Applique Get In The Game Embroidery Project

Die-Cut Letters and Numbers

How it works. This process generally involves heat sealing die-cut materials to garments. The materials are heat applied at about 335 to 350 degrees with a dwell time of 10 to 15 seconds, depending on the material. This process is simple and low cost, which is perhaps why it’s the decorating industry’s most common method for lettering and numbering.

What you’ll need. As far as equipment goes, this process requires only a heat-seal machine. Of course, you’ll want to buy die-cut letters and numbers, which you’ll find in plenty of sizes and shapes. If you have a cutter (or plotter), you can buy the roll goods and cut the letters and numbers yourself. Otherwise, a range of suppliers offer these in stock. Lettering generally is available precut in 2-, 3-, and 4-inch sizes, and numbers come in 2- through 12-inch sizes, all of which comes in standard athletic colors.

Figure 1: When using film numbers, both colors of a two-color number may be positioned at the same time and heat pressed together, saving a step that’s required with vinyl numbers. And, as film is comparable to vinyl in terms of durability, some prefer its lighter weight. Photo courtesy of Dalco Athletic.   Materials. Material options for letters and numbers include vinyl, film, and CAD-cut. Note that while suppliers use different names for their vinyl and film products, they’re essentially all referring to the same materials. Vinyl and film are made of the same material, but vinyl is thicker and therefore slightly more durable than film, so it’s often used for football and other contact sports. Of course, film is tough enough to perform with contact sports, so it’s mostly a personal preference as to which you use. Film (Figure 1) has a few advantages over vinyl. It is lighter in weight, therefore it has a softer hand, which some customers prefer. There is no paper to peel off the back as there is with vinyl. It also has a shorter dwell time, 8-10 seconds vs. 10-15 seconds for vinyl, so it’s faster to apply. With two-color film, you can apply both colors at the same time, whereas with vinyl you have to apply one color at a time. So it has some production advantages.

	Fig. 2: Two-color vinyl numbers require a two-step pressing. They’re preferred over film letter by teams that value the greater durability, especially in contact sports. Photo courtesy of Dalco Athletic.

Here’s how the two-color vinyl process works: (Figure 2) Heat apply the first layer of lettering or numbering and peel away the vinyl’s paper. Then place a second color on top of the first layer, and cover it with Teflon-coated sheet. Heat for 15 seconds, then pull away the top layer of the vinyl’s paper. For a nice finish and smooth edges, cover the two-color design with Teflon-coated sheet again, heat for 2 to 3 seconds, and remove it. With the two-color film process you lay both colors on top of each other at once, cover them with Teflon-coated sheet, heat for 15 seconds, and remove the sheet.

In addition to vinyl and film, you might consider flock, which is most frequently used with ¾-inch to 1-inch Cooper and script-style letters for names on left chests. This makes for an inexpensive way to do caps as an alternative to Swiss embroidery letters, where embroidered letters have a heat-seal backing. (Embroidered heat-seal letters come in 2- to 2-3/8 inches, usually in script or full block.)

	Fig. 3: The advantage of computer-cut graphics that arrive on a Mylar carrier sheet is that all elements are perfectly prepositioned. The downside of a two-color vinyl graphic, however, is that it requires heat pressing, first, the background or shadow color, followed by the primary overprinted color. Photo courtesy of Dalco Athletic.

The third material option is CAD-cut (Figure 3), which is vinyl with a clear Mylar carrier sheet. With this material, the cutter cuts only the vinyl, not the Mylar, and you weed away the excess material. You apply the lettering or shape to the garment using a heat press. Again, you can either cut the material yourself or order precut letters and numbers from suppliers.

You might choose CAD-cut over die-cut letters and numbers is it gives you complete control over the order. CAD-cut is always custom, it is not stocked. If you are cutting the material yourself, you cut only what you needs for that order. Or if you are ordering it from the supplier, again, you can order only exactly what you need.

The nicest thing about CAD-cut is the letters, numbers, and design are perfectly positioned on the Mylar carrier sheet. There is no need to individually place the pieces down. You simply put the sheet on the garment, heat press it, and you’re done.

Typestylles. Heat-seal die-cut letters and numbers come in plain or full block, script, Cooper, Antique, Old English, and miscellaneous other faces. A popular look for soccer is the 3-D shadow number. Or, of course, suppliers can easily custom cut any typeface desired out of any material.

Heat Transfer Letters and Numbers

How it works. This process is again remarkably simple. You just heat apply letters or numbers that are printed onto release paper. Although plastisol ink is typically used, sublimation and other proprietary inks are available. Sublimation transfers offer virtually no hand and have longer-lasting durability than plastisol, however, the face of the garment must be made from 80% or more polyester to be effective. Key advantages for this process include the fact that you can gang multiple images on one release sheet to reduce costs; it’s easy to apply; and it requires no positioning of multiple layers to do multicolor lettering as is required when using film and vinyl.

