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Which Is For You?

Should I have it embroidered or screen-printed?" Is one of the most common questions asked of us? Which is for you depends on the following: How big your design is, what effect you are looking for, how much you want to spend and what type of garment you are looking to put artwork on.

If you are decorating a small amount of garments and your art is small (like a crest logo), then embroidery may be less expensive then screen-printing. Remember, screen-printing is billed by color, whereas embroidery is by stitches. So if you wanted a colorful design over the heart, it would be less expensive, and looks a bit more high class. If you like hats, we ONLY do embroidery on them.

Now if you are looking to decorate a large amount of garments, and/or your design is large, then screen-printing is for you. Art that is designed to cover the entire front or back of a shirt can be done with embroidery, but it is very time consuming and therefore expensive. Screen-printing is very inexpensive when doing over 100 garments.

The type of garment makes a difference as well. We have found that regular T-shirts do NOT lend themselves to embroidery as well as the heavier fabrics. However, you can purchase T-shirts that are made out of the heavier pique, ribbed, interlocked fabrics, and these do hold the embroidery. On the other hand, screen-printing is best suited to garments with a flatter (lower pile) fabric-fuzzy fabrics with a deep pile do not display the ink well. So, embroider on fabrics that are fuzzy, textured heavily or multi textured (ribbed, pique). Screen print on smooth flat fabrics (jersey, combed cotton, ring spun cotton, nylon, etc.).

Beyond all that, it is what you like. Come look at the difference that each medium makes. Oh yeah, you can mix the two if you like and that looks really unique.

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