This guide will walk you through the process of creating an embroidered product on your own.
An embroidered hat can pull a whole look together— especially a well-embroidered one! Embroidery on a shirt or pair of pants can add the perfect details to a simple, yet thoughtful design. Whether you want your design to be the star of a whole outfit or a graceful part of it, this guide covers all the information you need to know.
This guide helps you to choose the right blank, create embroidery-friendly designs, and finally order your samples.
TL;DR
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Graphics should include transparent backgrounds. Elements outside your design may be digitized, too; keep only intended design in your file.
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Consider the available thread colors.
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Consider the limit of 6 thread colors per design.
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Avoid lines that are too thin. Detail thickness must be at least 0.05’’ (4pt).
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Text can’t be smaller than 0.3″ tall for upper case letters and 0.25″ tall for lower case letters.
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Stay within the maximum stitch count (15,000). Designs that are too large in size, might be put on hold because of this.
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Keep. It. Simple.
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Try to avoid negative space (and if you must, make it as big as possible)
- Avoid photographic images.
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Avoid gradients.
Do not use gradients:
Do use solid color breaks:
Choose the right blank
Certain products are easier to embroider than others; some surface areas showcase your embroidered design more clearly.
Hats
Not all hats are created equal when it comes to embroidery. Below is a breakdown of several hats and their embroidery friendliness.
| Hat type | Characteristics | Embroidery friendliness |
| Snapbacks | High profile, 5 or 6 panels, wide & flat brim, and adjustable snapback. | A high profile allows you to have a higher design |
| Bucket hats | A hat with a narrow sloping down brim. | High profile and large surface area to use. |
| Trucker hats | Flat brim, high dome area, and mesh back paneling. | Make use of the high profile with larger designs. |
| Dad hats | Typically a rounded brim & low profile. | Best for lettering and smaller logos due to the low profile. |
| Beanies | Small, round, and brimless hat. | Best for simple lettering and small logos due to the cuffed printable area. |
| Visors | a crownless hat with a visor brim. | Smaller surface area, best used for smaller emotes and logos. |
How to make your designs embroidery-friendly
In general, to create a design that translates into an embroidered product, it is best to keep it simple.
Your fans may love a direct-to-garment print logo, and in theory, your first instinct is to embroider it on your next launch. However, your design might not translate well from DTG to embroidery.
For example, you may want to translate a textured graphic to embroidery, but here is a likely outcome for any highly textured or distressed graphics below:
Less is more
This ageless adage stands true in the case of embroidery— take a minimalist approach. Think of well-defined, thick, and tight lines.
Avoid small and detailed designs, as they are difficult to embroider. For flat embroidery, the minimum thickness for shapes is 0.05" (1.3 mm). Satin stitch is used for shapes from 0.05" (1.3 mm) to 0.5" (12.5 mm) thick. For shapes thicker than 0.5" (12.5 mm), we use tatami stitch.
Create a symmetrical design so that it is easy to center it on any shape or product. Avoid gradients & photographic images.
Thread color limitations
You are limited to six thread colors out of the fifteen that you can choose from.
Don't get color happy and choose six different threads just because that is the limit. Carefully curate a color scheme and make sure that each color solidifies your design and enhances its look once it is embroidered.
Create an embroidery file
Since embroidery sewing machines read designs in a whole different way than printing machines do, it is best to create a design with the embroidery guidelines at the forefront of your creation process.
- Spacing .05" wide sets you up for optimal and clear embroidery results.
- For text; it should not be smaller than 0.3" tall for uppercase letters and 0.25" tall for lowercase letters.
- Avoid thin lines.
In order to avoid the specifications above, you can use Adobe Illustrator to create your file with the exact dimensions of the product you want to create.
Once the file is created, select your rectangle tool and draw a square that is 0.05" by 0.05" If you have nay trouble with the size of your reference shape, you can set the exact measurements of it in the top menu.
Once your shape is created, move it around your file and compare its size to the elements of your design, this way you will get an idea of any changes you must make to the thickness of your logo.
Be sure to also check between your design elements to check the spacing between each of them. Remember, the spacing between your details should be at least 0.05” too.
Remember to also check the height of your fonts! Every font is different, so instead of using font point size as a reference, you will use length to keep it more universal.
Fonts have a minimum of 0.25’’ in height for lower case letters and 0.3’’ in height for upper case letters.
You can measure your text height the exact same way that we checked line thickness and spacing between elements.
Create a 0.25” x 0.25” square and use that shape to check the size of your lowercase letters.
Now, create a 0.3” x 0.3” square and use it to check your uppercase letters.
Finally, order your samples
Here is an article that can guide you through that process.