SVC / APPLQ
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
APPLQ- 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
What it is
- 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.
What we do differently
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
- 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.
The artwork guide covers stitch counts, placements, backings and what does not translate to thread.
Questions we get
- 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.
Next step
Send us a 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 DigitalxBoutique@gmail.com