Workwear that works for you

This month Danielle Park and Natalie Greetham of Madeira UK share their top tips for targeting the workwear market with perfect embroidery.

The workwear industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of garment embellishment, now more than ever branded workwear plays a role in company marketing and developing a corporate image.

Even for sole traders, looking professional is key to brand development and embroidery is the ideal solution to customise workwear. It is highly durable while offering wide potential for image development using a variety of colours and textures.

The available range of technical embroidery threads also means embroidery can be suitable for embellishing garments for use in all environments from a construction site, laboratory, fire station, or in the office.

Certain thread colours can be matched to pantones used in corporate logos. Companies like to keep their corporate identity consistent across literature, promotions and workwear. This can be achieved by using certain pantone colour references to maintain consistency across printed and embroidered promotional material.

Trevor McDevitte, managing director at SewPro, explains: “Embroidery and print opens up many branding opportunities that can help corporate businesses build their brand awareness. Embroidered and print designed clothing for workwear can be effectively used to define and develop a business’s corporate identity and image.”

Some polyester and metallic threads are chlorine resistant, which makes them perfect for any application that may undergo industrial laundering or is subject to strict hygiene regulations where bleaching may be required. For more corporate applications these threads can still be used, however the choice of a soft, high sheen thread such as rayon viscose can achieve a more lustrous finish, adding value to the end garment.

For embroidery businesses, keeping a share of this market sector can be very profitable. Using high quality threads not only keeps customers returning, it can also increase the profitability of your manufacturing process. High quality threads reduce downtime caused by thread breaks and as a result increases output. The cost of the thread is one of the lowest costing components in an embroidery business setup but has a huge impact on the outcome.

Other ways to increase efficiency and profitability in manufacturing are to:

• Avoid trims in designs where possible.
• Reduce colour changes and embroider as much of the design in each colour as possible before changing.
• Reduce the number of overlapping stitches, which increase overall stitch count and run time.
• Connect one object to the next using a jump stitch where possible.
• Check your underlay stitches to ensure no unnecessary stitches are being used.

By choosing a high quality thread, adopting the correct set up and processes, your profitability in the workwear industry should be maximised.