The embroidery order form template: every field, and how to use it

Below is a complete custom embroidery order form. It is the whole thing, it is free, and there is no email box between you and it. Copy it, cut the parts that do not match how you work, and put it wherever your customers reach you.

A form earns its keep by what it removes. Every field on it is a question you would otherwise send three days after taking someone's money, and each of those messages spends a small amount of the confidence that made them order. Why that happens, and what a conversation costs compared to a form, is covered in taking custom orders without the Facebook Messenger mess. This page is the artifact itself.

One thing before the form. An order form collects the specification. It does not confirm the order. The confirmation is a separate step, it happens after the form is complete, and it is the part that actually protects you. That is the last section on this page.

The order form template

Everything below is meant to be copied. The bold line at the top of each block is the section name. The lines in italics are helper text for the customer, and they matter more than they look: most blank answers are not stubbornness, they are somebody who did not know what you were asking for.

Your details

Name:

Phone or email, whichever you check:

Where you first contacted me:

If this is a gift, say so here and I will keep photos off social media until after you have given it.

What you would like made

Item:

For example a crewneck sweatshirt, a tee, a hat, a tote, a blanket, a towel, or a robe.

Brand or quality level, if you have a preference:

Gildan is the standard weight and the most affordable. Comfort Colors is heavier, garment-dyed, and costs more. If you do not have a preference, say so and I will recommend one.

Color of the item:

Sleeve length, if it is a shirt:

Am I ordering the item, or are you supplying your own?

Sizes and quantity

Size and how many of each:

List every one, for example "2 medium, 1 large, 1 2XL." Adult and youth sizes are measured differently, so say which you mean.

Total number of pieces:

Where the embroidery goes

Answer every line below, including the ones you do not want anything on. "Nothing here" is a real answer and I need it in writing, because a blank line tells me you skipped the question rather than that you said no.

Front or left chest:

Right sleeve:

Left sleeve:

Back:

Hood, pocket, cuff, collar, or anywhere else:

Approximate design size in inches, if you have a preference:

Anything the design has to clear, such as a pocket, zipper, seam, or placket:

Wording and lettering

Fill this block in once for every placement that has text on it. If two placements have different wording, I need two of these.

This block is for which placement:

Exact wording, typed the way you want it stitched:

Is the spelling and the capitalization above exactly right, character for character?

"MAMA" and "Mama" are different pieces, and I stitch what is written here.

Font, or handwriting:

Either pick a font from the samples I send, or send a clear photo of the handwriting on plain white paper in dark ink. Handwriting has to be converted into a stitch file first, which is a one-time charge.

Thread color for this placement:

A color name is fine. If it has to match something exactly, send a thread number or a photo of the item next to it.

Artwork, if you are sending a logo or a design

Are you sending artwork?

File attached:

Send the largest, clearest version you have. A screenshot is usually not enough. Artwork has to be digitized into a stitch file before a machine can read it, which is a separate one-time charge per design and is not paid again on reorders.

Do you own this artwork, or have written permission to use it?

I cannot stitch licensed characters, professional or college team marks, or another business's logo without permission.

Smallest size it needs to stitch at:

Thin lines and small text disappear in thread. If it has to be small, I will tell you before you pay whether it will hold up.

When you need it, and how you are getting it

Needed-by date:

Is that date firm, and what is it for?

A birthday, a wedding, or a first day of school is a hard date. "Sometime this month" is not, and knowing the difference lets me schedule honestly instead of promising everyone the same week.

Pickup or shipping:

Full shipping address, including apartment or unit number:

Name on the mailbox, if it is different from yours:

Only if you are supplying your own item

What the item is, and the fiber content from the tag if it has one:

Has it been washed?

A garment that has never been washed can shrink around the stitching later.

Is this item replaceable if something goes wrong?

Do you have a second one?

I understand that embroidery on an item I supply is at my own risk:

Price and payment

Quoted total:

Digitizing charge, if any:

Rush charge, if any:

Shipping, if any:

Amount paid, and the date:

How you are paying:

Terms

This is the ground custom shops commonly cover, in roughly the wording it usually takes. It is not a recommendation and the numbers are not standard — every shop sets its own.

