Advertise Your Business with Custom Embroidery

Winter giveaway: Need an inexpensive winter give-away? Try embroidered ear-warmers. You don't need a detailed logo - just your business name will work. Give embroidered ear warmers to family and friends and they'll advertise for you!


Boost Your Logo Impact: Looking for a unique look for your custom embroidered polo shirts? Pick a shirt with a trim color that's in your logo and watch it pop!


Give Your Embroidered Logo an Update: Give your logo a suble new look by using tone-on-tone thread colors to create a new look.

Embroidered Polo Shirts: Match an Existing Design

Your team wants to order custom embroidered polo shirts that match shirts owned by another team but you can't order from their embroiderer. How can you get embroidery that matches the existing design?

If you lend your embroiderer a sample shirt that will help you get the closest match to the original embroidered design. The artwork you provide will serve as a template for your embroidery set-up but it can't be used to identify some stitch types, give precise sizing of embroidered elements and show thread colors.

Embroidered Polos: Add Your Web Address!

You need to order custom embroidered polo shirts. You'd like to add your web address because your site is fairly new and it could use more exposure. Locating the address on the front of the shirts would be great but there isn't enough room underneath your logo. What about embroidering it on the back of the polo?

A back design will work if its placed in the shoulder blade area. Unlike sweatshirts or jackets, polo shirt fabric doesn't have enough weight to support a large embroidered logo so you'll have to use a smaller design. It won't have the same effect as a full back logo but it will be readable when you are waiting in line during your daily travels. If the design is located four to five inches below the collar then the collar will help "frame" your embroidery so it doesn't look lost on the shirt. If that doesn't work for you, consider embroidering your web address on the back of hats.

Embroidery Questions: Uneven Text?

You've ordered custom embroidered polo shirts. You've been emailed your embroidery set-up, a screen shot from the embroidery software. You view the file. Everything looks good except the text is very uneven! You've seen actual embroidered samples from this embroider and the text always looked fine. What's wrong?

Most likely the uneven text is due to a condition known as the"push and pull of embroidery". Depending on the shape of a element, some elements "push in" (shorten) while other elements "push out" (lengthen). For example, when a circle is digitized (translated into stitch format) it must be an egg shape to embroider as a circle. To compensate for this condition some letters must be created at a bigger size in the embroidery set-up so they will embroider at the correct size. If there's any question ask your embroider if they can email a scan of an actual sew-out of your logo.

PMS Embroidery Matching

How is PMS (Pantone Matching System) matching accomplished when you need exact color matching for custom embroidered polo shirts? If your logo was designed with PMS colors then your embroiderer can see if there are matching PMS thread colors. Although many PMS colors have matching embroidery thread, not all PMS colors have equilivant thread colors. If that is the case, your embroiderer will choose the next closest colors so you can pick the thread colors you prefer. In that situation your embroider should show you different samples that illustrate the various thread color possibilities so you can choose the closest match.

Embroidery: Did You Know?

Wearing custom embroidered business attire used to be difficult if you weren't build like the average person. But, today's styles have more sizing options. Here are some examples:

Its easy to find custom embroidered polo shirts and custom embroidered jackets in sizes up to 6X. No more trying to find a style that is "close" to what everyone else is wearing.

It's easy to find embroidered button down shirts and polo shirts in ladies plus sizes so everyone can wear a shirt that fits rather than wearing a "tent".

Decorate Polo Shirt Back?

You want to advertise your new business with custom embroidered polo shirts. Your employees need a professional look when they’re seen locally so you’ve decided that they need embroidered polo shirts. But, you’d also like to have your web address and phone number on the back of the shirts. Will that work for polo shirts?

Don’t put a full back design on the back of polo shirts. If you need large scale information such as your location, phone number or web address use screen printed T-shirts. Don’t try to combine the function of two styles into one shirt. Choose good quality polo shirts for a professional office setting and T-shirts for longer distance advertising.

Logo Colors

You've had your logo designed and it looks great.  You decide to order custom embroidered polo shirts but before  placing your order you realise that you forgot to consider possible shirt colors when having your logo designed.  You know white shirts will work but you'd prefer a darker color. You really want black shirts but black is a color in your logo.  Can the black in your logo be changed to white so you can choose black shirts? The easy answer is "Yes" but there are issues to consider.

Logo Sizing?

