Frequently Asked Questions
- What is difference between Pique, Jersey, & Woven fabric?
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What is Digitizing?
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I have a digital picture of my design/logo, why must I pay a digitizing fee?
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What is the material behind the embroidery inside my shirt?
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When is Rayon or Polyester thread chosen for embroidery?
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What is meant by “tone on tone” embroidery?
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What is appliqué as related to embroidery?
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What are the requirements for embroidering a design on a cap?
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What should I do if a loose thread appears on finished embroidery?
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Can we put embroidery onto a previously washed garment?
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What is Sunshine Designs’ minimum order?
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Can you embroider a design I already have? What is involved?
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When is screen printing better than embroidery?
What is difference between Pique, Jersey, & Woven fabric?
Pique- a knit fabric that is characterized by its waffle-like appearance
Jersey - a type of fabric with a flat appearance, knit on a circular, single-knit machine; its principal distinction is that it is not a fabric with a distinct rib
Woven - fabric constructed by the interlacing of two or more sets of yarns at right angles to each other
What is Digitizing?
Digitizing is a process where your artwork is converted into machine language so that the embroidery machine can accurately duplicate your design onto the item to be embroidered.
I have a digital picture of my design/logo, why must I pay a digitizing fee?
If your design is provided in any form of “bitmap” image, it must be converted (digitized) into a “vector” image which is the format required by the embroidery machine.
What is the material behind the embroidery inside my shirt?
That material is referred to as backing which is used as a stabilizer.
When is Rayon or Polyester thread chosen for embroidery?
Normally Rayon thread is used for most jobs when “color fast” is not an issue. However, when chlorine bleach is known to be used in washing, a color fast thread (Polyester) is preferred.
What is meant by “tone on tone” embroidery?
“Tone-on-tone” refers to using the same color embroidery thread as the color of the fabric making the embroidered design subtle rather than popping off the fabric. This often presents a more elegant look.
What is appliqué as related to embroidery?
Appliqué is when a piece of fabric is tacked into part of the design, usually to reduce the number of stitches. An example would be to use a round piece of yellow fabric to appear as a large sun.
What are the requirements for embroidering a design on a cap?
Due to the construction of a cap, the design is usually limited to 2-1/4” to 2-1/2” high but can be up to 4” wide.
What should I do if a loose thread appears on finished embroidery?
We use a lock stitch when starting and stopping each color thread. However, it’s not uncommon that a thread may pull out, usually due to rough use or snagging on something. When that happens, we recommend:
(1) applying a “dot” of clear fingernail polish to the back of the design where the thread is pulling out, and
(2) trimming the loose thread as close to the fabric as possible.
Can we put embroidery onto a previously washed garment?
We don’t recommend doing this as the garment has already begun the shrinking process and the embroidery can shrink at a different rate, making a uneven appearance.
What is Sunshine Designs’ minimum order?
Our minimum embroidery order is 1! However, for screen printing, it’s really not practical to print any quantity less than 12 pieces due to setup charges.
Can you embroider a design I already have? What is involved?
We usually work from a bitmap art file (i.e. .jpg) and digitize the design from that. However, if you’ve got other art file formats, we can usually work with those as well.
When is screen printing better than embroidery?
Screen printing works very well when you want to cover a large area (i.e. center chest or full back) and have at least 12 pieces. When screen printing, it’s the number of colors that affects the price, not the size of the design.
