StartUp Decorator Helps Home Sewers and Artists Turn Avocations into Vocations

ATLANTA — Artists and embroidery hobbyists have long injected fresh creativity into the commercial screen printing, heat-applied graphics and embroidery industries. The artistic and manual skills required to produce a painting or embellish a dress readily transfer to the creation of screens and papers for imprinting and digitized files for embroidering.

Making the transition even easier today, however, are several significant new developments that make decorated apparel attractive either as a full-time or side business.

1. Computerized household sewing/embroidery machines and their accompanying design software have equipped the home sewer with basic versions of the same tools commercial embroiderers use, reducing the learning curve required to operate a commercial machine and edit or digitize embroidery designs.

2. Commercial embroidery machines are more affordable than ever, with the cost of low-end singlehead machines comparable to high-end household models.

3. The digitization of art makes it possible to create and output to a variety of peripherals and media, including screens for the mass production of imprinted apparel on manual or automatic presses — or transfers for short run apparel personalization and customization via inkjet or laser printers, special transfer papers and a heat press.

4. A new breed of digital direct-to-garment inkjet printers makes it possible to apply the same digital art created for other outputs directly to T-shirts and other items.

5. The compact size and low cost of most modern apparel decoration equipment lend to the establishment of a home-based business, the first step for many who are turning their interests and hobbies into full-time or part-time vocations.

6. Finally, the Internet offers a new, far-ranging vehicle for small businesses to distribute, market and sell their products.

Home sewers and artists who want to turn their avocations into businesses — or those already in the field of apparel decoration or related businesses and who are seeking ways to diversify — can learn more about the challenges and opportunities of operating a commercial embroidery or screen printing business at the StartUp Decorator Workshop, which will take place February 16 at the Orlando Convention Center in conjunction with the Imprinted Sportswear Show (ISS). Running from February 17 to 19, ISS Orlando is a trade only exposition and conference featuring more than 250 exhibitors and 40 seminars.

Additional workshops will be held throughout the year in conjunction with the Imprinted Sportswear Shows in Atlantic City, N.J. (March 16); Schaumburg, Ill. (August 9); Atlanta (September 13); and Fort Worth, Texas (October 11).

For StartUp Decorator Workshop registration information, and information on the Imprinted Sportswear Shows, visit www.impressionsmag.com or www.embmag.com.


The StartUp Decorator Workshop is a production of IMPRESSIONS and EMB magazines. The IMPRESSIONS group and Imprinted Sportswear Shows are part of VNU Business Media, a business unit of VNU NV, a global information and media company with headquarters in Haarlem, The Netherlands, and New York.