Embroidery is a great option for custom products such as polos, jackets, hats and corporate t-shirts/ shirts. This is not printing in the conventional sense but a standard way of decorating a T-Shirt. It offers an elevated look to logos because the thread is sewn directly onto each product. To make sure your embroidered product looks its best, iLogo has compiled a list of embroidery design tips to keep in mind:

iLogo’s Top 5 Embroidery Design Tips

1. Keep your design simple

   Overly complicated designs and logos will appear crowded, or even overly simplistic once translated for stitching within the product's design area. Consider removing extra words, dates, phone numbers, and even colors to clean up your design.

2. Select the right product to embroider

   Some fabrics take to thread better than others, like a polo or jackets. Keep in mind that embroidered products require a backing to stabilize and maintain the life of your product. Think of it like this: the sturdier the fabric, the thinner the backing will be, the thinner the fabric, the thicker the backing.

3. Your font choice matters

   When it comes to embroidery ,Make sure the font you choose is embroidery-friendly like stitched handwritten fonts and cross stitch cursive fonts are known to be. The simpler your font is the better.

4. Avoid halftones and gradients

   Unlike ink, thread comes in strands of individual colors and can’t be mixed. Instead of gradients, solid edges best help your embroidery pop and give it a crisp, more polished look. If halftones or gradients are integral to your design, you can go for screen printing instead.

5. Don’t go too big

   When you think of embroidery, you might think of the classic chest pocket design, and that’s for a reason—it’s the perfect size for embroidery. The bigger a design is, the less likely it is to achieve the polished look embroidered products are known for. Large embroidered sections also weigh down product and impact the comfort and fit. So when thinking of embroidery, remember, less is more. The recommended size of embroidery designs is 4-5 inches wide. Embroideries on t-shirts and shirts larger than that might cause the fabric to bunch around the stitches.

Need some help perfecting your design for embroidery? iLogo artists are here to help bring your great idea to life with your own custom products.