Whats Easier? Manual Or Computerized Embroidery Digitizing

Embroidery patterns used to be set up manually. You would draw the picture you wanted to embroider, poke little holes in the paper with a pin, and then you would use charcoal or chalk to mark the fabric through those little holes. This process was very time consuming and the result was never so perfect.

With the advent of computerized embroidery machines, a whole new world of digitized embroidery patterns has opened up. If your pattern isn't already digitized, you have several choices. You can send it to any of a number of companies that specialize in digitizing embroidery, or you can digitize your own pattern.

Sending your artwork to a company that specializes in digitizing embroidery is the easiest way to go. However, you may decide that you want to learn to digitize your own embroidery patterns.

To digitize a pattern, you need your own artwork in either a vector based format or a bitmap, such as you would get with CorelDraw or Adobe Photoshop. For your first design, your best bet is to start with something simple. A good choice would be a monogram, or a two color design such as a football or baseball.

Once you have chosen what you want to digitize, the next challenge is to create a map with a starting point, ending point and the paths the stitches will take along the way. This part can be a little more complicated and is by far the most challenging part of the embroidery digitizing process. You need to decide which stitch types, stitch directions, and densities go in each area of your design. If you leave spaces for jump stitches and the need to reposition the needle, you may end up with broken thread.

Next you will actually digitize the pattern. Whether you are using a digitizing tablet with a puck, or a computer and mouse, you would enter the coordinates for each stitch change.

Just when it seems like you're actually finished with the work, you need to verify that the embroidery pattern that you just digitized is going to work the way you had planned. Test the pattern on a piece of fabric similar to what you will be embroidering the final design on. With the test, you will be able to see whether the stitches are positioned the way you want them. Plus, you will be able to tell whether the pattern works the way you expected it to.

If you need to make adjustments, now is the time. Go in and make changes with the digitizing tablet or computer. Save the adjustments and stitch another test run. This is the time to make all those adjustments that need to be made.

Don't be disappointed if the pattern doesn't turn out the way you want it the first time. Just keep adjusting it until it matches what you want. Digitizing embroidery is an art form. Just as you wouldn't expect to be able to paint a masterpiece or play a Beethoven Concerto the first time you tried, you need to expect to have to practice the digitizing too.

Although after reading this article you might feel that computerized embroidery digitizing is more hard, but it is really less time consuming and give you outstanding results.

Sahel is the Sales/Support representative of Cheap Digitizing. You can find more information or ask him questions about Embroidery Digitizing on www.cheapdigitizing.com

The Perfect Embroidery

What makes a perfect embroidered product? Have you ever noticed an embroidered logo or sewn garment? Did it strike you as being a quality produced product, or one that looked like it was mass produced and sewn in a "cheap" fashion?

Nearly 10 years ago I founded my Denver based embroidery company with only one thing in mind - Perfect Products. Finished products that people would notice and want to wear or display. Since then, our business has grown 1000 fold. And we have always kept to our motto of "perfect products, guaranteed quality, satisfied customers".

But what makes a quality, embroidered product? Let's begin with the design before it is sewn to the garment. Was your design created in vector art using Adobe Illustrator? From these "AI" files, we are able to utilize our custom digitizing techniques, which translate to machine readable files and subsequent sew-outs on our Tajima and Barudan Embroidery Sewing Stations. Another important ingredient is choice of color. Why chose a quality embroidered design while selecting a less than desirable color scheme? We use only the pantone color schemes when selecting our sew outs. And speaking of color schemes, what about thread selection? Have you ever considered that some embroidery threads are low-quality, and will break after only a short time in use? Our thread selections only allow for the best thread offerings, including Ackerman and (the German one). Threads are offered in nylon and cotton, depending on the article to be sewn. Make sure your embroidery company selects the appropriate thread, no matter what the color.

All of the above factors will be meaningless unless the digitized image has appropriate stitch count (density) when finally sewing the image. Make sure your design does not come up short when digitizing your image. Many companies will reduce stitch counts during digitizing to allow for less embroidery thread (cheaper) and less dense sewn images (less time to be sewn), all resulting in poor quality finished goods.

We at Corporate Imprints are aware of all the shortcuts, and assure all of our customers that only a quality finished product is our goal. Next time you inspect your embroidered shirt, cap, or other wearable; decide if it was produced with an eye on quality, or an eye on the embroidery company's bottom line. Then call us for a quote and with assurance that once we have earned your business, you will never need to look elsewhere for quality embroidered products.

