------



## dominici (Apr 22, 2007)

splathead said:


> What size is it? Is this the only decoration you will have on the garment? How many pieces are you doing?


It's about 3cms both ways to be done on the back, there will be screenprinting on the front and I need about 100 doing...


----------



## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

dominici said:


> It's about 3cms both ways to be done on the back, there will be screenprinting on the front and I need about 100 doing...


Well, in the U.S. at least, a 1 inch by 1 inch embroidery job should cost you $1-$2 each plus a set up fee of maybe $50 or less. 

Not sure about applique costs, but I would guess it would be more than that depending upon how it was done.

My personal opinion is that embroidery at that size would look a lot better than applique.


----------



## dominici (Apr 22, 2007)

Yes, I think the applique is lower on quality. I was going to get them done on the nape. Do you think it would be irritating on the other side?? I dont know exactly how it would be finished inside so cant really tell. That's one of the advantages of appllique I guess


----------



## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

dominici said:


> Yes, I think the applique is lower on quality. I was going to get them done on the nape. Do you think it would be irritating on the other side?? I dont know exactly how it would be finished inside so cant really tell. That's one of the advantages of appllique I guess


 
We do some embroidery on the nape too. Depending on the type of material you are using, it's possible to use tear or wash away backing so there shouldn't be any difference in feel between the embroidery and the shirt material. Certainly no more irratation than a label would be.


----------



## dominici (Apr 22, 2007)

not sure what you mean by tear or wash away backing?? Really appreciate your help by the way


----------



## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

dominici said:


> not sure what you mean by tear or wash away backing?? Really appreciate your help by the way


Mention it to your embroiderer, he will know. A stabilizer mateial is used on the inside of the garment in embroidery. The material comes in many different types, including tear away and wash away. The embroiderer decides what is best to use based on a number of factors including type of material (cotton, polyester, etc.), color of garment, thickness of garment, size of design, etc. 

Tear away is torn from the garment by the embroiderer after embroidery so all that is left is the stitches of the design. Wash away is dissolved away after the first wash of the garment. Sometimes a more permanent stabilizer has to be used which can be trimmed but is visible when looking inside the garment and sometimes can be seen on lighter garments from the outside.


----------



## digifacmp (Nov 13, 2007)

Hi! Wondering if the following link might be of your help:
http://www.bemisworldwide.com/pdfs/1043RevE.pdf

Just for information. I am not from Bemis.

Manoj
digitizingfactory.com


----------

