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.
