Embroidery is great! When done well, it looks very professional and neat! There are some limits to embroidery though.

One limit, which many of you have heard me say, is if I can get it into my machine then I will embroider on it. This means that if I can’t make it fit into my machine then I am limited and cannot embroider on it. The embroidery machine is similar to a sewing machine in that it has a needle (15 in fact) and a bobbin. The item that is being embroidered on has to go between these two objects. It also has to fit in the area, go into a hoop and move around once in the area.

Sometimes we embroider on large items such as golf suitcases, bat bags, suitcases and other large, awkward sized items. Often times we have to find a hoop that will work for the design and then hold the item the entire time the machine is embroidering. This can be a limit though if we can not make the hoop work or there is not enough room for the item to move around.

Other limits to embroidery which I will talk more about in the future are hoops, backing and small fonts.

Labels: embroidery machine, hoops, Kristie's Kreations, Logo Embroidery

Yes, that is right, often times the embroidery will outlast the item that was embroidered. This is the reason that we do not recommend embroidering on t-shirts. We say this because the t-shirts are not made of the best material to embroider on and many of them have been dyed over and over to get to the right color. Each time they are dyed the material becomes a little bit weaker. For this simple reason, the embroidery will outlast the t-shirt.

This can also be the case for cheaper items that may be purchased at discount warehouses and then brought to us to embroider on. These items are not made for the decoration industry and therefore sometimes do not last as long. I have had customers that have purchased their items from their favorite warehouse store and brought the shirts to me to embroider on. They had to continue doing that every few months because the shirts just did not last. Sometime it is better to spend the extra money on nice shirts and shirts that are made specifically for the decoration industry so that they last longer.

Now I am not saying that Kristie's Kreations embroidered shirts are always going to be perfect! Any item is going to wear when it is washed and worn over and over again. I just think that most of my items are going to last much longer than others.

Labels: Embroidery, Kristie's Kreations, material, shirt, t-shirt

When you think of screen printed shirts you often think of a t-shirt that is worn by a sports team or a t-shirt that you received from an event you participated in and it has all the sponsors listed on the back. Often times you don’t think that shirts you but at some of the most popular stores in the mall are screen printed. If you looked in your closet you may be surprised by the number of shirts you have the are actually screen printed.

Some of the trendiest shirts available these days have the imprint all over the shirt including on the shoulders and collars. The print often times starts on the front of the shirt, goes over the shoulder and continues down the back of the t-shirt.

For a long time, this style of imprint has not been available to the promotional products industry. This has now changed which is very exciting!!!

Large format printing is now available for shirts! This means that a design 30” by 30” can be done to include print all over the collar, the sleeves and the side of the shirt including the very bottom of the t-shirt. There is a piece minimum of 144 for this style of shirt but whith this style of shirt, everyone will want one!!!

Labels: All over print, Promotional Products, Screen Print, Tshirt

Recently I attended a monthly luncheon which was very well attended. At this luncheon there were a couple of tables where a select few companies could display their information as well as the key members of the company were present for questions and conversation.

As I stood back, I observed the display tables and how efficient they were. Of course the efficiency depends on what the goal for the company was but that is not what I want to talk about this time.

I did observe something that is very common for this type of event. After checking in, the attendies make their way to the main room where they will eat an listen to the presentation. While walking to their tables, most people quickly glanced at what companies were in the ‘display table’ area. Their eyes started at top of the display reading who the company is but then quickly moved down to the table…..of course to see what was spread out on the table up for their grabbing. Most attendees quickly moved closer to the table so they could reach out their arm and just as fast, grab either one of the items or one of each item if when multiple options were present. Others would actually have small talk with the key member there but most just walked away with their ‘prize’ in hand.

Once the attendees entered the large room, their tables contained had even more ‘pass outs’ for each person sitting at the table. Some of these items were the same as what was out front but others were different. Most of the key table presenters had flyers of some sort spread around the table explaining their business a little bit more in depth. This was a great idea because as I already stated, most attendees were more interested in getting their ‘prize’ and sitting down then they were actually talking to the person standing at the table.

Once we were seated, the presentation began. Each display table had a few minutes to talk more about their company. One of the businesses explained why placed a blank envelope at each person’s seat. In this envelope was a crisp, new one dollar bill…..Interesting idea but how memorable is it? It is very memorable in the fact that someone just gave me a dollar bill, that I can now go buy a large coke with J, but how memorable in the long run?

Will I remember who gave it to me? Actually I don’t. I only remember what industry the business was in but not the business name itself.

When you are choosing what promotional product you are going to pass out, there are many things to think about! You, of course, want to be remembered but how long do you want to be remembered?

Labels: Display Table, Dollar Bill, promotional product

Yesterday, I told you about a special milestone in the history of Kristie’s Kreations. We officially turned 9 years old on February 13th!

I also told you that I would give a little history about Kristie’s Kreations so here it is………..

When Kristie's Kreations was started, I was still a special education teacher.
Although I loved working with the kids, I also knew that I wanted to do something more. I also knew that I wanted to stay home when I started a family. In order to do this, I would have to find sometime else to do because I am not one to stay home all the time! It is also very important to me that my children spend time with other kids and not just me!

One day, a lady came into the school that I was teaching at and sold shirts to all of the teachers. These shirts were embroidered with their names on it. I was amazed at how many shirts the lady sold. It was NOT because she was a great at sales but simply because the teachers ate up the fact that they could get a ‘teachery’ shirt that had their name on it! I knew that this was something that I could do!!

It was then that I decided to start my own business. I began researching different embroidery machines and what it would require for me to start my own business
On February 13th, we purchased our first embroidery machine and digitizing program.

If you look at our first machine, you would probably say it was a sewing machine, not an embroidery machine. You would be partially correct. It is a sewing machine that also does embroidery. We attended training sessions for both the machine as well as the digitizing software.

I started out slow selling one shirt here and another shirt there. We started getting busy then by selling to my own school as well as others in the township. In fact, we got so busy, we had to purchase a second sewing/embroidery machine.

Quickly requests started coming in for hats and jacket back designs. These were things that we could not do on our two little machines. Not only that, but it was very time consuming to sew out a simple left chest design on a shirt. A little over a year from starting Kristie’s Kreations we purchased a large commercial embroidery machine!

Two and a half years after starting Kristie’s Kreations, I stopped teaching and focused solely on my business and my new family.

Over the years we started receiving requests for screen printing as well as promotional products. In order for our customers to only have to go to one person for all of their branding needs, we began offering these services as well.

It has been very fun to learn all of the aspects of owning a business and meeting so many wonderful people along the way! I have made many life long friends too!

Labels: digitizing, Embroidery, History, Kristie's Kreations, Promotional Products, Screen Print

Yesterday, February 13, Kristie's Kreations turned 9 years old! That is amazing! Boy has it has been a fun ride!

I am often asked how long I have been doing the embroidery, screen printing and promotional products. Most are amazed when I tell them how long ago I started my own business.

I had hoped to tell a little bit of the history of Kristie's Kreations on the official birth date but that didn't happen. I spent last week stuck in a blizzard in Washington DC. It was a fun trip but we stayed a little bit longer than planned due to mechanical problems on our plane as well as other snow storms happening throughout the country. Once we finally made it home yesterday, I didn't even open my laptop. Therefore no birthday wishes were made!

Stay tuned I will talk more about the history tomorrow!


In the mean time, Happy Valentine’s Day from Kristie’s Kreations which officially turned 9 years old yesterday!

Labels: Anniversary, Birthday, Embroidery, Kristie's Kreations, Promotional Products, Screen Print