If you're embarking on a mission to have a batch of clothing (perhaps a sports kit or a work uniform) embroidered then it's more than likely you'll want to know what the process involves. With today's technology you would think that it's all done digitally by computers, but that's not entirely the case.

A design must first be digitised before it can be embroidered by a sewing machine. This means that the design needs to be scanned in and changed into a certain format, involving the use of CAD and CAM technology (Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacture, respectively). Often the digitising process produces images that are 'messed up' or that look very different to the original, because the number of pixels in the scanned image and the number on the computer screen are different. Therefore, before the design can be embroidered onto the fabric a human must oversee the computers to check that they are digitising the images correctly. Even though much of the process uses machinery, it is absolutely essential for this monitoring from humans, or there could be so many poorly digitised designs embroidered onto fabric and sent out to very unhappy customers.

After the checks to ensure the digitising went well are carried out the digitised design can be transferred to a machine ready to be sewn onto the fabric. Any designs that have been warped during digitising will need to be processed by hand to be returned to their original state. Next for the sewing machine comes the process of reading the image and the pattern that was formulated from it. The way these patterns are put together sometimes means that the design doesn't look anything like it should do until it's finished, due to the layers of thread and different shaped and colours that need to coincide. Because the pattern was derived from the original image you can rest assured that it looks perfect at the end.

Depending on the design and the fabric that it's being embroidered on to, sometimes the sewing machine will need to change needles and threads, which sometimes requires manual work from a human. Because of this, the processing time for the average embroidered image is about one or two days (from the moment that the image is received from the customer, to the moment that it has been fully embroidered and ready to be sent off). If an individual would like many copies of one image then there's no need to digitize each one, but simply use the same sewing machine and computer as they will already have the digitized image stored on them. This means that it's much quicker to process a batch of 50 shirts with one design on them than 10 with all different ones.

Whether it's embroidery done on just one garment or on 1000 this article has outlined the method and techniques used to get the job done. Embroidery has not always been carried out using computer technology and indeed not always with electronic sewing machines, but since the days in which these methods started to be used the industry has simply been growing and growing. Whether it's embroidery done on just one garment or on 1000 this article has outlined the method and techniques used to get the job done. Embroidery has not always been carried out using computer technology and indeed not always with electronic sewing machines, but since the days in which these methods started to be used the industry has simply been growing and growing.