Payment. Custom orders from individuals are paid in full before stitching begins, because once a name is on a garment it cannot be sold to anyone else. Businesses, schools, and organizations pay a 50 percent deposit to start production, with the balance due before pickup or delivery.

Turnaround. Standard turnaround is 2 weeks, counted from the day payment clears and this form is complete, not from the day we first talked. Rush work is available for an added charge when the schedule allows it.

Approval before stitching. Once this form is complete I send back a written summary, and a mockup where I can make one. Nothing goes on the machine until you reply yes. Changes after that point mean a new piece and a new charge.

Wording. The wording is stitched exactly as it appears on this form and in the summary you approve. A spelling you approved and later want changed is a remake at full price.

Digitizing. Converting artwork or handwriting into a stitch file is a one-time charge per design. It is not refundable once the work is done, and reorders of the same design do not pay it again.

Items you supply. I am careful, I have done this before, and I will tell you plainly if I think an item is risky. The risk of damage on an item you supply is still yours. Bring a spare for anything irreplaceable.

Cancellations. An order can be cancelled for a refund any time before stitching begins, less any digitizing already done. Once stitching begins there is no refund, because the piece cannot be resold.

How to actually use it

The form is the same in every case. Where you put it changes what it costs you and what it protects you from.

As a printed sheet. The cheapest version, and the best one for craft fairs, porch pickups, and anybody who wants to hand you a garment in person. It needs no internet, and people fill it in while standing in front of you, which is the one moment they are giving the order their full attention. The weakness is that it ends as paper: handwriting has to be read, and you will type the answers somewhere else anyway. Print it with real space under each line, keep the filled sheets in a folder by month, and photograph each one when you take it.

As a free online form. A general-purpose form builder gets you the thing that matters most, which is required fields. An incomplete order cannot be submitted at all, and that alone ends most of the chasing. It is free, it takes an afternoon, and you can pin the link in your Facebook page, your listings, and your automatic replies. Two weaknesses. Submissions land in a spreadsheet or your inbox, so there is always a copy step between the answer and wherever you track orders. And a long form loses people, so put the contact details first, use conditional logic to hide the customer-supplied section unless it applies, and keep the terms at the end where they read as terms rather than as a wall at the door.

Inside Etsy's personalization field. If the sale happens on Etsy, the personalization box is where the buyer is already paying attention, and that is worth a lot. The limitation is that it is one free-text box with a character limit, so it cannot carry this whole form. Use it correctly: anything that can be a real variation should be a variation, meaning garment color, size, and thread color become dropdowns the buyer picks from, and the personalization box is reserved for wording and spelling only. Write the instruction inside the box itself, something like "type the exact wording and spelling you want stitched." The parts this cannot collect, such as a firm date or artwork ownership, still have to be asked in a message.

As an order page of your own. The fields are required per product, so wording, font, placement, thread color, and size are answered before the order exists at all, and the answers land on the order record rather than in a submission you have to move. This is the version that also solves finding the details again in three weeks. It is the most setup of the four, and it is the one that stops being work as you take more orders rather than more.

Most shops end up running two of these at once, usually the printed sheet for in-person work and one online version for everything else. That is fine. What is not fine is having a form and then letting people order around it in messages, because the answers that arrive in a conversation are the ones that go missing.

The fields worth being strict about

Every field above earns its place. These are the ones that shops leave optional, and the specific mistake each one prevents.

Quantity per size, not just a list of sizes. "Small, medium, large" leaves you guessing whether that is three shirts or nine. Ask for the count on the same line as the size, and you will order blanks correctly the first time.

Every placement named, including the empty ones. This is the field most order forms get wrong. If the sleeve line is optional and it comes back blank, you cannot tell whether the customer wants nothing on the sleeve or never read the question. Make the placement fields required and give an explicit "nothing here" option to choose. A recorded no is worth as much as a yes.

Exact wording on its own line, with a separate confirmation. Misspelled names are the single most common remake, and the misspelling usually arrives from the customer. Putting the wording on its own line makes it impossible to skim past, and asking for a yes-or-no confirmation gives you something to point at. "Let me know if that looks right" gets no reply and protects nothing.

Font or handwriting, per text element. This is where surprise costs live. A customer who wants their grandmother's handwriting is asking for a digitizing job, a fee, and a few extra days. Finding that out on the form means you quote it once. Finding it out later means going back to somebody who already paid.

