[metta]

Hello,

This is my first post and I don't have any embroidery experience. I have an idea for a product that would embroider custom quotes. From the brief research I have done so far, it seems these machines can get pretty expensive ($14k-$20k), which makes it difficult to see how feasible it would be to create such a small individualized product and test a new small product idea. I'm thinking that the area that I would need to embroider would be no bigger than 6"x18" big.

Ideally, I would like a reasonably priced, easy to use, dependable machine that I could just enter the words with a choice of fonts and it would embroider them in. Are there any machines that you know of that would be good for this purpose and would fit my needs at a reasonable cost? Thank you in advance for the information.

 

[zoom_monster]

Hello,

This is my first post and I don't have any embroidery experience. I have an idea for a product that would embroider custom quotes. From the brief research I have done so far, it seems these machines can get pretty expensive ($14k-$20k), which makes it difficult to see how feasible it would be to create such a small individualized product and test a new small product idea. I'm thinking that the area that I would need to embroider would be no bigger than 6"x18" big.

Ideally, I would like a reasonably priced, easy to use, dependable machine that I could just enter the words with a choice of fonts and it would embroider them in. Are there any machines that you know of that would be good for this purpose and would fit my needs at a reasonable cost? Thank you in advance for the information.

Metta, I'd be insterested to see an exaple of what you mean. Embroidery can be time intensive and there are engineering constraints to what can be done. 18" is pretty much limmited to machines in the commercial range. Also hooping many things at that size may be impossible. I'm kind of visualizing the miestergram or Barudan chain stich machines that they use to have in Disneyland or in Trophy shops. It's hard to tell if what you are looking for would be along those lines. If you could show a visual layout of what you are trying to do, this would be helpfull.

 

[Louie2010]

I have an idea for a product

Before you invest thousands in equipment, why don't you pay someone to make some for you and see how well they sell. That would help you better gauge how profitable you idea is and whether it is worth the investment or not.

 

[metta]

Thank you very much for the replies. It would involve custom quotes. I was thinking about maybe allowing for up to 3 lines, up to 30 characters each line. Just for an example:


Line 1: Never doubt that a small group
Line 2: of thoughtful, committed
Line 3: people can change the world.

I might consider sending the work out, however, I would prefer to have my own machine so that it would not delay the orders. I'm hoping that there are machines that I can just type in the quotes and it will embroider them out. It can be smaller than the 6"x18", that is just the area that I would have to work with.

 

[royster13]

When I see stuff like this at craft fairs most is done by a home quality Janome machine...Another option might be a Meistergram Monogram machine....Although, I am not sure how big working area either of these machines has....

 

[zoom_monster]

Thank you very much for the replies. It would involve custom quotes. I was thinking about maybe allowing for up to 3 lines, up to 30 characters each line. Just for an example:


Line 1: Never doubt that a small group
Line 2: of thoughtful, committed
Line 3: people can change the world.

I might consider sending the work out, however, I would prefer to have my own machine so that it would not delay the orders. I'm hoping that there are machines that I can just type in the quotes and it will embroider them out. It can be smaller than the 6"x18", that is just the area that I would have to work with.

Metta, I would agree that sending it out initially would give you a better perspective on how much to charge (retail) and if it's actually practical to manufacture. Like stated hooping anything larger than 8-10" is more difficult, takes a lot of backing and set-up and might cost more than you think.

Given your quote and fitting that in a 12" hoop you are looking at a minimum of 10K stitches for a simple script or block. Say 20 minutes of machine time. 5 minutes set up text. 5 minutes to cut backing and hoop+ cleanup and finishing. You also have Time to take order from client and recieve supplies on a custom order. You as a retailer need to justify all this with some sort of price and have a client that's happy with that price.

 

[metta]

Thanks again for the information. It has been very helpful. It does sound like it is not going to be feasible to do with embroidery. I did not realize it would take that long just to do one of them. Embroidery was my first choice. But it looks like I'm going to have to look at more alternatives for this particular project.

 

[tfalk]

What type of garment are you considering putting this on? If a T-shirt, I'd advise you to look into heat applied transfers or vinyl... that much stitching on a t-shirt will be uncomfortable to wear... If you opt for heat press transfers, all you need is a heat press which is considerably cheaper than an embroidery machine and a lot of them have 14x20 platens.

 

[zoom_monster]

Metta,
I don't want you to give up any ideas, but by finding a vendor that does something similar, you are going to see what's practically feasable from someone already set up so that you don't have to re-invent the wheel. Once you see how it's done, then you can make an effort and investment to bring it all in house. Check out vendors like Cafe press, zazzle, many others ....where you can see up your own "store", decorate items and make a profit.

 

[metta]

Thanks again for all of the advice. I'm not going to give up anything. I just have a lot more research to do. The advise given to me hear has all been helpful and I greatly appreciate it. I'm sorry about the delay in getting back to you. I have needed to work on some family issues with a parent having dementia. So it can sometimes take me a little while to get back to this between dealing with my work, my family issues, etc. I will look into the transfer ideas as well. I'm looking at using sheeting fabric. It is not really for something to wear.

 

[drdoct]

Embroidery is a very slow process. What seems so simple is actually a very complicated action being accomplished. Zoom up above spoke the truth about the time and that's if everything goes right. Add in a thread break which is entirely possible and you've stretched it out another 5 minutes plus frustration. The other night I was doing a bunch of bags and so I was getting them going but not watching it like I should have. On one the thread frayed but didn't break and did a whole name a jumbled mess.

Embroidery is a slow, aggravating, expensive process that everyone thinks just happens. So it's also become a lower paying process considering all the hands on time it takes. I don't see how a person who purchased a new Tajima single head can make payments on one if there's any competition in the area.

Good luck on your idea. You'll be much happier if you just pay someone to do it for you. We've got an alteration shop in town that practically gives their embroidery away. Shoot, a lot of times I'm tempted to outsource MY work.

 

[SEOK]

This is my first post! but I thought I would add to the already great and correct advice...

with 15yrs commercial embroidery exp I can tell you to run custom 3 line designs on a single head at 18" is not going to be very profitable. Most industrial machines run around 1000 stitches per min and less. and then you have to factor in the stops, trims, thread breaks, even slow speeds when it hits a wide satin. text like your wanting to do would take 30 min or more to complete one piece. and this is providing you could even get 18". An SWF single head can only fit about 16" wide if I remember right. again, these are very expensive machines.
As far as a smaller HOME type hobby machine I personally cant speak for the top notch ones but I do use a Brother PE770 at home for small 1-2 pc etc jobs and it works great, but it only has a 7" wide max range. You can get up to a 12" wide hoop but that requires the use of software to split the design up into halves, you run it clipped on one setting then reload the other half design and slide the hoop to the second set of clips. this is also at a MAX of 650 stitches a minute! No fun! lol. these are better for small 5x7 or smaller designs.
also only cost $700

in my opinion the best way to go about this if you REALLy want it in embroidery as opposed to print would be to purchase lettering software ( or use one of many FREE versions out there) and typeset or digitize all of your own quotes, export it to a DST and bring it in to a shop with your own disk, fabric and have them run it if the price is right. the cost of an industrial machine is just too much to be cost effective for this type of venture, and the little cost effective hobby machines wont cut it with size and speed.

btw... I downloaded for FREE, and use STICH ERA software to digitize all my designs. its normally thousands of dollars but its a free version that requires internet access due to small ads that run in the program.

sorry for the long post but thought I could use my FIRST POST to help out some.