What to ask before you stitch: the questions that prevent remakes

Collecting a complete order specification is one problem. Getting the right answers is a different one, and it is where remakes come from.

Almost every ruined piece I have seen traces back to a question that was technically answered. The customer told you a name. They told you a color. They told you where they wanted it. And the piece still came off the machine wrong, because the answer you got was not the answer you needed.

These are the questions worth asking specifically, in the order they tend to cause trouble.

Spelling: what they typed versus what they meant

Names are the number one cause of remakes, and the failure is almost never yours. Somebody types their own child's name quickly in a message, and it is wrong, or it is a nickname, or it is the spelling their family uses but not the one on the birth certificate.

The variants that get people: Mackenzie and McKenzie. Ashlyn, Ashlynn, and Ashlynne. Sofia and Sophia. Any name with an apostrophe. Grandmother names, which are frequently a family invention with a spelling nobody outside the family has seen.

What to ask, in writing:

Confirming the exact spelling and capitalization as you want it stitched: Ashlynne. Is that correct, character for character?

Three details make this work. Put the wording on its own line so it is impossible to skim past. Ask about capitalization, because "MAMA" and "Mama" are different pieces. And ask for confirmation as a yes-or-no, not as an open question. "Let me know if that looks right" gets no reply and no protection.

For anything unusual, spell it back letter by letter. It feels excessive until the first time it catches something.

Also ask about punctuation and spacing before you assume: whether there is an apostrophe in "Grandma's," whether it is one word or two, whether they want a period after an initial.

Thread color against garment color

A customer picks a thread color while looking at a screen. You stitch it on a garment sitting on your table. Those are two different colors.

The specific failures:

• Low contrast reads as nothing. White on ash grey, cream on natural, light pink on lavender. Up close it looks lovely. At arm's length, which is how anyone actually sees a shirt, the design disappears.
• Dark on dark. Navy on black, charcoal on black, forest on navy. Same problem, and it is worse in photographs, which matters if the customer is buying this to post.
• Tone-on-tone is a legitimate choice. Some people want exactly that subtle look. The point is to confirm it is a choice, not an accident. If someone asks for white thread on a cream sweatshirt, say plainly what it will look like and let them confirm.
• Screens lie. Their phone's color, your monitor's color, and the spool are three different things. If a color has to be exact, work from thread numbers, not from adjectives.

Questions that prevent this:

• "Do you have a thread color number, or should I match to the design?"
• "That thread on that garment color will be low contrast. Do you want that soft look, or should I go a few shades darker so it reads from across a room?"
• If they are unsure, lay two spools on the actual garment, photograph it, and let them pick from the photo. That takes two minutes and it ends the conversation.

Placement height across different sizes

A placement that is right on a small is wrong on a 2XL, and a customer ordering a mixed-size set almost never realizes that.

Left chest on adult sizes commonly sits somewhere around 7 to 9 inches down from the shoulder seam and offset toward the wearer's left, but the number moves with the size, and youth sizes need a different measurement entirely. Front-center placements move even more, because the distance from the collar to the center of the chest is not proportional across a size run.

What this means in practice: if you measure every shirt in a set the same, the design will sit noticeably high on the large sizes. If you scale by size, the shirts will not match when laid side by side.

Ask this directly:

These sizes range from small to 2XL. I place the design proportionally, so it looks right on each person rather than identical when the shirts are stacked. Is that what you want, or do you want them all measured identically?

Two more placement questions people forget:

• Design size in inches, not "medium" or "normal." A 3.5-inch left chest and a 4.5-inch left chest are different pieces.
• Whether the design has to clear something, meaning a pocket, a zipper, a seam, a hood opening, or a placket. Ask what the garment has before you promise a placement.

Hoop marks and the back of the work

Single-layer items are where customers get surprised, because on a blanket, a tea towel, a thin tee, or a napkin, the back of the embroidery is visible.

Two things show:

• Stabilizer. Cutaway stays in the garment permanently. On a lined sweatshirt nobody ever sees it. On a single-layer blanket, it is right there on the reverse. If the customer expects a clean back, that has to be settled before you stitch, because the answer may be a different stabilizer, a different design, or a backing patch on the reverse.
• The stitching itself. Bobbin thread, jump stitches, and underlay are all visible from behind on a single-layer piece.

