Embroidery is beautiful and adds quality, durability, and elegance to any project.
But traditional embroidery techniques are time-consuming, demanding manual skills and a steep learning curve. Learning how to make embroidery designs and your own patterns for old-school embroidery also takes time.
However, Print on Demand lets you apply embroidery to your products with less hassle.
You no longer need to draw with tracing paper or expensive software for creating hand embroidery patterns before stitching them. It’s now possible to embroider a product in a short amount of time with professional results.
In this article, you’ll learn how to create embroidery designs using Print on Demand.
Welcome to the future: Custom embroidery with Print on Demand
Embroidery is the craft of stitching designs into fabric. When done by hand or with electric sewing machines, the technique requires transferring a design to the object or following an embroidery pattern printed on paper.
The most common way to do it is by drawing patterns with the aid of tracing paper and pencil or a similar physical resource. All the paths for the stitches need to be carefully calculated and followed precisely.
Print on Demand takes the art to its last technological stage – now, tracing your embroidery pattern separately is no longer required.
Your role in the process is to create your custom embroidery designs according to templates, while the print providers take it to the final step with special embroidery software and machines.
So, instead of asking yourself how to make your own embroidery pattern by counting threads and stitches, your primary concern is learning how to make embroidery designs on a computer.
Learn more about Print on Demand and starting a print-on-demand business.
Design for your niche
In any business, targeting the right customer is essential. Based on your uniqueness, you’ll have customers more inclined to buy what you offer.
Therefore, before learning how to make an embroidery pattern or design, take some time to consider who are your potential customers and how to offer the best value and experience:
- Consider what your unique selling proposition is. What do you have to offer that adds value and separates you from the competition? What do you stand for? How can you improve the life of your customers?
- Who are the customers more aligned with your values? What is their age, income, education, hobbies, interests, and geographies?
From the beginning, check your competition. Use search engines to look for sellers offering something similar to your product in a similar niche. What are their bestsellers? What do they do well, and what are their weaknesses?
Depending on your platform or marketplace, you’ll have different search engines and analytics. Most platforms will also provide you with a data collection system.
Natural niches for embroidery
As embroidery is remarkably durable, the technique is often used to display company logos, names, or advertisements in staff uniforms and apparel.
However, embroidered apparel appeals to a wide range of customers, and the technique can be found in business uniforms, caps, sports team apparel, or preppy fashion.
These are natural niches for embroidery products with Print on Demand:
- Sports teams matching apparel
- Company uniforms and promotional products
- Hobby-themed gifts
- Souvenirs for graduation, class reunions
- Preppy fashion
See more on niches and targeting customers in our blog and video.
What makes a great embroidery design
A great embroidery pattern for print on demand should be simple and clean, with larger graphic elements, avoiding small details.
Color gradients and pictures don’t translate well with embroidery – stick with the primary colors and go for simple designs.
Make it happen today!
How to make embroidery designs for Print on Demand
Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to creating your embroidery designs.
1. Read our embroidery design guide
Always follow a guide when preparing your custom patterns and designs. Here are its highlights, for your convenience:
- Use simple elements with clean lines, and keep them in a single layer.
- Avoid intricate details.
- Keep in mind that small areas of negative space will be filled during the digitization.
- Use large characters and letters.
2. Create and draw your design
Measurements and resolutions
Custom designs should be simple to embroider, but you still need to prepare high-quality resolution images. The recommended file resolution for embroidery is at least 300 DPI. Follow these design recommendations:
- Export and upload design artwork in either .PNG or .JPG formats.
- The smallest level of detail you should create in embroidery is 2mm (.07”) or a single stitch.
- Don’t add decorative or stylized fonts for text. Stick to large, spaced-out capital letters like, for example, in the sans-serif typeface.
- Use only primary thread colors in the template, and avoid color gradients.
- Always export the image with a transparent background before printing.
3. Export your file
After creating your embroidery pattern or design according to the template and specifications, export it as a high-quality resolution PNG (with a transparent background) or JPEG file with at least 300 DPI. Don’t worry about digitization at this point.
4. Upload your file to the product creator
Now that your artwork is designed with a clear template, you can upload the custom embroidery pattern and get it printed on an embroidery machine.
Make sure to double-check accepted file types from the machine specifications or from the instructions listed by Print Providers and other embroidery services.
Research and select a custom product that you want to design with embroidery.
Use any image editing tools or provided online generators to create a product design preview before ordering for production in a print fulfillment center.
If you’re looking to sell, take photos of the finished product or edit the product design preview. Write a description, set a price, and create a listing on your store.
Don’t forget about quality assurance
Quality assurance is fundamental to maintaining consistency and delivering value to your customers. To ensure the quality of your products meet your standards, focus on the two following factors:
- Double-check every detail. Confirm if the recommended dimensions and resolutions are following the guides and templates.
- Always order samples when adding a new product to your store to check how your drawings will look stitched in fabric.
Conclusions
We hope you’ve learned the basic embroidery techniques and preconditions for POD, from drawing your embroidery patterns to uploading designs for printing.
POD makes it possible to quickly produce embroidered products without needing to purchase expensive embroidery software, automated sewing machines, or learning demanding techniques.
Now it’s your turn. Draw your artwork and create premium-stitched products.
