How to Calculate the Real Cost of Embroidery Supplies

December 20, 2010
By Steven Batts, Contributing Writer

When I talk with people about the cost of doing embroidery, supply costs are always part of the discussion. And while they should be, I’ve noticed that people tend to overestimate how much these costs factor into the overall picture. As a result, many embroiderers, in an attempt to save money, use cheaper supplies.

I am a cheapskate by nature. (If you don’t believe me, ask my wife.) Even so, I’ve found that I can buy the best, most expensive supplies and it affects my bottom line very little. I prefer those kinds of deals.

Let’s explore the numbers of a few of the most basic embroidery supplies and examine the real cost of doing embroidery.

Thread
The most fundamental part of embroidery is probably the least expensive. A 5,500-yard cone of thread can cost $7-$9 a cone. Yet, that cone will yield between 800,000 and 1 million stitches of embroidery. According to my calculations, that is around $0.01 per thousand stitches.

Even if you use the smaller, 1,100-yard cones, the cost doesn’t really register. I sometimes go to a local fabric store and pick up a cone of thread in an emergency. The 1,100-yard cones are about $5-$6 each. Using the same point of reference, I should be able to get about 200,000 stitches from a cone that size. By going to a retail store to buy my thread, it costs me a whopping $0.03 per thousand stitches. At that rate, I don’t know if I could stay in business.

I do find, however, that using metallic or other specialty threads affects my cost of doing business. These thread types can cost significantly more that regular thread, but the cost still isn’t staggering.

I use a cone of the metallic thread that costs about $20 for a 3,000-meter cone. In this case, thread costs more than twice as much as a normal one, but I am getting only two-thirds of the amount of thread. In this case, my cost per thousand stitches is around $0.06. While this still isn’t a huge cost, it starts to become measurable. If I have a large jacket back design — where metallic thread tends to be used more — requiring 20,000 metallic stitches, it will add $1.20 to my design.

The cost can be even more significant for other types of specialty thread. Glow-in-the-dark thread can cost more than $0.10 per thousand stitches. As a result, I charge a little extra when using specialty threads, particularly on large designs.

Bobbins
The most expensive bobbin I found in my research cost less than $60 per gross. So let’s do the math on this worst-case scenario.

Each bobbin costs less than $0.42 each. Considering the fact that you can generally get about 40,000 stitches off one bobbin, the cost per thousand stitches is about a penny per thousand stitches. This is with the most expensive bobbins I could find.

Stabilizers
Stabilizer is the most expensive embroidery supply. Still, once you consider the cost in a big-picture context, it’s less of a factor. If you use pre-cut squares for your stabilizer, cost is simple to calculate: Simply divide the cost into the number of pieces.

For example, if I buy a 250-sheet pack of 8”x 8” pre-cut cutaway squares for doing left-chest embroidery, I may pay between $20 and $50, depending on the type and brand. Using the highest price, I’d pay $0.20 per sheet for that 250-piece pack.

Even the most expensive stabilizer I buy, which is a 14” x 20” cutaway, costs about $75 for 250 pieces. That means it costs an outrageous $0.30 per sheet. It’s a wonder I am still in business.

Many people buy rolls of stabilizer and then cut it themselves. This may be less expensive than buying pre-cut squares, but it sometimes leads to more waste.

Final Analysis
Adding the costs of thread, bobbins and stabilizer reveals that the cost per piece of a left-chest logo could be about $0.48 for a 7,000-stitch design — when using the most expensive thread and stabilizer. I calculated the cost of my typical supplies for the same design and it totaled about $0.22 per piece.

The lesson here is that you shouldn’t skimp on supplies. Sure, you want to find the best deals on thread and stabilizer, but it is not worth it to buy cheap supplies that can cost you more in the long run. Being the tightwad that I am, I have used cheap thread in the past. Not only did it break more often, but it also caused tensioning issues. The $2-$3 I saved on the cone (which only is less than a penny per thousand stitches) cost me so much more in the long run.

That thread is like a used pair of ski boot I once bought. I ended up having to replace them after two runs down the mountain. Cheap supplies may cost you more in the long run if you don’t buy with quality in mind. The great thing is, quality doesn’t cost that much to begin with!

Steven Batts, a consultant with 17 years experience in the embroidery industry, owns Righteous Threads, Greensboro, N.C., which offers digitizing, embroidery and machine maintenance services. Steven regularly leads seminars at ISS shows and is an industry speaker and consultant. For more information or to comment on Steven’s article, e-mail righteousthreads@gmail.com.



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