Appliqué
Cut-and-sewn twill letters and appliqué with a stitched edge.
Appliqué is a cut fabric letter or shape laid onto the garment and sewn down with a satin edge. It is what athletic lettering has been made of for a century: it covers large areas without the stitch count of a filled embroidery, and it carries the weight and depth that a printed graphic cannot. This is our cut-and-sew department.
At a glance
- Turnaround
- 10–14 business days from twill and thread approval.
- Minimum
- 12 pieces per design.
- Artwork
- AI, EPS, PDF or SVG — vector strongly preferred
- Approval
- Sew-out swatch before production
- Blind ship
- Available on every trade order
Fabric does the covering.
- Letters and shapes cut from polyester or twill fabric, positioned, then edge-stitched to the garment.
- Single-layer, or layered for outline and drop-shadow effects.
- The standard choice for jacket backs, jersey numbers and large athletic lettering.
- Sewn down here — this is not a heat-applied product unless you ask for one.
Cut, positioned and stitched under one roof.
Cut and sewn in-house
Cutting, positioning and edge-stitching all happen here, which keeps the registration tight on multi-layer letters where a shadow layer has to sit exactly under its top layer.
Sized for real garments
A twill layout that works on an adult XL back has to be re-proportioned for a youth small. We lay out per size rather than scaling one file to everything.
Coverage without stitch count
A 12-inch letter filled with embroidery is expensive, heavy and slow. The same letter in twill sews faster, hangs better and costs less.
Typical applications
- Varsity and letterman jackets
- Team jerseys, numbers and nameplates
- Large chest and back lettering on outerwear
- Club, greek-letter and organization apparel
- Horse stall drapery and barn identification
- Product display and event pieces
Materials and substrates
- Poly twill and polyester athletic twill
- Wool-body and leather-sleeve varsity jackets
- Jersey knits and mesh
- Canvas, duck and heavyweight outerwear
- Drapery and display fabrics
Artwork we can work from
AI, EPS, PDF or SVG — vector strongly preferred
The artwork guide covers stitch counts, placements, backings and what does not translate to thread.
- Twill needs clean, closed outlines. Thin strokes and tight interior corners do not cut or sew well.
- Give the finished height of the lettering and the garment sizes in the run.
- Name the twill and edge-stitch colors separately; they are chosen from stocked fabric and thread, not printed.
Before you send it.
What exactly is appliqué?
Letters or shapes cut from twill or polyester fabric, positioned on the garment and sewn down with a satin stitch around the edge. It is the technique behind varsity lettering and jersey numbers — the fabric does the covering, so a twelve-inch letter does not carry a twelve-inch letter’s stitch count.
Can you do layered letters with an outline color?
Yes. Two- and three-layer letters are routine — a shadow layer, a body layer and an edge stitch in a third color.
Will it hold up in the wash?
A sewn twill edge outlasts heat-applied lettering. Follow the garment’s care label and turn pieces inside out; the failure mode is usually the garment, not the stitching.
Send this job in
- Include
- Artwork, finished size, garment, quantity, in-hands date.
- Formats
- AI, EPS, PDF or SVG — vector strongly preferred
- Reply
- Next business day in most cases.
Also in this building
Next step
Send us an appliqué job.
Tell us about your team, the garments you have in mind and your target date. Need help choosing? Include that in your request.
Or email hello@custm.ink