Thread color, per placement. A thread color chosen on a phone screen and a spool on your table are two different colors, and low contrast is the version customers regret. Asking per placement also catches the orders where the sleeve is supposed to be a different color from the chest, which is easy to miss when there is one thread field for the whole garment.

Needed-by date, and whether it is firm. A date with a reason attached tells you whether you can schedule around it. A date without one gets treated as urgent by everybody, including you.

Pickup or shipping, with the full address. Two things break here. A finished piece sits on your table for a month because nobody said who was getting it how, and a quote gets given without shipping in it and you eat the difference.

The customer-supplied acknowledgment. This is the one that prevents the worst conversation in the business. If a customer brings you a garment, you did not buy it, you cannot replace it, and it is often sentimental. A line on the form that they read and answered is not a legal shield, but it is the difference between a hard conversation and an impossible one.

Price and payment terms on the same document as the specification. When the price and the spec live in different places, "I thought that was included" is a fair thing for a customer to say. On one form, it is answered before it is asked.

The design rule underneath all of them: required fields with an explicit "none" option beat optional fields every time. An optional field left blank is ambiguous, and ambiguity is what you are building the form to get rid of.

Adapting it per product

The core form covers a garment. Products that are not garments each need a question or two the sweatshirt version does not have.

Hats. Add a placement question that a shirt does not need: front center, side, or back, and which side. Add whether the cap is structured or unstructured, because they do not take the same artwork. Add the maximum design height, since the crown limits it and a design that fits a chest will not fit a cap front.

Blankets, towels, and other single-layer items. Add corner, center, or edge as the placement question, and add a line acknowledging that on a single-layer item the back of the stitching and the stabilizer are visible from the reverse. That has to be settled before you stitch, and the honest answer may be a different stabilizer or a backing patch. On towels, ask how small the text really needs to be, because stitches sink into the pile.

Bags and totes. Ask which side, and how far down from the top seam. Ask whether the bag is lined and whether it has a gusset or a pocket in the way, since both decide whether it can be hooped at all.

Polos and button-downs. Ask about placket and pocket clearance by name. A left-chest placement that works on a tee lands on a pocket seam on a polo.

Team, school, and business orders. Replace the single wording block with one line per person: name, size, wording, and number if there is one. Collect it as a list from one contact rather than from twelve people, and confirm the whole list back in one message. This is also the case where the deposit terms apply instead of full payment up front.

Anything a customer supplies. Keep that section conditional so it only appears when it applies, and make the acknowledgment its own required answer rather than a line buried in the terms.

Read the finished form back before you stitch

A completed form is not the last step. It is the input to the last step.

When every field has an answer, write the whole order back to the customer in plain language, and require a yes. Not "let me know if you have changes." An actual yes, in writing, saved with the order and dated.

Ready to stitch, confirming everything first. Comfort Colors crewneck, ivory, size L, quantity 1. Left chest reads "Harbor Lane Farm," that exact spelling and capitalization, 3.5 inches wide, script font, stitched in navy. Nothing on the sleeves and nothing on the back. Ready for pickup August 8. Reply yes and I will start. Changes after this point mean a new piece and a new charge.

That message proves you understood the order, gives the customer the last chance to catch their own typo, and becomes the record you point back to if anyone remembers it differently three weeks later. A mockup image is better than words wherever you can produce one, because customers catch visually what they skim past in a sentence.

Related reading

For the specific questions worth asking when an answer on the form is technically complete but not what you needed, meaning spelling variants, thread against garment color, placement across a size run, and customer-supplied garments, read what to ask before you stitch. For why an order that arrives as a conversation is not an order yet, read taking custom orders without the Facebook Messenger mess. For the price that goes in the payment section, the free embroidery pricing calculator shows the math per piece, with every number editable.

Broidry is order-management software for machine embroidery shops. Customers order from a page of your own where wording, font, placement, thread color, and size are required fields, so the form above arrives complete instead of as a conversation, and orders from Etsy, Facebook, text, and email land in one list. Your designs, thread colors by number, and fonts stay in one searchable library, so a reorder is a lookup rather than a guess. There is a free plan: broidry.com.