Embroidery - Digitizing for Specialty Items

Late in the year is always the time for working on specialty items what with the holidays coming and fall in the air. For football season we have stadium blankets and heavier coats, school items such as backpacks and special uniforms and everything Christmas including stockings, home items and gifts.

When digitizing or embroidering these items, remember to take the time to review what you'd need to do the job, in your head. High pile items such as fleece and fur need more underlay and special toppings to get the job done and look polished. Have plenty of the correct backings on hand. You may need to digitize several versions of the same logo for optimal sewing on different fabrics.

When embroidering school team items, make sure the school has approved the design and thread colors beforehand so there's no issue later. Kids love having their names on items but be sure to mention to your customer that maybe their initials are a better choice for safety reasons.

Home design items are a big player in the holiday season. Gifts of embroidered towels or kitchen items are a one of a kind gift that show your thoughtfulness. Unique designs and placements are all the rage and you are only limited by your imagination! Monograms can add a touch of elegance to linens and bath items and make perfect gifts.

What specialty item services do you offer in your shop?

Embroidery - Marketing your Talents

You know you need to market your embroidery business but you're just not sure what to do....exactly. Sure, you wear clothing with your logo out into the world and you carry your business cards with you at all times. You may have even sent out fliers in the hope of securing a few new customers but it's a slow-go and nothing is guaranteed, right?

Well, it is said that the best advertising is word of mouth so why not inspire your current customers to speak...about you and your business! Offer them a benefit to talking about your talents and reward them when you acquire a new customer through an established one. Word of mouth works better because it appears to be an unsolicited, let-me-give-you-a-hot-tip sort of thing. Everyone wants to know the inside scoop and feel like they are "in the loop". Talk to 5 of your best customers and ask them for what you want. Ask them to tell every business contact they know about you and give them some of your cards to pass out.

Of course, you still want to pass out your cards like Halloween candy yourself. If there is a retail business board where you can leave your cards, do it. Always post them in places where you have the highest content of people interested in your services and they will do the most good! Search out new niches to go after. You never know, the next customer you may be embroidering for just might be the person next to you on the bus, in line after you at the store, or the owner of that cute little fashion clothing store around the corner that you like.

SO, tell us what you do to market your embroidery business and what works the best for you!

Embroidery Stock Designs - What are you looking for?

Since NeedleUp has added a stock design website to the world wide web, I've been curious to know.....What are your criteria for purchasing stock designs?

I guess it would be different things to different people. Depending on whether you're running a business or just embroidering as a hobby or crafter, but just generally, do you go first for price and then appeal or do you pick what you like and worry about the price second? And what about quality? Do you only purchase from vendors you are familiar with?

Would you rather purchase sets of designs or one design at a time?

What insires you to purchase one stock design or set over another? Tell us what you think, and visit our new stock design website at: www.creativendeavors.com

Embroidery - The moralities of stitching

Let's talk about the moralities and political correctness some embroiderers face from time to time. What may be a non-issue for some, really bothers others.

Let me just ask: We all know that recreating copyrighted logos and designs is not only wrong but illegal (without permission), but how do you feel about embroidering words or images that are offensive? What about offensive politically slanted views? How about a job with pagan symbols if you're Christian (or anything religious that you don't believe and view as negative)? Or what if a job for some warmup jackets came through your front door, with some strange symbols or words that you learned were gang related?

Do you turn away jobs for moral or PC reasons or is it "Just Business" and you set aside personal feelings to do the work? Is it not that black and white? Where do you draw the line?

Tell us what you think........