The one detail nobody writes down

Embroidery is what a customer notices from the other side of a shop floor. It is also the part of a specification that usually arrives as one word. A tech pack will pin fabric weight to the gram and cover size to the millimetre, then describe the surface as "floral embroidery" and leave it there. Six weeks later the sample turns up, the motif looks thin in two places, the cloth has rippled around the outline, and nobody can fairly say whose fault it is, because nothing was agreed.

We embroider across most of what we make: cushion covers, bed linen and quilts, kitchen and table linen, throws and pouffes and floor seating. The techniques change by category. The specification discipline does not. What follows is what we ask buyers to settle before cloth is cut, and the cost or quality consequence behind each decision.

The techniques and what each is good for

Buyers often use "embroidery" to mean any raised decoration, but the families behave differently in production and in the wash.

Machine embroidery

Most volume work is stitched on multi head machines from a digitised file. One file, many heads, identical repeats. Cost follows stitch count and the number of thread colours, because every colour change is a stop. Schiffli machines produce continuous embroidered yardage rather than placed motifs, which is how allover embroidered fabric is made before cutting.

Hand embroidery

Hand work is slower, softer and dearer, and it does things a machine cannot. Aari or chainstitch is worked with a hook on a stretched frame and gives a fluid, drawn line. Crewel uses wool on a cotton or linen ground for a raised, tapestry-like surface. Kantha runs fine stitch across the whole face, so the texture is the design. Mirror work and beading add hard elements, which then dictate the care label. The variation between pieces is part of what the customer is buying, so if head office expects two hand embroidered cushions to be identical, settle that before the order.

Applique, patchwork and cutwork

Here the pattern is built from layers of cloth rather than thread. Applique lays a shaped piece onto the ground and secures the edge, usually with satin stitch or a turned hem. Patchwork joins panels into the face itself. Cutwork removes ground fabric inside a stitched boundary. All three cover a large area far more cheaply than dense thread, and all three live or die on edge treatment: a raw applique edge that frays after two washes becomes a returns line.

Stitch density and the number your tech pack needs

Density is how tightly stitches sit within the design, and the figure a buyer sees is the total stitch count for the motif. It is the most useful number you can put in a tech pack, because it settles three things at once: how solid the embroidery looks, what it costs, and how hard the ground fabric is worked.

Under specify and the base cloth grins through the fill, so the motif reads as cheap even in an expensive thread. Over specify and the fabric puckers around the outline, or the motif goes stiff and stops draping. Neither fault is rescued by a better sewing floor. Both are decided at digitising, with the ground fabric in hand.

Ask for the stitch count on every approved design and keep it on file. Two seasons later, that number is what stops a helpful cost saving from quietly thinning your bestseller.

Founder note The fault we see most often on incoming embroidery samples is not a bad motif. It is a good motif on the wrong backing. A dense fill is chosen, the ground is a soft light voile, and no interlining is agreed because nobody thought to mention it. It ripples the moment it leaves the hoop and worse after a wash. When an embroidery sample looks wrong, turn it over before judging the front. The answer is usually on the reverse.

Threads, backings and what sits behind the cloth

Two specifications sit out of sight and decide most of the quality. The first is thread. Viscose rayon gives the highest sheen and richest colour and is the usual choice for decorative work, though it is less robust in repeated hot washing. Polyester is stronger and launders better, with a flatter lustre. Cotton thread gives a matte, traditional look that suits natural and organic ranges. Wool is used for crewel. There is no best answer, only a right answer once you know how the product will be washed.

The second is what supports the fabric while the needle works. Cut away backing stays in the product and keeps the motif stable for its whole life, which is what dense designs on soft cloth need. Tear away backing is removed after stitching and suits lighter work where a stiff patch inside would be felt. Water soluble film goes on the face for pile fabrics and on the reverse for open weaves. Write the backing type into the tech pack. Leave it to the floor and you have handed the most important decision to whoever is nearest the machine that morning.

How a drawing becomes stitches

A design does not reach a machine as artwork. It is digitised: someone decides the stitch types, the direction of every fill, the colour order, the underlay beneath the visible stitching, and how the machine travels between elements. Two digitisers given the same drawing produce two different files, and the difference shows in the sample.

This is why the first strike off rarely matches the artwork exactly, and why that is normal. Expect a round or two of correction on the embroidery itself, separate from colour approval, and our guide to how textile sampling actually works shows where those rounds sit in the development calendar. Approve the digitised sample rather than the drawing, and keep the swatch. It is your reference for the life of the programme.

Choosing a ground that will not fight the needle

Stable woven cottons in a sensible weight are the easiest grounds, which is why so much embroidered home textile work sits on plain cotton, canvas, duck and cotton slub. Linen and linen cotton blends embroider beautifully and move more, so they need more thought about backing. Cotton velvet takes embroidery richly, though hooping can crush the pile. Light voiles and open weaves ripple under anything dense, so either density comes down or the ground goes up in weight.

