The hotel slipper embroidery guide

Thread has texture, catches light, and reads as permanent. It's the finish guests expect from a hotel logo on a robe or a pillow, and a slipper is no different. It also survives the trip home in the guest's suitcase, which is the whole point of putting your logo on something they keep.

Read: Embroidered vs. printed logos →

The logo sits centered on the top of the upper, where it's visible with the slipper on the floor or on a foot. Maximum area: 2.0 in (5 cm) on Medium, 2.2 in (5.5 cm) on Large. Most hotel marks — a wordmark, a monogram, a crest — sit comfortably inside that. Long horizontal wordmarks work at the full width; tall stacked lockups may need the width reduced to keep the height inside the area. The mockup shows you exactly how it fits before you commit.

Embroidery is thread, so it has a minimum resolvable detail. As a general rule of thumb in the trade, text much below about a quarter inch tall and hairline strokes lose legibility in stitches. Solid shapes, clear letterforms and one to a few colors reproduce best. If your logo has a fine tagline or a gradient, the usual answer is to embroider the primary mark alone. We'll tell you at mockup stage if something needs simplifying — that's one of the reasons the mockup exists.

Upload the file on the quote form and it comes through with your estimate. If all you have is a low-resolution file, send it anyway; we'll tell you what we can work with.

• Best vector — AI, EPS, SVG or a vector PDF.
• Fine a high-resolution PNG with a transparent background.
• Avoid screenshots, low-resolution JPGs, or a logo copied from a website header.

Colors are matched in embroidery thread, not ink. We match to your brand color as closely as the thread palette allows and show it on the stitched sample. Thread is a different medium from a printed swatch, so a small variance from a printed reference is normal; the sample is where you judge it in the real material.

Before an embroidery machine can stitch a logo it needs a stitch file: a map of every stitch, direction and color change. Creating that file from your artwork is digitization, and it's what the setup fee of $95.00 covers. It's charged once per logo — the same file is used across every style and size you order, and reorders of the same logo don't pay it again. A second logo is a second file and a second fee.

Read: How embroidery digitization works →

Two checkpoints, both before production: a digital mockup of your logo on the slipper, then a physical stitched sample. You approve the sample in writing; that approval, an invoice and a 50% deposit are what start production. If you'd like to hold a stitched sample before you even request a quote, order one — the cost is credited against your first order.

Read: Order samples →

Part of the Hotel Slipper Buyer's Guide →