At Studio One Screen Printing & Embroidery, our mission is simple: we’re in the business of making you look good. While it’s true that the same could be said by a department store or a cosmetics shop, what makes us different is the fact that we can print nearly anything on…well, nearly anything. The sky’s the limit when it comes to our creative possibilities.
More often than not, when we’re creating your wearable works of art, we’re probably utilizing a custom screen printing or embroidery-based approach. Aside from making promotional items for your organization, we’ve seen that most t-shirts, company uniforms, corporate swag, and other wearables all begin with a great design and a screen printing or embroidery process.
Here’s the good news: they both look absolutely fantastic.
The bad news? Another piece of good news is that there is no bad news! Regardless of your clothing needs, our intricate embroidery services and custom printers in Reston are going to make sure that you’re satisfied with the job. The only question is, which should you choose?
Allow today’s blog post to help guide this decision as we briefly compare and contrast our custom screen printing services and our embroidery services. If you’re still unsure about what the best option is for your purposes, don’t hesitate to reach out to us directly. We’re always happy to answer your questions and discuss what’s going to work best for your business, organization, community event, and so forth. Let’s get started!
What Does Screen Printing Involve?
Without getting too deep in the details of printing, your design is reproduced onto your chosen material by finely squeezing various inks through a series of screens directly onto the garment. As is standard practice for many screen printing companies, we use a separate mesh screen for each color or specific ink involved in the process. Naturally, this means that the more inks we use, the more expensive the print job will be.
What Does Embroidery Involve?
In one word, the answer is “stitching.” Your design — typically a logo when people hire us for our embroidery services — is stitched directly onto the fabric with the help of computer mapped-technology to ensure accuracy. In terms of a professional-looking, durable result, it’s hard to beat how clean-cut embroidered designs look.
When Screen Printing Makes Sense
As we mentioned above, our embroidery jobs generally involve logos or relatively smaller designs that don’t take up a great amount of space. Designs intended for t-shirts, hoodies, or larger-than-average logos are best tackled by a screen printer for two main reasons: it’s more cost-effective, and it’s going to look a lot better than an embroidered job nine out of 10 times.
If you’re planning on incorporating many colors or a large surface area in your chosen design, expect us to say that our custom screen printing services are going to be your best option.
When Embroidery Makes Sense
If your design is to be placed on a polo shirt or a professional-looking business shirt (with nothing else added), embroidery is a surefire option. Generally, embroidered shirts are perceived by people as more prestigious, credible, or just clean-cut as opposed to screen printing’s more casual look. Hats and caps with intricate designs on the front are also typical candidates for embroidery, as well as outerwear that’s eventually going to face adverse weather at one point or another.
We love embroidery and screen printing more or less equally, but it’s worth noting that embroidery is not a good option for getting your design on lightweight garments like t-shirts and singlets. The stitching creates tension within the fabric, and you may eventually notice a little “puckering” around your embroidered design if you do it on a lightweight material.
The Bottom Line
Simply put, screen printing should be your go-to choice for t-shirts, hoodies, and large logos or designs. Embroidery is best kept for caps, small logos on polos, and other professional-looking apparel with modest logos.
Contact Your Comprehensive Screen Printing Company In Reston Today!
We don’t expect you to be an expert in one blog post. It’s our job to work with you and help you find the best option for your design needs. For more resources, see our FAQs, pricing, or drop us a line today.