Tammy Briggs is the owner of Corporate Imprints, a Denver, CO based machine embroidery company. Corporate Imprints offers state of the art in-house machine embroidery, keeping an eye on "Perfection" of finished goods, screen-printing, embossing, graphics consulting and design, and specialized imprinted promotional products (ASI Membership). Visit http://www.corpimprints.com to find out more!

Indian Embroidery Stitches Up Into A More Organised Sector

Indian embroidery has gained a new horizon

Embroidery is one of the oldest and most accepted styles of surface ornamentation of fabrics and garments, and India is among the leading producer of embroidered fabrics and garments worldwide.

Be it Chickankari from Lucknow or Phulkari from Punjab or Ari or Kutchi embroidery from Kutch, each is being valued and have their own consumer. Indian embroidery has gained a new horizon and has created a niche for itself in the world market. Their exclusive style and stitches imitates the ethos and culture of their region.

The increasing demand of embroidered wear as ethnic wear in youths

Today, in India embroidered Salwar-kameez, Lehnga-cholis and Sarees, Sherwani, Kurta-pyjama with stole, Churidar, in various traditional designs are popular and demanded as 'Ethnic Wear' or 'Heritage Wear'. Jeans and jackets with embroidered pockets and in various designs in front or backside are very much demanded; even embroidered neckties and t-shirts are also very much demanded as a latest trend. Even these traditional Indian wears or ethnic wears are being more popular in Western countries too.

In recent time the demand of garments with embroidery is more than that with prints in ladies and girls apparels. Embroidery is favored over prints because of its eco-friendly characteristics. Garments with sequins and crochet laces (of Indian looks) are well recognized by foreign customers and now such works are available and very much demanded in sleepwear too. Even home furnishing products like bed sheets, tapestry, bed linen, kitchen linen etc are also more demanded with various traditional embroideries.

Traditionally, embroidery is utilized for embellishing of apparel and products such as undergarment have not occupied with much of embroidery. This type of embellishment is only now accepting for menswear.

India is still an undeveloped market for embroideries. Studies have revealed that consumption of embroidery per person in India is Rs 8 per annum. The market size of the Indian embroidery is slated to be approximately Rs 800-900 crore per annum and embroidery market of India is increasing at 20 percent per annum. This shows the enormous prospective market of embroidery in the country, which requires more efforts to tap the market.

The efforts for getting organized

With its traditional embroidery garment demands, the local embroidery production is almost totally unorganized with very small units located in scattered areas of the country. These are like a cottage industry. Majority of the exporters in this segment do not have any production facilities, but get the jobs done from such small units.

Surat, Ahmedabad, Kutch and Mumbai are the major embroidery centers in the country, and Bareilly, Muradabad, etc are well known for their beadwork. Surat is holding a strong position in this segment.

Furthermore, the demands in the domestic market for very small lots and very large varieties only help to the small units. Many exporters into embroidered and printed fabrics of Mumbai get its orders done by units located in Dharavi and Govandi areas. But, it is not easy to get established soon in the domestic market, as local competition and small units are operating with their traditional embroidery skills.

Typically with 2 and 4 embroidery machines and very small units, till a decade ago embroidery business of India was considered as unorganized. But at present, 60 percent of the market is attributed by organized players.

The export market is more organized and majority of professional producers exports their products to the UK, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Egypt. Many exporters are exporting to their products in various countries, depending upon the demands and are growing at a rate of 15-20 per cent per annum.

In the international market and in India, the demand for garments embellished with embroideries with sequins and crystals is high. Though, embroidery is utilized in a whole lot of products internationally, the market has still a large gap, and it needs to fill up this gap with the exact requirement of consumers of worldwide as well as Indian.

In recent time, some large players have taken interest in to enter in the sector after realizing the huge potential and to fill up this gap and have been making efforts for getting more organized. Nearly 3,500 multi-head computerized embroidery machines are being set up in Surat; nearly 1,500 such machines are setting up in Mumbai, and a similar number each in Tirupur, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Ludhiana. All these units will need best quality embroidery yarns.

With capacity of 5 billion stitches per annum, Pioneer Industries is the biggest in Asia for crochet laces and schiflli embroidered fabrics.

