Embroidery digitizing appliqué: Save up on stitch count and money!

Although appliqué has long been viewed as a patchwork project fit for the kids’ bedroom, off late it has come to create a niche for itself in the commercial world. Appliqué work has far evolved from being a simple craft for the amateur and has come out to dominate sports jerseys, handbags, clothing, lamp shades and even custom-made shoes. Such an increase in scale and versatility of use has turned appliqué into a job for the professional.

What is Appliqué?

Before we get into the details of how you can save using appliqué and whether it will be the right choice for you or not, let’s take a look into what it is. Standard appliqué involves taking fabric patches and layering them onto a foundation fabric, stitching them in place, and finally finishing off by either turning under the raw edges or covering them up with decorative stitches.

Reverse appliqué involves cutting away the garment itself and then placing the fabric swatch underneath for an appealing contrast.

How can Appliqué help me save?

Long gone are the days when appliqué work would look patchy and shabby, or only be used as a cover-up for embarrassing stains. Today, the demand for appliqué has increased manifold. Not only is appliqué being appreciated in fashion circles - with many totes, skirts, jeans, scarves and home décor items boasting of such designs - but it has also become a major part of sports jerseys, with team names and numbers stitched into place using appropriate swatches of fabric.

When embroidery digitizing for appliqué, the basic stitches that need to be worked on include placement stitches, tack down stitches and decorative stitches. The single running placement stitches are used to outline the design for appropriate positioning of the applique, while the double running tack down stitches are used to attach the applique to the base fabric. And, the decorative stitches, such as the satin stitch, are used to cover up and beautify the edges as well as add simple details to the design.

Since you have the liberty to use a variety of fabric swatches in different colors and with inbuilt interesting patterns, you can save on all those fill stitches and other stitches that would originally be required to detail your design.

However, coming down to the main question of whether appliqué can help you save on your embroidery digitizing bill or not depends on whether you fulfill the following basic criteria -

• Your design includes big blocks of color or patterns.

• Your design does not require a lot of detailing within such blocks and patterns.

• Your design includes bold letters and/or numbers in simple fonts.

• You are not averse to hiding big portions of your base fabric.

• You’d like the design to be the focal point.

Remember, adding too many details, putting in a lot of embellishments, or even working in a lot of different fabrics might take your bill higher. The simpler the design, the more you’ll be able to save.

At Expressdigitising.com, our highly skilled team stands ready to produce exceptional works of art for commercial as well as household use within a 5-24 hour turnaround window; we strive to deliver the most delightful embroidery digitizing experience at the most affordable price possible.