ImagesMagUK_March_2022

the door open for lower cost alternatives. Moreover, through careful use of support materials, you can provide a garment with a smooth, well-stitched design that looks and feels better to wear than other mass-produced options. Value additions like comfort coverings that make embroidery on base clothing layers comfortable against the skin and even using lower, more balanced densities that allow designs to flow naturally with the fabric can make your garments’ wearer experience stand out. Figure on flexibility Offer decoration options that take all apparel options into account. A simple way to create flexibility is to produce patches or emblems featuring your customers’ designs. Whether producing them yourself or ordering them from an outside source, consider adding a heat adhesive layer to allow you to quickly and cleanly decorate any garment. Emblems can be added on everything from base layers to outerwear with a simple heat press in minutes, or can be stitched in place for added security. Moreover, most heat-applied emblems can be attached with a home iron, meaning they can be sold as a self- service decoration option to customers who need to source their own apparel and decorate on a tight budget. Emblems can even be used to cover previous decorations or scars from removed decorations on reused garments. For garments likely to outlast the decoration or someone’s membership to the club or organisation for whom they’ve been decorated, you can even employ a hook- and-loop system or stitch the patch in place without heat adhesive to make removing and replacing the decoration easier, with your shop establishing itself as the source for swappable emblems in the future. For your consideration Increased efficiency has always been a worthwhile pursuit for commercial embroiderers, however it’s more important than ever to think specifically about how your work fits into the changing needs of your customers Grid, mesh or double tatami underlays can create fantastic colour coverage in high-contrast situations, allowing you to reduce topstitch densities. In this example, it’s easy to see how the top design with only a standard single tatami underlay and full coverage density is handily beaten in the coverage department by the bottom design featuring mesh underlay and 10% less topstitching density and the economy at large. Though it’s evident that you should sell on the experience and value you provide, the types of decoration and qualities most important to your customers aren’t fixed. Even so, making use of your strengths and addressing the needs you see in the market along with your customers’ concerns will make it much easier to convince those customers of your inherent value. When you provide the best experience you can, your value is hard to deny. Take a note from retail kidswear, particularly when creating school uniforms, and use knit coverage backings on embroideries. After all, if an uncomfortable piece is never worn, it has no value KB BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT www.images-magazine.com 68 images MARCH 2022 Erich Campbell is an award-winning digitiser, embroidery columnist and educator, with more than 20 years’ experience both in production and the management of ecommerce properties. He is the programme manager for the commercial division of BriTon Leap. www.erichcampbell.com