Embroidery cost in Luxembourg (2026)

One-off digitising fees:

• Simple 1–2 colour logo under 8.000 stitches — €35–€55
• Standard 3–4 colour logo, 8.000–18.000 stitches — €55–€85
• Complex logo with small text, 4+ colours, 18.000+ stitches — €85–€160
• Vector source file provided (.ai / .eps) — −€15–€25 off digitising
• Rush digitising (under 24 h) — +€25–€55

Volume-break structure:

• 1–9 pieces: baseline + 15–25 % surcharge (set-up disproportionate)
• 10–24 pieces: baseline + 5–10 %
• 25–49 pieces: baseline (reference rate in the table above)
• 50–99 pieces: baseline − 8–12 %
• 100–249 pieces: baseline − 15–22 %
• 250+ pieces: baseline − 22–30 % plus possible bespoke agreement

Garment cost (if supplied by the studio):

• Polo shirt (cotton-polyester blend) — €9–€22 each
• Heavier polo (piqué, premium) — €18–€38
• Fleece jacket (soft-shell or micro-fleece) — €28–€65
• Chef jacket — €35–€75
• Softshell workwear jacket — €55–€120
• Bathrobe (cotton 400 g/m²) — €32–€65
• Towel (500 g/m² bath size) — €14–€28

What a standard quote covers:

• Digitising of your logo (one-off; keeps on file for reorders)
• Thread colours matched to brand (Madeira Polyneon or Isacord standard)
• Stitch-out sample approval before the main run
• Embroidery on supplied or purchased garments
• Quality check: tension, alignment, thread trimming, steam pressing
• Individual folded delivery

Typical extras:

• Individual name personalisation (per piece, different name each) — +€2,50–€5
• Appliqué (fabric patch sewn + embroidered): +€4–€10 per piece
• Metallic thread or special thread (glow, reflective): +€1,50–€4 per piece
• Re-digitising after logo update: €35–€85
• Individual poly-bagging + labelling: +€0,80–€1,80 per piece
• Rush production (delivery in 5 days vs 12): +20–35 % premium

Turnaround:

• Digitising + sample approval: 2–4 business days
• Production: 6–12 business days for 25–100 pieces
• Rush production: 3–5 business days (surcharge)
• International delivery order (placed in LU, shipped abroad): add 2–4 days

Reorders:

• Second production from existing digitised file: typically 20–40 % faster
• No new digitising fee if logo unchanged
• Best to reorder within 24 months; after that, check colour-matching

The economics of embroidery are governed almost entirely by stitch count and thread pass-time. A modern multi-head machine runs at 800–1.000 stitches per minute per head. A 10.000-stitch logo on a 6-head machine therefore takes 10–12 minutes to produce six identical pieces — a machine throughput of 30–40 per hour of comparable work. Studio labour and consumables add a fixed overhead.

How stitch count drives per-piece price:

• Every additional 5.000 stitches adds roughly 60–75 seconds per piece (on a 15-head machine; slower on 6-head)
• A simple 5.000-stitch logo (€5 base) and a complex 25.000-stitch logo on the same placement differ by €10–€15 per piece in machine time alone
• Logos with large flat fill areas (big filled shapes) rack up stitches fast — often 30–40 % higher than similar-looking outline-only logos
• Small text (under 5 mm height) requires dense stitching for legibility; text-heavy logos stitch-count is higher than pictorial logos of the same area

Thread type and quality:

• Polyester (Madeira Polyneon, Isacord) — the industry standard for corporate and workwear; resists industrial laundering and bleach, lasts 200+ wash cycles
• Rayon (Madeira Classic) — higher sheen, softer hand; less durable in industrial laundry
• Cotton — for artisan monograms on natural-fibre garments; shorter life but authentic feel
• Metallic — accent colour; slower to stitch and more prone to breakage
• Glow-in-the-dark / reflective — safety-kit applications, rare for corporate

Choosing placement for cost:

• Left chest on a polo = cheapest and most scalable placement
• Sleeve logo at 6 cm is often half the price of a matching chest logo
• Jacket back is the premium position but also the costliest — use sparingly
• Hats and caps cost more than the fabric would suggest because of the curved hooping

Logos that embroider well:

• Bold shapes with at least 1,5 mm line weight
• Fewer than 6 colours (each thread colour = a separate stitch pass)
• Text at 6 mm or larger for full legibility
• Clear contrast between logo and garment background colour