Surat: in the race of becoming a hub of the embroidery

Textile industrialists of Surat city of Gujarat foresee a huge potential for clothes embellished with chic embroidery work, in both in the foreign and Indian market. In Surat, by many textile industrialists more than 3,500 latest embroidery machines have been established in the last one year to satisfy the growing demand of embroidered clothes in the country and abroad. Many textile industrialists of Surat aim to make Surat as the hub of the embroidery industry with these embroidery machines having an inbuilt capacity of manufacturing multiple designs.

These machines were imported from the countries like China, Korea and Germany, the costs of each machines range between Rs 10 lakh to Rs 2 crore. These machines are operated with computerized system. The designs are all set on the computer and then it is ready for embroidery work on the machines.

These embroidery machines have substituted the old-fashioned Jackard and Doby machines, which were utilized to make designs on the sarees and dress materials. Though, the industrialists believe that the embroidery machines are designed to offer 110 percent output against the Jackard and Doby machines which provide only 10 to 20 percent output.

The scenario has changed in the last two years with the arrival of latest embroidery machines. Though, it is not easy to compare the art of machine to that of human hands, but these machines offer the quality of work and save human hours. Also it is not easy to evaluate the cost of embroidery done on machines and those done by hands. The embroidery made on machine is much cheaper than hand-embroidery.

In Surat, by this way old technology is being substituted by the new technology and this is the right approach to value addition, really Surat has the potential to develop the embroidery industry. In Surat, at present the 3,500 odd-embroidery machines are producing more than one lakh meters of cloth per day and it is estimated to increase three-fold in the next two years. Majority of producers are exporting around 60 per cent of embroidered clothes to foreign countries and also doing job-work for the different companies and fashion houses across the country. Besides casual wears and dress materials, the fashion of wearing embroidered undergarments is also going to increase.

Threads and yarns

Threads, the vital part of this sector, are easily available in the country. Consumption of embroidery yarns in the country exists at nearly 11,000 tones per annum, of which viscose has a major share. Demand for embroidery thread in the country is increasing at a rate of about seven percent per annum. In India, threads are easily obtainable, but there is possibility for improvement in quality. And majority of thread producers are planning to expand capacities.

Indian Rayon has planned the production of viscose embroidery yarns realizing the requirement for quality embroidery yarns with yarns' capacity of 850 stitches per minute. To fine-tune the quality of the yarn, Indian Rayon is now stabilizing the dyeing processes, and also planning to improve the colour fastness of the yarns, ensuring azo-free dyeing, etc. They will be starting commercial production by December 2005, or by January 2006 with the aim of receiving 10 percent of the market share by 2006-07.

Viscose yarns are largely used in embroidery, cotton, polyester and metallic yarns are also utilized for making embroidered products.

Latest embroidery machineries

For completing big orders, it is not feasible to completely depend on hand-made works and there is a requirement to mechanize all the hand works.

Many embroidery garment exporters are importing their embroidery machines from Germany, Japan, Taiwan, and China. Many players use only German and Japanese embroidery machines those who can compromise on quality go for Chinese makes.

But looking to the price factor the industry is coming across a decision that Chinese machines are just as good. These machines are performing well for those who need 6-12 head embroidery systems. The price differentiation is huge; for Japanese, Korea against China. Chinese machineries are cheaper than Japanese, Korean and Germany and hence this attracts people to purchase Chinese machines.

Pioneer Industries produces its schiflli embroidered products on Swiss machines and multi-head embroidered products on German machines. Garment Machinery System is intending to bring in machines that can sew beads, in February 2006. ZSK has approached with a new technique in embellishment called StitchTuft, a soft, though stable cut pile.

Tajima has introduced a new embroidery machine for chenille stitch with sequin. Its TCMX series, the chenille embroidery heads work at 750 rpm. Combination of chenille embroidery in six colours and by using alternatives like high speed sequin device gives high precision and higher-value added embroidery.

Indian embroidery

In India, according to the community or region there are many embroidery styles and designs available, which include mirrors, beads, stones, shell, jute ropes etc.

Banjara tribal women located near by Hyderabad wear blouses and head scarves embroidered and decorated with mirrors. Embleshied with motifs of flowers, creepers and chinar leaves, mango the Kashmiri embroidery or kashida and Zardozi are very much popular, and Amritsar is well know for making kashida work.

