Stitch counts and digitizing for heavy Carhartt fleece
Carhartt fleece is thicker and loftier than a budget sweatshirt. That is good for embroidery, because it supports large designs, and hard on embroidery, because a design built for a polo will sink into the pile. Battle Born Clothing digitizes for the garment.
What a stitch count is
Every embroidery design is a file of needle moves. The stitch count is how many times the needle goes through the fabric. It drives machine time, which is why embroidery is priced by stitches. Our base rate covers one location up to 6,000 stitches. Above that, each additional 1,000 stitches, rounded up, adds a fixed amount by tier.
| Placement | Typical width | Typical stitches |
|---|---|---|
| Left chest | 3-4 in | 4,000-8,000 |
| Sleeve | 2-3 in wide | 2,000-5,000 |
| Hood side | 2-3 in | 2,000-4,000 |
| Center chest (crewneck) | 8-10 in | 10,000-20,000 |
| Full back | 10-12 in | 15,000-30,000+ |
These are ranges, not quotes. A logo that is mostly outline and lettering sits low in its range; a solid filled shield sits high.
Why heavy fleece needs its own digitizing
Digitizing is the step where a person turns your artwork into stitches. On thick fleece, four things change compared with a thin shirt.
- Underlay. A layer of stitching under the visible stitches. On fleece it flattens the pile first so the top stitches have a firm base. Too little underlay and the logo looks thin and fuzzy.
- Density. How tightly fill stitches pack. Too dense on heavy fleece and the area turns stiff like a patch. Too light and fleece pokes through.
- Pull compensation. Thread pulls fabric in as it stitches. Lofty fleece moves more, so columns are widened slightly to land at the right size.
- Small text. Fine lettering disappears into pile. We hold text to a size that reads, roughly a quarter inch tall and up, and flag anything smaller on the proof.
We often add a water-soluble topping on top of fleece during stitching so satin stitches sit on the surface instead of sinking. The backing on the inside is chosen for the garment.
Hooping thick fleece
A heavy Carhartt hoodie is hard to hoop evenly in a standard screw hoop. Battle Born Clothing uses Maggie magnetic frames, which clamp thick fabric flat and square. That matters most on full backs, where any shift shows.
What it costs
Digitizing is $18.99 one time per design, standard 2-day. That covers building the file for your garment. Reorders of the same design do not pay it again.
| Design size | 1-11 | 12-23 | 24-47 | 48-59 | 60-79 | 80+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6,000 stitches | $12.00 | $6.00 | $6.00 | $5.50 | $4.50 | $4.00 |
| 8,000 stitches | $16.00 | $9.00 | $8.00 | $7.50 | $5.70 | $5.00 |
| 12,000 stitches | $24.00 | $15.00 | $12.00 | $11.50 | $8.10 | $7.00 |
| 18,000 stitches | $36.00 | $24.00 | $18.00 | $17.50 | $11.70 | $10.00 |
| 24,000 stitches | $48.00 | $33.00 | $24.00 | $23.50 | $15.30 | $13.00 |
| 30,000 stitches | $60.00 | $42.00 | $30.00 | $29.50 | $18.90 | $16.00 |
How to bring a count down
- Swap solid fills for outlines or open fills where the design allows.
- Drop a tagline from the back logo and keep it on the website or sleeve.
- Shrink a full back from 12 to 10 inches; stitch count falls with area.
- Ask us. We will suggest a lighter version and show both counts on the proof.
The machines doing the stitching are a Happy HCD2-1501 and a YunFu 15-needle, both single-head commercial machines, running Rapos thread.
Every tier is on our pricing page. When you are ready, send your logo for a quote.
Questions
When do I find out the stitch count?
With the digital proof, before you approve anything.
Can you use my existing embroidery file?
Send it. If it was digitized for a thin garment we will tell you whether it needs rework for heavy fleece.
Why not just enlarge my left-chest file for the back?
Scaling a file up stretches stitches past what holds well. A back design is digitized as its own file.