Ken Parsons
Designing Embroidery

Step 1
Design
Is the design’s overall shape appropriate for the garment piece upon which it is to be placed? Elements of your original design can be duplicated, reduced or enlarged to create an appropriate outline shape for the pattern piece upon which it is being placed.

Size
Is the size of the embroidery appropriate for the placement and the intended impact?

Colors
Do the colors maximize the impact of the design and interact in an effective way with the base fabric color? Do you want t to be Subtle or Bold? The colors you chose for your final embroidered design do not necessarily have to match your original artwork.

Placement
What is achieved by the placement of the embroidery? Does it emphasize/ minimize a specific area of the garment or minimize or maximize an aspect of the body?

Step 2
Stitch choices, diversity, stitch length.
Does the stitch make-up of the design maximize the textural aspect of embroidery?

Stitch direction, dimensionality.
Stitch direction is another important design element that is often ignored. Opposing stitch directions produce textural divisions in a design which increases the dimensionality of a design. Stitches placed perpendicular to each other blend together. This is most often used to create a seamless transition form one color to another.

Step 3
Production Efficiency
Does the finished design run on the embroidery machines with a minimum of thread breaks and a minimum stitch count, jumps and color changes?

Accessory choices
The proper use of consumables plays a large part in producing a quality end product. By consumables I mean Backing, Topping, and Needles. Saving money by eliminating topping on fabrics with a nap or uneven texture can cause you embroidery stitches to look uneven. Using a sharp needle on knits can cause runs and pulls in the fabric. Using too heavy or stiff a backing can cause the embroidery to rob the base fabric of its hand and make it drape improperly.

Feel
Embroidered fabric should be comfortable to wear. Does the embroidery impair the drape of the fabric?
.

Finish
Quality embroidery is finished properly.
Was the excess Topping and Backing removed?
Were the Hoop marks steamed out?
Were Washing instructions added to reflect the care of the thread used?

In short quality embroidery is designed intelligently, digitized carefully, creatively, and responsively, it is sewn using the proper accessory products, placed carefully, and finished completely.