While prepared with the help of an awl, Ari embroidery of Kutch is popular for its heavy work. Rabari embroidery of Gujarat is well-known and widely available, the women of this community wear black skirts with various embroidered designs; even children wear heavily embroidered salwars and shirts. There are many communities in Kutch like Sodha, Jats, Aahirs, Dhebaria Rabari, Mochi (Cobbler community), Meghwal, Mutwa, and Node? Jats, which make embroidery (Rabari embroidery, Ahir embroidery, Sindhi embroidery, Banni embroidery, Mutwa embroidery, Ari embroidery, Soof embroidery) on various garments according to their traditional designs. Besides these, in Gujarat Kanbi, Ahir and Kathiawari communities make embroidery in their traditional styles.

Dating back to 15th century Punjab's Phulakari embroidery (significantly divided into two words - Phul meaning flower and Kari meaning work that means floral work) created for Punjabi women to embellish their Odhnis, Chaddars, Shawls and Blouses. Besides their textiles and stitches, Phulkari itself is categorized into various types- Chope, Sainichi, Seeshadar and the bagh. The Bagh is one of the popular Phulakari and generally worn in parties and ceremonies.

The "Chikankari" embroidery is largely practiced in the city of Lucknow, the Nawabs of India were used to wear their clothes with this embroidery. Along with heavily worked out Zardosi or other traditional Indian embroidery, the Chikankari embroidery is available with stitches in the patterns of flowers, paisleys and various Indian motifs and is most popular in embellishing ghagra cholis, full-length dresses etc.

Hand embroidery embellished in their traditional patterns with various designs covering mirror, are very popular. Kasuti embroidery (Dharwar, Karnataka) done on handloom saris is well recognized among Indian women.

Besides these, there is also availability of readymade shapes of the material with names such as nakshi, sadi, kora and kangani are stitched on to form of zardozi patterns. This material is get by weight and is readily available in bunches known as lachhis.

It is still to articulate, there is only one aspect that is identify Indian styles and culture worldwide, is the Indian embroidery, which cannot be replicated elsewhere. It is the expertise and talent that goes into embroidery, which provides an Indian garment its distinctive look. The demand of Indian embroidery products will remain forever with its various cultural and regional styles and preference of design of numbers of communities.

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The History of Embroidery and Its Modern Development

Most people associate embroidery with a boring way to fill up a housewife's daily life. The uninteresting procedure of producing a stitched picture on a cloth may seem to many uninitiated a sheer waste of time. But, once you learn more about it, you may come to discover how incredibly fascinating it is. To begin with, embroidery has a long history, which dates back to more than 3000 years B.C.It is probably the first form of art, as man has used decoration with aesthetic purposes as early as the invention of the needle and thread themselves. What is more: you may not be aware but actually embroidery was a man's not a woman's invention! In ancient cultures from every part of the world, embroidery and needlework was regarded as a priority only for the chosen and talented boys. The embroiderers-to-be had to study the fine craft under the supervision of a master. It took them more than ten years' apprenticeship until they were approved to practice on their own. Embroidery has not only a long history. The most amazing fact is that it had evolved simultaneously in almost every part of the world where people practiced sewing. Different cultures formed different embroidery types. The development of needlework also depended on the various materials used by a certain culture. The styles of embroidery, which different nations invented, were passed on generations to generations and many of them have survived till nowadays. We know of the embroidery work practiced by the ancient Egyptians. It was done with white threads on a white canvas. This embroidery is so sophisticated that even nowadays the modern technologies have difficulty doing it the same way. Another type of finest quality was the Chinese silk embroidery, known as the two-sided embroidery. It is amasingly intricate and it takes years of hard efforts to complete. Also famous is the "raised" embroidery, practiced in the 16th century. It is better known as the Elizabethan embroidery. It involved stitching decorations like butterflies, leaves and other beautiful designs with the usage of wool, leather and wood padding. Still popular today is the Western European embroidery called crewel. This technique uses two-ply wool stitching on linen twill and is practiced when making decorations on different household cloths, such as counterpanes, wall hangings, draperies, chair coverings. What strikes most in these embroidery styles is that they are incredibly difficult to produce and many people lose their patience before completing one canvas. Nowadays, embroidery has developed so far, that even the clumsiest novice can try and stitch something beautiful by using computer software or high-tech sewing machines. That makes things more pleasant for the new beginner. Despite the available technology, artistic embroiderers prefer authenticity and still spend their time doing everything themselves. The finest details cannot be produced by technologically-based machines, because embroidery is most of all a kind of art, and all art needs its talented artists.

Article by Robbie Darmona For more information you can visit embroidery designs