Detailed description
A patch quote that looks cheap is usually a quote for a different attachment. Heat transfer, sew-on and adhesive backing are three different products built from the same artwork, and only one of them suits the garment in front of you.
Where it is used
Typical work is team and club kit, workwear and uniform programmes, promotional apparel, and retail branding on bags and caps. The garment decides the attachment: stretch fabrics take heat transfer, heavy woven takes a sewn edge, and anything that cannot be ironed takes an adhesive backing.
The material question
The construction is embroidered, so the edge and the stitch density are the specification. A Merrowed edge holds a shape on a curved surface; a laser-cut edge sits flatter on fine fabric. Stitch count per centimetre decides both the look and the price.
How it is quoted
Artwork has to be vector, with the colours named rather than eyeballed, and the physical size stated. A raster file scaled up loses the edge, and a colour picked from a screen will not match the thread or the film on the day.
What ships with the goods
Packing is polybag plus export carton, with designs bagged separately inside the carton. That is what keeps a six-design order from arriving as one mixed bag.
Checking it on arrival
Wash three pieces before you approve the bulk. One wash tells you whether the bond is right; three washes at the temperature the garment is actually laundered at tells you whether the edge will lift in service.
Ask for a production sample rather than a hand sample; it is the only way to see what the tooling will actually produce before the run.
