Personalize your world with custom embroidery. From monogrammed towels to bespoke baby blankets, ball caps, tote bags, and all kinds of garments and textiles, embroidery is an increasingly popular way to make something extra-special. Once the sole domain of sweet grandmothers, embroidery is showing up in everything from millennial fashion to unique gifts. You can apply a company logo for stare-worthy swag, create one-of-a-kind presents for birthdays and anniversaries, or personalize souvenirs for company picnics, family reunions and other special occasions. Several factors affect the cost for embroidery services and embroidered merchandise:
- The amount of detail in a logo or image
- The number of thread colors needed
- The type of item being embroidered
- The cost of purchasing merchandise from the embroidery service if you don’t supply it yourself
- The choice of direct embroidery on the object or creation of custom patches to be sewn onto the object
- The number of items to be embroidered, which may mean a volume discount
Embroiderers often charge by the number of stitches per garment as well as thread color changes. You could expect to pay anywhere from $5-$10 each for custom-embroidered ball caps to $20-$30 each for golf shirts, in addition to a digitizing fee.
Digitizing
For precision outcomes, many embroidery pros use computer software that programs your design into their sewing machines. When your logo or image is digitized, a file is created that the embroidery machine can interpret in order to stitch it directly onto a garment, or onto a patch that can be sewn onto fabric items like tote bags or backpacks. Digitizing the design ensures that if you are embroidering multiple items with the same design, each item will be exactly the same for a professional and unified look.
Digitizing usually incurs a one-time fee because once the image is digitized, the embroidery service can use it again for future jobs. The cost for digitizing is based on the number of stitches and thread color changes required to re-create the logo in embroidery. Digitizing fees usually average $20-$30, but may be as low as $10 or as high as $60 or more.
Thread (color) changes
Whether you’re after a custom-designed peacock on the back of your jean jacket or want simple black script for your personalized bachelorette T-shirts, choosing more hues means a higher price. Two-color logos or text-only embroidery jobs are the least expensive; using more than two thread colors will raise the price because the embroiderer must load multiple spools of colored thread into the machine.
