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Hiya 'Heads, I'm looking to get some hats and shirts done, but I know just enough to be dangerous and I'm looking for some pointers. Ideally, I'm looking for some nicer hats that already have some sort of checkered design on them similar to this...
The shirts would be polo and long sleeved.
So, when looking at a vendor, are there specific questions I should ask?
What types of fees should I expect to pay?
would it save me any money if I supply them with a vector logo?
Are there any garments available that are still made in the USA?
Any tips tricks or pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Havin' fun,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Some cap manufacturers will embroider the caps for you. If I'm not mistaken, Richardson and Otto will do it for a reasonable fee. I think Richardson will also embroider shirts for you if are buying the caps from them as well.
[ February 14, 2006, 04:38 PM: Message edited by: Glenn Taylor ]
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Not sure if my two cents is worth as much as two cents, but embroidery art is not even remotely like the vector art we'd use for a plotter or printing. It includes programming the different kinds of stitches, passes from one part of a design to another and changes of thread color. I think the program is named PITA Pro 3.5. In other words, it's doubtful that supplying vector art would effect the pricing one way or the other.
[ February 14, 2006, 04:44 PM: Message edited by: Don Coplen ]
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We don't have in-house embroidery here but we do offer it to our customers. We do hats and any all other types of apparel. We're also members of ASI. The girl here that is in charge of that, Robin, can find anything and everything your heart desires. I showed her the hat and she dropped the catalog right on the desk. I'm sure she can offer you a finished product if you like or just let you know the vendors and you can go direct. The particular catalog she put on my desk is ATT Headwear; check out part number 8052, I think that's your hat exactly. You can email her directly (robin@venturasigns.com) if you need more information. She says that particular company might even offer the embroidery as well. They can usually work with a jpeg or an illustrator file to make their "tape" it doesn't need to be vectored.
Good Luck!
-------------------- Tracie Johnson Signovations Ventura, California Posts: 444 | From: Ventura, California | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Don you gotta see this stuff in action. With your abilities and technological senses as a designer, get a live Glance demo from www.smartdesigns.com sales dept. or check the video. It's long winded but good info.
A group of people in Greece created something called "WINGS" A vector to stich digitizing program, combined it with CorelDRAW and is known as "DRAWings".
Like all software it is not without minor problems and glitches. However, once you see it in action you wonder why people would stick with the old PITA 3.5
So nowadays you can send a vector file to your embroidery shop and expect really great results (depending on the shop of course).
I've done stitch patterns to resemble diamond plate, fish scales, and even checkered flags, that you can select from a design pallet just like selecting color, click-bang-done.
I am not directly affiliated with any of these companies but I have been with the designers and developers. It's just my opinion but this is ground breaking, solid stuff that has been years in the making and worth knowing about.
-------------------- "No excuses!.... No regrets!..."
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I have a great digitizing source- they don't sew, just make the design ready for somebody else to sew. Most everything in embroidery is based on stitch count. Like some of the above posts, there are some programs out there that can digitize some stuff, but IMO the better the digitizing, the better the finished product. Most embroidery places are going to charge roughly the same amount for stitches, but the digitizing costs can vary from $25-$300 depending on a great many variables- make sure whovever digitizes the design really knows what they are doing.
If you are interested in the info, email me and I can give you the particulars.
-------------------- Michael Clanton Clanton Graphics/ Blackberry 19 Studio 1933 Blackberry Conway AR 72034 501-505-6794 clantongraphics@yahoo.com Posts: 1736 | From: Conway Arkansas | Registered: Oct 2001
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Thanks for the info guys and Gal Mike, I really like that cap! I may have to rethink my design a little Any more info will be greatly appreciated.
Havin' fun,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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Hey Checkers. This is just my 2 cents but here it goes. There are several companies that have the checker bill already done. This would save you a great deal of money. I deal alot with racing flag and things like that because we have a stand at a local dragway. To have these custom made would tie up a great deal of money. Minimun orders are usually 144 and custom hats usually cost $5 a piece. I do embroidery inhouse and I would gladly check my catalogs and find some hats already made up with the checkered design. Also have many designs for shirts, jackets and the like. Now is a little slow because the weather is bad and the race season hasn't started. Email if you like. It would be nice to help someone because I have gotten so much help on this site.
-------------------- Cynthia Pack 246 Diamondview Loop Galax, Va. 24333 Posts: 659 | From: Galax, Virginia USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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Hi Checkers, Check out our website, we cater to the racing community for these type of items. Your logo would need to be digitized, most run about $75.00 for a left crest & a cap design, as they need to be 2 different stitch files to sew out properly. If you have any questions, give me a call.
-------------------- Jim Hansen Tri-Star Graphics Bethel, Ct. 800-716-6500 e-mail:tsgracingdecals@aol.com www.tsgracingdecals.com Posts: 51 | From: Bethel, Ct. usa | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
Thanks again for the replies people. I guess I'm trying to make it more complicated than what it needs to be. On a humorous note, since I posted this question, I have since stumbled across 3 local embroiders that are interested in doing business with me. Although my business model is to patronize local businesses and support the local community, if I don't feel comfortable with them, I'll definitely be giving you guys a call.
Cheers,
Checkers
-------------------- a.k.a. Brian Born www.CheckersCustom.com Harrisburg, Pa Work Smart, Play Hard Posts: 3775 | From: Harrisburg, Pa. U.S.A. | Registered: Nov 1998
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![[Wink]](wink.gif)
In other words, it's doubtful that supplying vector art would effect the pricing one way or the other.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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