You’re creating artwork for your custom embroidered polo shirts and hats. What size should your logo be for a left chest logo? How about for the back of a hat? Here’s a sizing list:

Left/ right chest logo – 3.5” – 3.75” (may be 3.25” to 4” depending on the logo)

Hat Front - 4” wide x 2” high (some vertically orientated designs may be up to 2 ½” high)

Hat Back – a web address, location or short tag line arced around the keyhole opening works best

Hat Side - 2” x 2”

Visors - 4” wide x 1” high

Jacket Back - 10” to 12” wide or high (can be more for larger jackets)

Shirt Back - 6” wide (web address)

Names - size to work with corresponding logo

Children’s - size in proportion to garment

Embroidered Polo Shirt Shrinkage

Follow these tips to reduce custom embroidered polo shirt shrinkage:

1. Select polo shirts made from a cotton/polyester blend, 100% polyester or a preshrunk cotton fabric.

2. Avoid washing in hot water and drying in a hot dryer. Dry fewer shirts at a time to lessen dryer time or line dry.


How much will 100% cotton polos shrink? 100% cotton polos can shrink 10% - 20% of the shirt size. Therefore, expect more shrinkage with larger sizes.

Artwork Check

You created artwork to use for your custom embroidered polo shirts. Have you checked it carefully to be certain it will work for embroidery? Are all elements in the design centered? Do you have too much text? Is your text too small? Do you have too much detail? Is your business name large enough?

Most left chest logos are 3.5 - 4” wide or high depending on which dimension is greater. When your artwork is correctly sized is it readable from a short distance? Remember, if it’s difficult to read when printed, it will be harder to read when embroidered. Having artwork that works well for embroidery is essential to creating a readable embroidered logo. If you’re not sure if your artwork will work, ask your embroiderer!

Prevent Fading of Custom Embroidered Polo Shirts

If you’ve had trouble with Custom Embroidered Polo Shirts fading here are some tips to prevent this:

1. Choose a lighter shirt color. Dark colors will loose more dye when washed.

2. Choose a blend or 100% polyester fabric. Cotton fibers will loose more dye when washed.

3. Turn items inside out before washing. Wash in cold water and use a low temperature dryer for minimal time.

Artwork for Screen Printing & Embroidery – The Same?

Artwork for screen printing and embroidery is the same, right? WRONG! Generally speaking, you can screen print finer detail than you can embroider. That small text with the black outline won’t work for embroidery. You’ll have a cleaner design if you eliminate the outline and enlarge the lettering. Can’t enlarge the text? Then maybe you should eliminate it. What about that great font you found with the narrow column widths and serifs. It might look sharp when printed but fine detail won’t show up well when embroidered on pique Custom Embroidered Polo Shirts where there is a tendency for the stitches to sink into the fabric.

Screen Printed Polos?

Sometimes a customer will request a quote for Custom Embroidered Basic Polo Shirts and they’ll ask for an embroidery and a screen printing price. Why? They want embroidery but they want to see how much cheaper screen printing will be. Screen printing is great for T’s, sweats and jackets but it tends to cheapen the look of polo shirts and hats. Although you might save some money by having your polo shirts screen printed in the long run you’ll loose more by having created a lesser image for your business. Resist the temptation to save a few dollars on shirts while loosing big on advertising. Wearing custom embroidered polo shirts is one of the least expensive forms of advertising. Don’t create the wrong impression by choosing screen printing for polo shirts!

Uneven Text?

You’re viewing an embroidery file that your embroiderer emailed. It contains the embroidery set-up for your Custom Embroidered Polo Shirts. When looking closely at the text and you notice that it looks uneven and some letters are taller than others. Will your text embroider unevenly? Most likely not. When setting up embroidery the digitizer must accommodate for the push and pull of embroidery by adjusting the length of letters and other elements in an embroidered logo. Depending on the shape of the letter, some letters must be lengthened to compensate for this so they will be even when embroidered.

Looking for A Great Polo Shirt?

Are you looking for a great polo shirt? One that fits well, feels wonderful, is available in the colors and sizes you want?

You’ve ordered custom embroidered polo shirts before but often the shirts weren’t worn. Before placing your next order, try getting some feedback from employees about why the shirts weren’t worn. Did they fit correctly? Did they look good throughout the day? Did the polo shirts wash well? Did the shirt color work for most people?