What you’ll need. Again, a heat-seal machine is all that’s required. Heat seal transfer numbers often come in 4- through 10-inch sizes. All of the heat seal lettering and numbering methods work well on traditional uniform and sports fabrics such as 50% cotton/50% polyester, 100% cotton, nylon mesh, polyester mesh, 100% polyester knits, 100% nylon knits, dazzle cloth, and mini-mesh. The only fabric to watch out for is waterproof or windbreaker nylon. Heat seal adhesive does not work as well on this treated fabric and adherence may be a problem.

Appliqué Letters and Numbers

How it works. This process gives a stitched, textured look. Although it takes longer than the previously mentioned methods, appliqué lettering and numbering provide a much more upscale look than their heat-seal cousins. The appliqué is held in place with either heat seal or spray tack, then sewn with a zigzag sewing machine or commercial embroidery equipment. If you’re using a sewing machine, you’ll likely buy appliqué with heat-seal adhesive on the back, heat apply it, then stitch the edges. If you’re using embroidery equipment, you’ll use spray tack to hold the appliqué, then stitch its edges, usually with a zigzag or satin (column) stitch.

What you’ll need. The easier and fastest method is to purchase the cut appliqué pieces, which means all you need is a zigzag sewing machine or embroidery equipment and a heat press. The press is used if you like to tack down the appliqué before it is sewn and then hit it again after sewing for a more finished look. It is possible to hand cut appliqué with scissors or dies, however, this is frequently not practical in a production situation.

To sew down the appliqué, there are two options. It can be sewn manually where the operator follows the edge of the appliqué with a zigzag stitch. Or, you can buy a predigitized sew disk, which tells your embroidery machine what shape to sew down. Sew disks are available with stock or custom designs. A stock design sew disk will contain all the popular letter and number styles, mascots, and shapes such as ovals, rectangles, sports balls, banners, and megaphones. If you need a custom shape not offered on a stock design disk, you can order a special disk with any shape you need. You pick the type of material you want your cut appliqué pieces in, the shape, the color; and it all comes packaged with the predigitized disk included.

There are two methods used to cut appliqué depending on the requirements. For larger volume, most manufacturers use water jet. This equipment cuts through multiple layers of fabric. It can cut any shape programmed into the computer. It is used for custom letters and numbers and any shape imaginable.

Fig. 5: A laser cutter may be precisely set to cut through only one layer of fabric, allowing the top layer to be selectively removed, creating the two-color appliqué shown here. The mascot in the middle was embroidered. Photo courtesy of Dalco Athletic.   For multicolor work, where there are two or three layers of colored material and you want the first and second layers cut to let the second and third layers of color show through, this is done by the kiss-cut method using a laser cutter (Figure 4). The laser cutter has the ability to cut through only one or two layers of the fabric without cutting the layer underneath. Unlike the water jet, which cuts through multiple layers, only one design can be cut at a time with the laser. It is a slower process, however, if you want a multilayer color design, it ends up being more cost effective than water jet because it cuts each design individually so it’s ready to apply. If the same design were water jet cut, the operator would have to position each layer as the design was being sewn. Materials. Whether you’re getting stock or custom pieces or handling the cutting yourself, you have plenty of choices with appliqué materials, including twill—which itself comes in a variety of types such as glacier (gives the appearance of a fill stitch) and metallic. Other fabrics include plaids, florals, pebble grain (replicates the look of a ball), and more. Other fabric options include a chenille-like material, often used on the sleeves of award jackets and for varsity-style lettering. Many customers go down to their local fabric store and pick out any fabric they like, which the manufacturer will cut for them. There are some fabrics that do not lend themselves to cutting—those with a loose knit or that easily fray—so suppliers request a sample to test on before accepting a custom-cut order.

Parting Advice

Much of the business for letters and numbers will undoubtedly come from teams. So what happens when you need to order only one or two items—perhaps when a new member joins a team, for instance—but suppliers sell in minimum quantities? You could order extras during the initial team order and price the individual items so that your costs for the minimums are covered or use a plotter/cutter to make your own.

Also, remember that creativity goes a long way in the decorated apparel industry, and that’s certainly true with lettering and numbering, no matter which decorating process you choose. You might try mixing and matching fabrics, like putting glacier twill on top of solid twill, or putting felt over twill for depth. You might try mixing embroidery with any of these lettering/numbering decorating options, too, for a high-end look. The bottom line is that the more creativity you use, the more business—and the more profits—you’ll generate.