Left-chest logo size & placement

Standard placements and sizes

Left-chest logos most commonly sit around 90 mm (3.5 in) wide. That's the figure to use if you only remember one.

Where it goes on the garment

For a left-chest placement, position the logo roughly 180 to 230 mm (7 to 9 in) down from the shoulder seam and about 100 mm (4 in) from the centre line, aligned with where a shirt pocket would sit. On a polo, line it up so it isn't hidden by the placket or collar.

Rough stitch counts

Stitch count drives both sew time and cost. As a ballpark for a left-chest logo:

• Simple text or a small mark: ~3,000 to 6,000 stitches.
• Typical logo with a few colours: ~6,000 to 12,000 stitches.
• Detailed crest or dense fill: 12,000+ stitches.

If your count is much higher than this for the size, the design is probably too dense or too detailed, simplify it rather than pushing the machine.

Size it before you digitize

Because embroidery is size-specific, always digitize at the size you'll actually stitch. The same logo digitized at 90 mm and then blown up to a back print will have gaps and thin coverage. In Embify, set the finished size first, then check the sew-out preview at that size, what you see is what the machine produces.

Finding the spot: a step-by-step method

The table gives you the numbers; here's how to actually hit them on a real garment. You'll need a tape measure, some chalk or masking tape, and the garment laid flat and buttoned.

1. Find the vertical line. Measure down from the left shoulder seam, 180 to 230 mm depending on garment size (nearer 180 for small sizes, nearer 230 for XXL). Mark it.
2. Find the horizontal line. Measure about 100 mm across from the centre of the placket (the button line) towards the wearer's left. Mark that too.
3. Cross the marks. That crossing point is the centre of your design, not its top edge. A common mistake is treating it as the top corner, which drops the whole logo 45 mm too low.
4. Sanity-check against the pocket line. If the garment has a pocket, or you imagine one, the logo should sit where the pocket would be. If your marks put it near the collar or drifting toward the armpit, re-measure.
5. Pin a paper version on and look in a mirror, or on a willing colleague. Thirty seconds of looking catches what the tape measure misses.

Adjusting for the garment and the wearer

The standard numbers assume an average men's polo. Real orders aren't that tidy:

• Smaller and women's-fit garments: shift everything up and in, roughly 25 mm less drop from the shoulder, and consider scaling the logo down to 75 to 85 mm so it doesn't dominate a narrower chest panel.
• Kids' garments: scale the logo to 60 to 75 mm and re-digitize at that size rather than shrinking the adult file, small satin lettering needs its own pass.
• Jackets and fleeces: the same placement rules apply, but heavier fabrics carry slightly larger logos well, up to 100 mm. Zips move the centre line, so measure from the zip, not from a guessed centre.
• Hi-vis vests: placement is often dictated by the tape bands; the logo goes in the clear panel above or between them. Check with the supplier before assuming the standard drop.

Wide logos, tall logos and taglines

The 90 mm figure assumes a fairly standard horizontal logo. Shape changes the rules:

• Wide, letterbox-shaped logos (a word mark, say) can run 100 to 110 mm wide, because their height stays modest.
• Square or round logos should be sized by height instead: keep them under about 90 mm tall, which usually means 75 to 85 mm wide.
• Logos with taglines are the perennial problem. At 90 mm wide, a tagline under the mark usually lands around 3 mm tall: unreadable. Either use the version without the tagline (most brands have one) or accept a larger overall logo. There's no third option that works.

Whatever the shape, digitize at the final decided size. The preview will show you exactly how the smallest elements cope, which settles most sizing debates in about ten seconds.

Beyond the left chest: the full placement map

The placement kit worth keeping in a drawer

Shops that place logos consistently all keep some version of the same kit within arm's reach of the hooping station:

• A tape measure, obviously, plus tailor's chalk or a heat-erasable pen for marks that vanish.
• A card template per garment type: cut to the drop and offset measurements, hooked over the shoulder seam, mark through the hole, done in five seconds per garment.
• Paper printouts of the current logos at final size, for pinning on when a customer wants to 'just see it first'. This settles size debates faster than any conversation.
• A notebook (or a note on the phone) with every customer's placement numbers and thread shades, because reorders arrive when you've forgotten everything.

When a logo has to sit near a zip, a pocket seam or a chunky placket, hoop so the obstruction sits outside the frame and check the foot clears it on a slow trace. If it can't clear, move the design rather than fight the seam; a logo 10 mm further from a zip looks deliberate, a needle strike through one does not.

Worked example: a 40-garment order, planned in ten minutes

Say a landscaping firm orders 30 polos, 8 fleeces and 2 hi-vis vests. Here's the whole placement plan, the way an experienced shop would jot it down:

• Polos: logo at 90 mm wide, centred 200 mm below the left shoulder seam, 100 mm off the placket. One file, digitized on the polo (knit) preset.
• Small and women's-fit polos in the order: same file, positioned 175 mm below the seam instead. No re-digitizing needed, placement only.
• Fleeces: logo at 100 mm, digitized separately on the fleece preset (the pile needs different underlay), same drop measurements.
• Hi-vis vests: logo at 80 mm in the clear chest panel above the reflective band, lighter density, checked with the supplier that stitching there doesn't affect certification.
• Test garment: one polo sewn and approved before the run; the washed sample kept in a drawer for the reorder.

Total planning cost: two extra digitized files and one sacrificial polo. What it buys: forty garments that match, a reorder that matches them again next year, and a customer who assumes you've done this forever. The maths of looking professional is rarely this cheap.

Keeping a whole uniform order consistent

One logo on one polo is easy. Forty polos, some fleeces and a run of caps is where placement drifts, and drift is what makes a uniform order look amateur when the team stands together.

• Write the numbers down once: drop from shoulder, offset from placket, logo width, per garment type. A sticky note by the machine beats memory.
• Make a placement template. A piece of card cut to the drop-and-offset measurements, hooked over the shoulder seam, marks every garment identically in seconds.
• Digitize per garment type, once. One file for the polos, one for the fleeces, one for the caps, each at its own size with its own fabric settings, reused for the whole order and every reorder after it.
• Stitch the odd garment first. If the order has one XXL or one women's-fit small, place and stitch it early, while adjustments are still cheap.