The rule is easy to remember: the lighter and looser the cloth, the lighter the embroidery has to be. Fighting it costs money and never quite works. Thread shade also has to be approved against the dyed ground rather than in isolation, and our explainer on how colour gets into home textiles covers why bulk shade never lands exactly on the lab dip.

Placement, repeat and the cost of a bigger motif

Where the motif sits is a specification, not a suggestion. Give a placement dimension from a fixed edge, in centimetres, for every size in the range. A 45 cm cushion and a 50 cm cushion carrying the same motif need two notes, or the larger one looks oddly empty at the bottom. For bed linen, say whether the embroidery runs along the pillow cuff, the duvet header or both, and which way it faces when the bed is made.

Scale carries a cost consequence that surprises people. Double the width of a filled motif and you roughly quadruple the area to cover, so stitch count and machine time rise far faster than the drawing suggests. Border designs are kinder on cost than a large central medallion, and they photograph well on table linen and pillow cuffs.

What actually drives the price

When a quote comes back higher than expected, it is almost always one of six things:

The practical way to hold a price is to keep one embroidery library and stretch it across the range instead of commissioning a new motif for every design. Recolour it, rescale it, crop it into a border. The digitising is paid for, the set up is known, and repeats get faster. It also keeps minimums low and flexible, because the work stays concentrated, which is the logic behind our infrastructure.

Judging an embroidered sample

Judge the sample the way the customer will meet it, which for a cushion means filled and under shop lighting. Then run through this:

  1. Raking light on the face. Hold the piece so light skims across it. Puckering and gaps in the fill hide in flat light and show immediately at an angle.
  2. The reverse. Backing type as agreed, trimmed neatly, jump stitches cut, no loose tails.
  3. Thread shade. Against the approved thread standard and against the dyed ground, in daylight and in store light. Never against a screen.
  4. Anchorage. A gentle tug on a few stitches, and on the edge of any applique panel.
  5. One wash. Wash it once at the labelled temperature and look again for shrinkage drawing in around the motif, thread colour bleeding into the ground, and fraying on applique edges.
  6. Labels and hard trims. Care instructions consistent with the thread and any beads or mirrors, plus composition and origin, which for us is made in India.

Any manufacturer worth working with will want this scrutiny at sample stage, and will tell you which requests will not survive bulk. That willingness to push back early is worth looking for when choosing an Indian manufacturer in the first place.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between machine and hand embroidery on home textiles?

Machine embroidery is stitched from a digitised file on a multi head machine, so every repeat is identical and the cost per piece is driven by stitch count and colour changes. Hand embroidery is worked by an artisan with a needle or a hook, so each piece carries small variations, the look is softer and more layered, and the cost is driven by hours rather than stitches. Machine work suits volume ranges that need consistency. Hand work suits ranges where the craft itself is the selling story. Many designs combine the two, with a machine base and hand detail added on top.

What does stitch density mean and why does it matter?

Stitch density is how many stitches sit in a given area of the design, and it is usually expressed to a buyer as a total stitch count for the motif. Density decides three things at once: how solid the embroidery looks, how much it costs, and how much the ground fabric is stressed. Too little density and the base cloth shows through, so the design looks thin and unfinished. Too much and the fabric puckers around the motif or goes stiff like cardboard. The right density is a decision taken at digitising stage with the base cloth in hand, not a number copied from another product.

Which base fabrics work best for embroidery?

Stable woven cottons in a reasonable weight are the easiest and most forgiving grounds, which is why so much embroidered home textile work sits on plain cotton, canvas, duck and cotton slub. Linen and linen cotton blends embroider beautifully but move more, so they need careful backing. Cotton velvet takes embroidery well and looks rich, though the pile can be crushed by hooping and needs a gentler set up. Loose open weaves and lightweight voiles will pucker unless density is reduced and the fabric is supported properly. The rule is simple: the lighter and looser the ground, the lighter the embroidery has to be.

What should I check on an embroidered sample before approving bulk?

Look at the front in raking light for puckering and for gaps where the ground shows through. Turn the piece over and check the reverse: backing type, whether it has been trimmed neatly, and whether jump stitches have been cut. Check thread shade against the approved standard, not against a screen. Tug a few stitches gently to test anchorage. Then wash the sample once at the labelled temperature and look again for shrinkage around the motif, thread colour bleeding into the ground, and any fraying of appliqued edges. Most embroidery faults show up after the first wash rather than before it.

Closing thought

Embroidery is where India still has an advantage that is hard to copy. Not machinery, which anyone can buy, but generations of hands that know how a stitch should sit. What that advantage needs from a buyer is a specification worth the skill: a stitch count, a thread type, a backing, a placement dimension and an approved swatch on file.

Get those five lines written down and embroidery stops being the risky part of your range. It becomes the part that sells it.