Placement Guidelines

by Bonnieta Tatro

 Are you having trouble trying to figure out where to put embroidery designs on garments and other items?  If so read on!!

 The placement of a design on a item varies, depending on the size, style and even customer preference (remember the customer is always right) and while you can suggest the correct place a design would normally be placed, in the end it’s the customer who is paying, so what they say goes.  Also, when determining suitable design placement, one needs to  consider amongst other things, the type of design and degree of difficulty in working with the item or fabric, as not all designs stitch out equally depending on the type of fabric.

Listed Below are some guidelines for placement of designs on garments and other items.  If in doubt, print out a template, cut it out, mark the garment, place the template  where it seems appropriate and have the person put  the item on to check if the design is in the right location or location they prefer it to be and adjust accordingly if necessary. 
     
The guidelines listed below are the most common guidelines used, but nothing is written in stone, so in some cases the design may need to be placed differently then indicated.

Item Placement

Polo/Golf Shirt    Dependent on the size of the item, but generally: 7-1/2 to 9” down from left shoulder seam and  4 to 6” over from the center.  7-1/2 down and 4” over usually applies to: Small, Medium and Large.  9 down & 6”over is usually X-Large to XX-Large  (this mark is the center of the design).

T-Shirts    Dependent on the size of the item, but generally: 7-1/2 to 9” down from left shoulder seam and 4 to 6” over from center.  7-1/2 down & 4” over usually applies to: Small, Medium and Large.  9 down & 6”over is usually X-Large to XX-Large  (this mark is the center of the design).

Full Front    Dependent on the size of item: The  center of  the design should be high enough on the item to ensure that no part of the design falls below the bottom of the arm pit (in most cases).  If  the design is long, then the top of design should start 3” below the neck band such as the front of  a sweatshirt.

Full Back    Top of the design should be 5” down from center back neck line.  Large designs usually fall below the arm pits (this is acceptable).  If your item has a hood, make sure the design falls below the hood or it won’t be seen.

Shirt Pocket    Top of the design should be ¼ to ½” down from the pocket top and centered between the seams.

Above Pocket    Bottom of  the design should be about 1/2” above the top of the pocket and centered between the pocket seams.

Shirt Cuffs    1-3/8” towards the button hole from the center and ¼” above the top stitching on the cuff.

Turtle Necks    Left neck, centered between the center front & the left shoulder seam.  Bottom of the design should be ½ to ¾” up from the edge.

Jackets    Left breast area 6 to 8”down from the shoulder seam &  3-1/2 to 4” over from the center edge (this mark is the center of the design).

Snap Jackets    Left breast area 6 to 8” down from shoulder seam and 3-1/2 to 4” over from  the 2nd snap location (this mark is the center of the design).

Sheets    The bottom of the monogram should be centered about 2” above the widest hem line (or the top side of the sheet)

Pillow Cases    The monogram should be centered between the edge of the open end and the stitching on the hem or the border pattern.

Wash Cloth    1-½” above hem or 1” above border.

Hand Towel    2” above hem or 1-½” above border.

Bath Towel    4” above hem or 2” above border.