Carhartt work jackets: embroidering or screen printing?

Do you know the style or product number for the Carhartts? I've done both printing and embroidery onto a number of different Carhartt items, they are tricky but we pulled it off and they looked great. Actually have a few in the shop now that we will be doing....there are some that have heavy seams in bad places that make it impossible to embroider in certain locations, in which case we screen print or HTV print them. I actually just buy screen print transfers and apply them with a heat press, but this isn't a viable option for lower quantities.

 

Hooping is the biggest concern here as far as embroidery goes.

One of the heavier substrates and that may cause some variance with hooping thus some variance with output. It's a tricky substrate. Add to that that it's "customer supplied", it can be a mess.

 

I have had many embroidered for our shop with a small logo (3"x4"?) top left. I always buy them in person so I can check out the construction to make sure they have no obstructions.

 

How about thermoflex and a heat press?

 

CT102418, CT102417 work shirts have pockets in the chest areas that make it difficult to hoop but can be done with the right hoop. CTC03 and CTTC03 have pockets in the same areas but are also a really heavy/rigid fabric and I haven't been able to hoop those successfully for front chest embroidery placement....so those would need to be screen or HTV printed, at least in my shop. I'm a spring chicken compared to somebody like WildWestDesigns in the embroidery industry, so others might know something I don't and there might be a way. But I've not found it yet, and I don't like taking risks on customer supplied stuff, and stuff that is so expensive. Even screen/HTV you would need to use a pillow/pad to raise the target area above the seams to get a solid/even press on them.

 

CTJ131, you can embroider this with left/righ chest placement. I've done this exact jacket before, although it did pop out of the hoop on my first attempt. Our solution ended up being to manually, with a needle and thread, tie the hoop closed with the jacket in place. Tied in two locations we run em no problem all day. But we do add a small amount to cost to offset the additional hooping time. And the one time it fell out of the hoop we were able to cut the back side of the stitching and release the embroidery, allowing us to rehoop and redo the jacket no problem.

 

Also a viable option, you can buy iron on patches that are legit...and any embroiderer should be able to sew them on with their machines, but that puts you right back into hooping issues and might as well direct embroider at that point. I'm capable of doing any of these options and have CTJ131 available via my wholesale vendor, PM if you want.

 

If going the patch route, heat adhesive for placement, then hand stitch a tack down to hold in place just inside edge of the merrow edging.


Heat adhesive could be used by itself if no side is bigger then 100mm. If bigger, must stitch on. Can still use adhesive, but stitching has to be done.

If the "patch" (no existing outer edging, that to be done by embroidery machine) is being embroidered on, then it's technically applique. Which brings it's on production concerns. Especially with the stitch width of the outer boundary as it's going to be wider then a traditional merrow patch edge.

 

Providing that the iron can get to a hot enough temp, yes. Downside is pressure, as in consistent pressure applied.

As to patch vendors. Some have minimums, I do, and lead times, mine is pretty far at this time. I would check with Joi Dance at Campus Chalet over in Knoxville. Tell her Evan sent you.

 

I have just learned a number of reasons to stay away from embroidery.

 

When one gets into little nuances of anything, it can seem like reasons to avoid something. Like with anything, ways to handle those troublesome little nuances just come with time and practice.

 

https://mightyhoop.com/

 

All I wear is Carhartt... really good work clothes.

 

These are the best all around magnetic hoops that you can get. Not the cheapest, but they are the best. I use these more then I use the OEM hoops.

The only other hoop type that could possibly help with difficult to hoop substrates are clamp style hoops. Ones from hooptech. Not necessarily for the Carhartt products, Mighty Hoops are the best for those, just another set of hoops that one should think about having to work with more "difficult" substrate.