Machine embroidery

[equine chick]

Any one do machine embroidery as a hobby or business? I bought a single needle machine last year and hope to get a commercial multi needle whitening two years. This year has been about experimenting with products and making things for family and friends. Just thought I create a thread to share knowledge, help or motivation.

 

[Mylied]

Can you post pics of your equipment/art? I've hand embroidered but not machine.

 

[Tankueray]

I've done apparel decorating since 2008 - screen printing, vinyl, rhinestones, sublimation, solvent printing, transfers, lasering, etc.; and embroidery has never been on my list to expand into (I wouldn't recommend screen printing either for many of the same reasons).

First, what you're doing now is the right way. Learn, experiment, do it all while you don't have to depend on it to put food on the table.

Before you dive in head first, try to attend a trade show, ISS is a good one: https://impressionsexpo.com/
I haven't been there in years, but t-shirt forums used to be a good place to hang out: https://www.t-shirtforums.com/
There are also quite a few facebook groups.

That equipment and software can get very expensive and the software can be very hard to learn. You don't make any money in embroidery if you can't digitize. Fewer customers order embroidery now, and everyone wants cut rate prices. Expect to pay 10-20 thousand dollars for a dependable multi-head machine and support, then another ten thousand over a few years for software, graphics packs, and upgrades. One tip though, around the time of those shows is when equipment leases are up, check eBay and Craigslist in those areas about 2 months before the show for people just wanting to get out of their leases; you can save thousands on equipment.

You won't get a return on investment doing one-offs, unless you're doing a ton of them and you like stress and hate sleep. Due to cheap overseas production, your profit is very low. Popular hats with 3-location, 3 color designs will cost you up to $7 each plus setup, labor, waste, packing and delivery, regardless of quantity, and your customer will want to pay less than $10 each, and try to get you down to $5 each "if they buy a large quantity, like a hundred." <-sarcasm, 100pc isn't a large qty. If you're pricing correctly, you should be charging at least $25+ for a 2-color pocket on a polo, plus the cost of the shirt for a one-off; and $60 design fee + shirt cost + $5-7 each pocket for an order of 72 or more. (That puts them at $13-$15 per shirt, they want much cheaper than that.) Never let your customers bring their own shirts/hats/whatever, just trust me on this. They always buy the cheapest option that never works right with whatever decorating method they want.

The most knowledgeable person I know in small business embroidery is a salesperson for Digital Art Solutions, Katie Owen. You can look them up online and call Katie to see what you're really looking at getting into. Attend one of their software webinars and see if you think you can handle it; they make it look super easy and their software is good (it's mostly for screen printing and vinyl, although they do have a digitizing add-on), but there is a steep learning curve to it, and embroidery digitizing adds an extra layer of complexity. Tell her you're not ready for a purchase right now, but Mandy said to talk to her to figure out where to start. (But at least let her do the sales pitch, because it is how she makes a living.)

A word of warning, there are paid consultants out there that advertise that they will help you "start your apparel decorating business right" and "profit instantly" or some other nonsense. I've met most of them in person and I wouldn't let them train my enemy's dog. Find your local Small Business Development Center (a program of the US Small Business Administration - SBA.gov) and go sit and talk to them for free.

Good luck, please don't be discouraged, but make sure to look at it with your eyes wide open. If someone isn't telling you the downside, they're not helping you.