Embroidery

Embroidery puts a design into the garment with thread rather than onto it with ink. It does not fade, it does not crack and it does not wash off, because there is nothing sitting on the surface to come away. On workwear, uniform and corporate apparel it is still the finish people expect, and on fashion pieces it gives a weight and a texture that print cannot imitate.

We embroider at our Leicester site and we produce 5,000 to 10,000 embroidered units a week, which covers corporate branding runs and fashion applications at production volume. The machines sit alongside our screen, digital and transfer presses, the dyehouse and the finishing line, so a garment can be embroidered, printed, dyed and packed without leaving the building.

Digitising: Where an Embroidered Design Is Made or Ruined

An embroidery machine cannot read your artwork. Before anything is stitched, the design has to be digitised, which means converting it into a stitch file that tells the machine where to put every needle, in what order, in which direction and at what density. This is the equivalent of colour separation in screen printing, and it decides almost everything about the result.

A badly digitised file puckers the fabric, blurs small type, produces gaps between colour blocks and stitches far more thread than the design needs. A well digitised one sits flat, holds its shape through washing and reads cleanly at the size it is actually going to be worn at. It is worth knowing that this stage exists, because it is the reason two embroiderers can quote from the same logo and deliver very different garments.

What Embroidery Holds and What It Does Not

Thread has a minimum size. Hairline detail, very small type and photographic gradients cannot be stitched, and no amount of skill changes that. What embroidery does exceptionally well is bold shapes, clean type at a sensible size, solid colour blocks and anything that benefits from texture and depth.

If a design has fine detail that has to survive, there are two routes. We can simplify it for stitch, which we will always show you before committing, or we can put it on the garment with screen, digital or transfer printing instead. Plenty of garments carry both: an embroidered chest logo with a printed back graphic is a common and effective combination.

Garments and Placements We Embroider

Polo shirts, shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, jackets, fleeces, caps and bags all take embroidery. Placements run across left and right chest, sleeves, cuffs, collars, the back yoke and cap fronts. Heavier and more structured fabrics generally carry embroidery best, which is part of why it has become the default for workwear and outerwear.

Fabric matters. Fine, stretchy or loosely knitted material needs more care in digitising and backing to stop the stitch distorting the cloth. Tell us what the garment is at enquiry stage, or let us source it through our sourcing and apparel supply service so the blank is chosen with the stitching in mind.

Embroidery Minimums, Capacity and Turnaround

Minimums for embroidery depend on the job and are confirmed when we quote. Standard production turnaround is 5 to 10 working days from approval of artwork and payment, with digitising sitting in front of that on a first order. A repeat order is faster, because the stitch file already exists.

Our weekly capacity of 5,000 to 10,000 units means volume corporate rollouts and retail ranges are a normal week, not a special arrangement. If you have a deadline attached to a uniform launch or a season, say so early and we will plan capacity around it.

Who We Embroider For

Businesses rolling out uniform, workwear and corporate apparel across sites. Clothing brands and own-label ranges using stitch as a mark of quality. Clubs, schools and organisations with a crest. Hospitality and trade businesses who need staff clothing that survives daily wear and industrial washing. And anyone who wants a logo on a garment that will still be there in five years.