Our friends at J. Pepper Frazier were kind enough to forward a picture of them donning their new Patagonia Torrentshell Jackets on the beach in Nantucket.  We hope they don’t have to use them for their intended purpose much this summer but its good to know they are prepared and will look great nevertheless.  Thanks so much for your order and have a great summer!

For information on J. Pepper Frazier Realty in Nantucket, MA please visit their website at: http://www.jpfco.com/

Best of luck! http://quotes.wsj.com/PRSS

Oh, and the best part is this was the preview of the embroidery from the aut-digitizer

Please notice the preview is nothing like either of the final swatches……hmmmm, did they use their technology only for proofing and then edit it by hand?  I can’t think of another way….

Embroidery Elves getting orders out for the holidays: http://youtu.be/ZMD4PDd4ITg

There are, of course, exceptions: West coast order will need a shipping upgrade to at least 2-day and Patagonia’s cut-off is tomorrow  (December 15th) at noon.  There may be other slight stock issues but we’ll let customers know (and find alternatives) within an hour or so of their order.  Of course, we will not ship/charge you if we cannot meet your deadline or get your approval on a substitute.

Thanks to recent customers for making this the busiest holiday seasons we’ve ever had.  We truly appreciate it.

Best,  Andrew

So, what we (chris’s hard technical work and my embroidery background input) did was invent a way where the user could change the size of a logo, element or text size but we’d serve up a different and specific embroidery file for that size.  Instead of having 26 files for the alphabet and then stretching them to fit, we have 78 individual files we serve up as three different sizes.  Not an advanced concept of course but unique to embroidery and we built our design application around it.

So, quality (especially of lettering) was the first reason for patenting our embroidery design application.  Second was customer experience, ease of ordering and making sure producing their order was full-proof.  As perfectionists in embroidery, we wanted to make sure a customer was unable to order anything that couldn’t actually be embroidered on a garment, hat or bag.  Most print studios allow for tiny lettering, shading, small outlines, etc all of which are not embroiderable.  This means they must contact the customer and change the logo to meet their needs in a traditional manner.  Might as well go to your local embroidery shop or screenprinter and place this order in a retail setting which would be ten times easier than discussing colors and concepts (all visual) over the phone or my email.  Basically, it would be taking a step backward.  So, we developed drag-and-drop technology, the ability to put lettering on top of fill stitches (large backgrounds of stitches) but not on top of satin stitches (other lettering or detail), clicking on the design to change colors, etc.  All of this assures that customers can design their embroidered logo completely online and the product will be exactly what they see.  Pretty simple right?  Yes, but as usual, the details and work that goes into creating something that is simple is very difficult.

Underneath, we put a backing called simply a “cut-away” and a “tear away”.  Tear away backing is appropriated for twills and other wovens (like dress shirts, denim shirts, hats, jackets, etc) where the fabric is relatively stable and doesn’t stretch much.  ”Cut-away” should be used for all knits (polo shirts, sweaters) and fleece jackets or vests.  Cut away is more stable than tear-away and gives the garment more structure behind the logo.  Knits and fleece tend to stretch and the cut away prevents the logo from stretching as well.  This prevents the embroidery from buckling or ultimately coming out.  Basically, you NEED a cut-away for fleece and knit shirts.  This should be soft and get softer with washings but should always be behind your embroidered logo.  So, check your shirts or fleece next time.  If there isn’t a piece of fabric behind your logo (on the inside), beware.

Use of Toppings and Cut-away

Selling (or providing products to customers) online is even harder.  Creating trust is very difficult.  It’s hard to create a relationship online and really that’s the only thing that can overcome distrust.  We do a few things to instill trust like real reviews (not solicited or edited), stitch cam to prove the lights are really on and we do this every day all day, no minimum purchase so folks can try us and the ability to download your embroidery design (for use with another embroiderer) if you like…..but are not always successful.  We inevitably rely on referrals from repeat customers where trust is a given and it brings us back to our roots as a company.  This form of advertising/marketing/exposure is not fancy or new or online specific or with a new offer, its just basic reputation building thats been around for centuries.