Logos that embroider poorly:

• Gradients (embroidery cannot reproduce gradients smoothly; they get "stepped")
• Fine serif fonts under 5 mm
• Logos with more than 8 colours (re-threading is slow and expensive)
• Logos built from photo-like raster images (need redesign to vector first)

HACCP and ITM workwear angle:

• Chef jackets for HACCP-compliant kitchens embroider with white or light-coloured thread to avoid dark lint
• Workwear under ITM rules (hi-viz or safety-certified garments) must keep the certified colour area intact — logos placed in non-hi-viz zones only
• Embroidered safety-lettering (e.g. "SÉCURITÉ" on shoulder) is allowed provided it does not obstruct reflective strips

VAT and invoicing:

• Standard TVA 17 % on commercial embroidery services
• The super-reduced 3 % rate does NOT apply to embroidery services (not a primary-residence renovation)
• Invoices should show TVA separately, list per-piece and digitising components, and cite the atelier's Autorisation d'établissement

Order density:

• Minimum economical order from a declared atelier: 6–12 pieces typically
• Below 6 pieces, expect artisanal-gift studios at a higher per-piece rate
• Above 250 pieces, consider approaching the atelier for a bespoke agreement (better thread pricing, dedicated production slot)

A clear brief shortens the quote cycle from 3–5 days to 24–48 hours and prevents re-work that inflates the invoice.

Core brief elements:

• Artwork files — preferably vector (.ai, .eps, .svg, .pdf with embedded vectors); raster (.png at 300 dpi minimum) if vector not available
• Garment type and brand — Fruit of the Loom Polo, Kariban Fleece, Premier Workwear, etc.
• Garment supply — you supply (send to atelier) or atelier supplies (from catalogue)
• Quantity per size and per colour breakdown (60 × L navy, 40 × XL navy, 25 × XL grey)
• Logo placement with position and maximum size in cm (e.g., left chest, 9 × 6 cm maximum)
• Colour requirements — Pantone codes if brand-critical, RGB acceptable otherwise
• Delivery requirements — individual poly-bagged, hung on hangers, bulk in boxes, specific folding
• Deadline — event date vs latest acceptable delivery date
• Tax invoicing — company TVA number for B2B, separate listed TVA

Approval workflow:

• Day 0: brief and artwork sent
• Day 1–2: quote received with per-piece and digitising breakdown, delivery estimate
• Day 3: quote approved, deposit paid (typically 30–50 % for B2B, 100 % for small retail orders)
• Day 4–6: digitising, stitch-out sample on equivalent fabric
• Day 6–7: sample photo approval; revisions if needed
• Day 8–15: production
• Day 15–18: quality check and packaging
• Day 16–20: delivery

Sample approval — what to check:

• Thread colours match brand requirements
• Text is fully legible at intended distance
• Logo proportions are correct (not stretched or squeezed)
• No loose threads or pulled stitches
• Fabric behind the logo has not puckered
• Backing (used to stabilise stretchy fabrics) is barely visible from the outside

Rush-production trade-offs:

• A 3-day rush typically trades at 20–35 % premium
• Rush eliminates the physical-sample mail-step — approval happens on high-resolution photo only
• Rush limits garment choice to what the atelier has in stock; no additional sourcing time
• Rush production is safer for logos already digitised (reorder scenario) than for first-time setups

Common pitfalls:

• Submitting a low-resolution logo and expecting the atelier to "clean it up" — they can, but it becomes a digitising project that doubles the set-up fee
• Ordering 12 pieces while asking for "100-piece unit pricing" — the atelier's machine set-up time is the same; the unit price reflects it
• Specifying thread colour by on-screen preview — always specify Pantone or an approved thread swatch
• Ignoring the garment stretch factor — logos on jersey polo stretch visibly over time unless the digitising compensated

Payment:

• 30–50 % deposit at order confirmation for orders above €500
• Balance due within 14–30 days for corporate, on delivery for retail
• A declared atelier will issue a proper TVA invoice with Autorisation d'établissement reference
• Card payment often available for small orders, bank transfer for larger orders

Corporate-apparel reorders:

• Keep a simple spreadsheet: logo file reference, thread colour codes, placement dimensions, garment brand/model
• Reorder from the same atelier to preserve colour-matching consistency
• Inform the atelier when a brand refresh is coming so a re-digitising slot can be scheduled
• Request a one-year pricing hold on repeat runs for stable corporate programmes