Hoop marks are the other one. Velvet, fleece, some knits, and waffle weave hold a ring where the hoop clamped. It usually relaxes with steam or a wash, and sometimes it does not. Tell people before, not after, and consider a floating method with adhesive stabilizer on anything that marks badly.

The question:

This is a single-layer blanket, so the back of the stitching and the stabilizer will be visible from the reverse side. That is normal for embroidery on this kind of item. Is that all right, or would you like me to add a backing over it?

How the fabric will behave

Different fabrics fail in different ways, and each one has a question attached.

• Knits and anything that stretches. Cutaway stabilizer and a ballpoint needle, or the design distorts and the fabric ends up with holes. If it is a thin or light-colored knit, ask whether a stabilizer shadow on the front is acceptable, because a heavy cutaway can show through.
• Terry and waffle towels. Without a water-soluble topping, stitches sink into the pile and the design looks blurry. Small text on a towel is a bad idea regardless of topping. Ask how small the text really needs to be.
• Performance and moisture-wicking fabrics. They pucker easily, and needle holes in some of them are permanent. If a customer supplies athletic wear, say out loud that the fabric is less forgiving than cotton.
• Caps. There is a seam in the middle, a limited sew field, and the design has to work within the crown height. Ask for the exact cap before you promise a design size, because a structured six-panel and an unstructured dad hat do not take the same artwork.
• Leather, vinyl, and coated fabric. Every needle hole is permanent. There is no repositioning and no second attempt.

Customer-supplied garments

This is the single largest risk in a small shop, and it deserves its own conversation.

If a customer brings you a garment, you did not buy it, you cannot replace it, and if something goes wrong the piece may be sentimental as well as expensive. Settle three things before you accept it:

1. 1What happens if it is damaged. Say plainly that you are careful, that you have done this before, and that on a customer-supplied item the risk sits with them. Get an acknowledgment in writing.
2. 2Whether they have a second one. For anything irreplaceable, ask them to bring a spare or accept that there is no spare.
3. 3What the garment actually is. Check the fiber content, whether it is lined, whether the placement they want is reachable by a hoop at all, and whether it has already been washed. A garment that has never been washed can shrink around the stitching later.

Design files from customers

A JPEG is not a stitch file. Neither is a PNG, a PDF, or a screenshot from Canva.

Turning artwork into an embroidery file is digitizing, it is a separate job with a separate fee, and it is a one-time charge per design rather than per order. Say that before quoting, not after.

Two more questions:

• How small will this run? Fine detail, thin lines, and small text disappear in thread. A logo that looks clean at business-card size on a screen may not be stitchable at 2 inches. Say so before you take the money.
• Do they own it? Licensed characters, sports team marks, and university logos are not yours to stitch, no matter who asks.

Get approval in writing before the needle moves

Every question above is only worth asking if the answer is recorded somewhere you can point to.

Before stitching, send a read-back that contains the whole specification in plain language, and require a yes. Not "let me know if you have any changes." An actual yes.

Ready to stitch, confirming everything first:

Garment: Comfort Colors crewneck, ivory, size L, quantity 1.

Left chest reads "Harbor Lane Farm" (that exact spelling and capitalization), 3.5 inches wide, in the 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. Any changes after this point mean a new piece and a new charge.

A mockup image is better than words where you can produce one, because customers catch things visually that they skim past in a sentence. Either way, save the approval with the order along with the date. That record is what turns a disagreement three weeks later into a two-minute conversation.

Nothing here is about being difficult with customers. It is the opposite. Every one of these questions is you doing the work of imagining the finished piece before it exists, which is exactly what someone is paying a custom shop for.

Broidry is order-management software for machine embroidery shops. The wording, font, placement, thread color, and size come in as fields on the order, the customer approves a mockup that is stored with the date, and your designs, thread colors by number, and fonts stay in one searchable library so a reorder is a lookup instead of a guess. There is a free plan: broidry.com.