"How quickly can you turn this around?" is in the top three questions we get on every brief. The honest answer is "it depends" — and the things it depends on are usually within your control. Here's how to read an embroidery turnaround quote, and what actually moves it faster or slower.
What a typical run looks like
A standard embroidery order — say, 30 polos with a chest logo we've stitched for you before — moves through a fairly predictable timeline:
- Day 0: brief confirmed, stock arrives at the studio.
- Day 1–2: stock checked in, hooping prep, machine setup, first run.
- Day 3–5: production, quality checks per garment.
- Day 6: finishing, folding, packing, ready-to-collect notification.
That's roughly a one-week working turnaround for a routine repeat order. Most of our regular clients plan to that.
What pushes the timeline out
Three things, in order of impact:
1. New logo (digitising)
If we've never stitched your logo before, add 1–2 working days for digitising and a sample stitch on a fabric swatch for your sign-off. We won't run on your stock until you've approved a sample — that's how quality control works. If you can approve the sample the same day we send it, the digitising adds one day; if it sits in your inbox for two days, it adds three.
2. Stock not in our hands
The clock effectively starts when stock arrives at the studio. If you're ordering blanks from a separate supplier, their lead time is often longer than ours. A common scenario: client orders 50 polos from a wholesaler on Monday, polos arrive Friday, embroidery runs the following week. Total: ~12 working days even though our portion is only 5.
If you're sourcing the garments yourself, factor in the supplier's lead time before promising your team a date.
3. Existing queue
We schedule production by the day. If we have a busy week ahead — common in the run-up to corporate events, year-end, and the start of a new financial year — your slot may be a few days out. We'll always tell you what day we can start when we quote, not pretend we're starting tomorrow.
What pulls the timeline in
- Repeat orders. Logo already digitised, fabric known, no sample needed. Fastest path through the studio.
- Sending vector files at brief. Saves us redrawing low-res artwork.
- Approving samples and quotes the same day. The clock genuinely waits for sign-off.
- Booking ahead. Even an informal "we're going to need 40 hoodies in three weeks" lets us hold a production slot. The earlier we know, the more flexible we can be.
Genuine "rush" jobs
Sometimes a deadline is non-negotiable — a launch, a conference, a uniform that has to be ready before a Monday morning. We'll always tell you straight whether we can hit it. If we can, the path usually involves:
- Skipping ahead in the queue (we'll be honest if this means another client gets bumped, and we won't do it without their knowledge).
- Parallel digitising and stock arrival so neither blocks the other.
- Courier on collection to compress the last day.
Sometimes a rush job has a small premium attached, sometimes it doesn't — depends on what we have to shuffle. We'll quote the actual cost, not a flat "rush fee".
What we won't do
We won't quote a turnaround we can't hit just to win the order, and we won't skip the sample step on a new logo just to save a day. The "wait, that doesn't look right" conversation 50 garments in is more expensive than the day saved.
The quick rules
- Repeat order, stock in hand: ~5 working days.
- New logo, stock in hand: ~7–8 working days (includes digitising and sample sign-off).
- New logo, stock to be ordered: add the supplier's lead time on top.
- Genuine emergency: WhatsApp us first. Sometimes there's a path, sometimes there isn't, but we'll know within a few hours.
If you have a date in mind, the best thing you can do is tell us up front. WhatsApp Louise with the date, the garments, and the logo, and we'll tell you exactly what's possible.