Introduction to Applique I Embroidery Project

When it comes to lowering stitch counts in a particular embroidery design, the subject of appliqué always rises to the top. And on the surface, it appears to be a logical concept (and it may be). But before you assume that converting a fully stitched design to an appliqué design will automatically reduce the production cost, be sure to consider all of the factors involved.

Yes, you will reduce the stitch count, perhaps by many thousands of stitches. But, you will be incurring some additional expenses to use appliqué. First of all, there is the cost of the fabric component of the appliqué. Second there is the cost of cutting it. Are you losing valuable production time to manually cut out the fabric? Are you contracting it out to a company that specializes in this? Either way, there is a cost involved in creating the fabric cutout(s). But perhaps the most significant cost of producing appliqué is the downtime of the machine.

Each appliqué section of a design has four components: outline stitching, fabric application, tack-down stitching and border stitching. One of these four items, fabric application requires the machine to be stopped. For a single head machine running a simple shape, this downtime may be minimal: 5-10 minutes. However, for a multi-head machine, the downtime can be much longer, which can quickly add up in lost production costs.

Regardless of the technical methodology that you use, the key factor is to fully understand the costs that are associated with appliqué. Be sure to translate this into your pricing scheme. Do NOT use your standard stitch count pricing or you will be selling yourself short. Sure, the design has fewer stitches, but does it take any less time to sew? With appliqué, it’s best to figure out how many finished designs you can create per hour, and divide your hourly operational costs by this figure, to determine how much it costs to produce each one. Then add in any extra costs, such as fabric and cutting. Once you are comfortable with the details and costs of producing appliqué, you will be able to make sound judgments as to whether there is a cost advantage to offering appliqué.

The most common method of fabric application is to use a spray adhesive. When doing so, it’s imperative that the glue be allowed to dry completely before resuming sewing. Otherwise, the needles will get “gummed-up” while sewing, which leads to a variety of problems including frequent thread breaks. Of course, you don’t have to use a spray adhesive. If you are having a contractor cut your fabric, they can apply special backings to each cut piece. The most popular choices are either iron-on or adhesive. With iron-on, you will still have to spend a couple of minutes working with the appliqué fabric, but there will not be a “curing” time involved, as with sprays. With adhesive backing it’s as simple as peel & stick. My preference, however, is iron-on, as the adhesive is more secure and the heat of the iron “presses” the fabric, thus eliminating wrinkles.