Midwest Stitch Blog

Do you prefer polyester or cotton? This is one of the first questions we ask during a consultation about garments. How would you answer? Most people fall into one of three groups: pro-cotton, pro-polyester, or don't know and/or don't care. No matter how you feel about the fabrics, it's good to know the features of both cotton and polyester. This wi...

Embroidered Cap with Screen Printed Tee

You know one thing: you're ready to outfit your team with branded apparel featuring your company logo. But, now you're wrestling with the question: do I want screen print decoration or embroidery? Here at Midwest Stitch, we see customers deal with this dilemma every day – and we're here to help. Embroidery vs Screen Printing: What is the difference...

Absolutely! As an approved reseller of personalized Nike apparel, we are ready to help you co-brand with just the right apparel from this longtime favorite. We have a large selection of custom Nike clothing and bags with embroidered logos in our showroom. The clothing is available for you to see, touch and try on if you wish.Outfitting your staff w...

When it comes to spending money on promotional items, your company no doubt wants to get the most out of their hard earned money.  Although some of the quality promotional items that come to mind first may be t-shirts and caps, those ideas are not all that unique.  More important, they may not be the best use of your marketing money.  Have you thought of logoed bags and towels?  The superiority of these promotional items can be seen in five major areas: their simplicity, usefulness, variety, longevity and cost effectiveness. 

Simplicity

One of the first steps taken in the embroidery process is the digitization of a logo.  This step creates a digital file that will speak to our embroidery machines and tell them how to proceed with the embroidery.  In this age of technology some assume this process is as easy as the push of a button, although this is far from the case.  

To give you a window in the mind of an embroidery digitizer, we spoke with our own in-house digitizer, Carla.  You may be surprised to learn the skill and knowledge required to perform this task.

What is Pique Fabric?

Whether you realize it or not, you are most likely familiar with pique fabric. Put simply, pique is a knit-construction fabric characterized by a geometric pattern texture which is created by raised cords. If that's too technical for you, notice the pictures in this article. Take a close look at the blue fabric pattern surrounding the Gensler Garden's logo. You'll notice this fabric looks a bit like honeycomb when viewed up close. You'll see polos constructed with this type of fabric everywhere.  Check out the video on this page to learn more.

Cotton grows naturally as a soft, white material in curly bales on the seeds of a tall plant.  From it comes a fabric that is soft on the skin and comfortable to wear.  But when it comes to business and dress wear, where a smooth and pressed look is expected, this has presented a textile challenge: how to create a dress shirt that keeps the desired polished look and yet still feels soft against the skin?  

Blended or Pure?

Performance wear used to be almost exclusive to the field of athletics, but today it has become popular for everyday wear and can be found from the board room to the tennis court. 

So, you may be asking: What makes a fabric worthy of the word 'performance'?  Whereas the designation 'performance wear' can have a broad application, the features may include many of the following properties:

Are you thinking of outfitting your staff in embroidered apparel but have some anxiety because you’ve never done it before?  Our 7-step order process, from beginning to end (and beyond), takes the pressure off you and makes it easy. (click here to see the 7-steps)

One of your main concerns most likely is that the garments look good.  If they don’t come out looking good, that will reflect poorly on your company brand.  We want you to look good and that’s why the first two steps of Consultation and Digitizing/Proofing your logo are so important.