ImagesMagUK_October_2021

www.images-magazine.com OCTOBER 2021 images 39 IS DECORATOR PROFILE It’s very varied and keeps us on our toes The company sponsors Hull Sunday league football team C-Force United, which has led to other local sports teams turning to Nazar Design for kit. Last year, the company added schoolwear which really took off this summer, supplying several schools in Hull and East Yorkshire through a retailer. Around 2,000 pieces were decorated for one school alone. Amazing stitch quality The business is currently managing with six single-head Brother machines, although Kathryn and Kenan expect to invest in another next year. From Stocks, they have three Brother PR670E machines and two Brother PR1050X machines plus an older secondhand Brother PR620 machine. “Brother machines are really easy to use,” Kathryn says. “The stitch quality is amazing.” Although they may invest in a multi-head, the modular approach suits them for now. “If we had just a six-head machine, if something goes wrong, you have six pieces going in the bin instead of one,” Kathryn explains. “Having the six single-heads is really flexible. You can have six different logos going on at the same time. It costs us more to do it singly, but it’s about the quality.” She recommends embroidering on magnetic frames after switching early on – despite being advised against it. “When we started, we had normal frames, but magnetic frames make the job a lot easier.” The company uses Wilcom and Brother PE Design software for digitisation but, ever keen to learn, Kathryn is now teaching herself to digitise using one-time Images’ contributor John Deer’s videos. Nazar Design prefers Madeira threads not just because of the quality, but also for their sustainability credentials. For the same reasons, Kathryn also likes ETC Supplies’ cotton backing which is made from reclaimed garments. For vinyls, they switched to Grafityp last year, but have also started using Dae Ha because of its eco-friendly use of recycled blended polyesters. Through Grafityp, they have a GCC Jaguar V cutter as well as a Roland VersaStudio printer/cutter, and print using a Hotronix automatic heat press. Kathryn says they are always looking at ways to be more environmentally friendly, but says there are limited garment options for the kind of work they do. “A lot of the organic clothing is not really suitable for workwear. We use a lot of blends because they are more durable.” Most garments are from Kustom Kit, Finden & Hales and Pro RTX, but they also source from AWDis for gym uniforms, Result for fleeces and jackets, Premier for aprons and Beechfield for caps, plus Sol’s, Regatta and Gildan. As well as decorating on all styles of clothing, Nazar Design can also do work on other textiles such as bags and towels and, most recently, Zippies plush toys from Mumbles, while they can supply other branded items such as mugs. It also offers stickers, although Kathryn says it is impossible to compete on price with online companies. Growing during the pandemic Nazar Design has continued to grow over the past 18 months despite Covid-19. When the first lockdown hit, it still had only two embroidery machines. Since then, it has not only acquired new kit but has also doubled the size of its premises by expanding into a residential property next door, allowing for the creation of a bigger showroom. “We shut for just three weeks, but then Kenan starting coming in by himself because people were still wanting things,” Kathryn says. “We had some quiet periods but nothing too bad, which was good for a relatively new business.” One of the biggest challenges was taking on their first employee last year, especially as the future was so unsure because of Covid-19. “We kept putting it off as we didn’t know if we would have enough work to pay for someone,” Kathryn says. The couple have now been joined by embroidery machinist Leman San. Juggling work with bringing up three young children, the couple see Nazar Design as a “family business”, especially as their 11-year-old loves to help with weeding. With Kenan taking the lead on getting orders, Kathryn is constantly trying to be as good as possible at what they do. “I like working on all the different varieties of logos. One day we’ll be doing work for a kebab shop, the next for a beautician. It’s very varied and keeps us on our toes. I like it when people are happy with an order as it means we have done a good job.” www.nazardesign.org Brother PR670E embroidery machines GCC Jaguar and Roland VersaStudio cutters Nazar uses vinyls from Grafityp and Dae Ha UK