Companies That Will Embroider Your Belt

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

What are you refering to as embroidered? I went thru this in December. My son got his Black Belt then and I wanted to get him a belt with his name on it. Looking around, I found places that embroidered the name all the way thru the belt. You had a reverse image on the back side. I was told this was a "poor job" of embroidery. I found Shureido that actually splits the belt and does the embroidery on one side of the belt, then sews the belt back together. Only problem is that they only do their own Shureido belts. Cost around $60 for the belt and embroidery. But it looks great.

Another thing. Shureido only embroidered in Japanese. I would have preferred Chinese, but I never found anyone that could embroider Chinese. I did ask a local sewing place about embroidery and showed her the belt I had. They couldn't do anything like that.

i know how you feel. it's frusterating, i love the belt i have now, despite its frayed white and gray colour i want to keep it and wear it as my belt literally forever. but when i get my masters i have to wear that belt with a red stripe all the way around through the middle, i was thiniking the other day if anyone could un-embroider my current belt, instill a red stripe and re-embroider it. i know its alot and i doubt anyone in embroidery world do that, but thats how much my belt means to me. i wish this whole embroidery stuff was easier.

[NidaninNJ]

I've never seen a good embroidery job done in the US. They all look really ugly, cheap or show through the back. Shureido and Hirota do good embroidery - maybe as good as Tokaido now. But Tokaido was the first and almost all my black belts have been Tokaidos. I've got some Chinese friends who have ordered their names and they said Tokaido did a good job on those. They can also mix and match English and Japanese. I even heard they can do more than one color on the same belt! I want to try that next time I get a new belt.

[unknownstyle]

kataaro and shuriedo one is american the other is okinawan

[IcemanSK]

I've never seen a good embroidery job done in the US. They all look really ugly, cheap or show through the back. Shureido and Hirota do good embroidery - maybe as good as Tokaido now. But Tokaido was the first and almost all my black belts have been Tokaidos. I've got some Chinese friends who have ordered their names and they said Tokaido did a good job on those. They can also mix and match English and Japanese. I even heard they can do more than one color on the same belt! I want to try that next time I get a new belt.

Eosinpanther are as good as any belt from Japan & made here in the USA. They too are expensive. But still less expensive than Tokaido the last time I looked.

[masterphoenix]

I realize someone took a poll on preferred colors but does anyone know the name(s) of a few reputable companies in the U.S. that will do the actual embroidery for your martial arts belt ?

Thank you.

Unfortunately, the local embroidery companies suggested by previous posters often don't have needles thick enough to do the job because they are used to embroidering thin jackets and other materials.

Here are good sources for embroidered belts. Eosin has the best quality I've seen, but be prepared to pay. Best has the cheapest prices, and their embroidery is fine.

Eosin Panther

Best Martial Arts Supply (sangmoosa.com)

Goldentiger.com

I use these three companies exclusively. Best has black belts that go up to 3.0 inches wide, I believe. We use 2.5, which looks great, and sets the black belts further apart from colored belts at 1.5 or 1.75 width.

[JohnASE]

Wow, old thread resurrected. Spreading info is a good thing, so I'll throw in my 2 cents. I'll try not to make this all about ASE Martial Arts Supply, but that's mostly what I know.

There are a LOT of companies that embroider belts. Many will only embroider their new belts in case something goes wrong. We embroider our own ASE brand belts and Tokaido belts. Actually, we job it out. It's hard for me to say how good we are because I don't have much experience with other companies' products. We have plenty of happy customers. One thing I've learned is that personal preference plays a big part in what looks good and what doesn't.

THROUGH THE BELT

Most embroidery goes through the belt and shows reversed on the back. It's not ideal, but it's cost effective. If it's in Japanese, some people don't care because they can't read it anyway.

We have a service available that few others offer. The embroidery goes through the belt, but we use black thread on the back! There are still reversed characters, but they match the belt color, so it's not as noticeable, at least from a little distance. We don't charge extra for this. You can't do this on a standard embroidery machine. It's not computerized, so the characters aren't perfect. It looks more like hand writing than a printed font.

Some companies will split open a belt, embroider the cover, and stitch it back together. This way, the back side of the embroidery is inside the belt and not visible. Usually, the entire belt isn't opened, just the ends. Some stitching overlap can be seen where the old stitching meets the new stitching. Not a big deal, but not perfect. Since the characters are embroidered before the belt is stitched back together, lines go across the characters. There's a lot of labor for this, so it can get pricey, and might take a long time.

A few companies will have embroidery done at the factory before the belt is stitched in the first place. It's just like opening the belt, but without the overlap I talked about. I think this is the ideal way to do it, IF you don't mind the lines of stitching running through the characters. Usually, this takes the longest to have done if they have to ship it from overseas and can be pretty expensive. We don't offer this service.

NON-MA EMBROIDERERS

Finding one with tough enough needles isn't easy. We have one that we use. He embroiders on some belts and uniforms. We also have a martial art embroiderer with tough needles that break on some of our hardest belts, so you never know. Oh, and local guys might not be able to do Asian characters unless you provide the artwork or might charge a lot. MA embroiderers will often have translation available.

BRANDS/COMPANIES

We sell embroidered Tokaido belts, but we have them embroidered here. Most companies will do it this way. I think Shureido USA has theirs embroidered in by Shureido in Okinawa before being constructed. I don't know of anyone who imports Hirota belts to the US, but they're a premium quality company in Japan. Everyone says great things about Eosin Panther. Don't know about Kataaro. We've done a lot of business with Best and Golden Tiger for almost 2 decades. They're both reputable companies, but I'm not familiar with their embroidery programs.

[masterphoenix]

Wow, old thread resurrected. Spreading info is a good thing, so I'll throw in my 2 cents. I'll try not to make this all about ASE Martial Arts Supply, but that's mostly what I know.

There are a LOT of companies that embroider belts. Many will only embroider their new belts in case something goes wrong. We embroider our own ASE brand belts and Tokaido belts. Actually, we job it out. It's hard for me to say how good we are because I don't have much experience with other companies' products. We have plenty of happy customers. One thing I've learned is that personal preference plays a big part in what looks good and what doesn't.

THROUGH THE BELT

Most embroidery goes through the belt and shows reversed on the back. It's not ideal, but it's cost effective. If it's in Japanese, some people don't care because they can't read it anyway.

We have a service available that few others offer. The embroidery goes through the belt, but we use black thread on the back! There are still reversed characters, but they match the belt color, so it's not as noticeable, at least from a little distance. We don't charge extra for this. You can't do this on a standard embroidery machine. It's not computerized, so the characters aren't perfect. It looks more like hand writing than a printed font.

Some companies will split open a belt, embroider the cover, and stitch it back together. This way, the back side of the embroidery is inside the belt and not visible. Usually, the entire belt isn't opened, just the ends. Some stitching overlap can be seen where the old stitching meets the new stitching. Not a big deal, but not perfect. Since the characters are embroidered before the belt is stitched back together, lines go across the characters. There's a lot of labor for this, so it can get pricey, and might take a long time.

A few companies will have embroidery done at the factory before the belt is stitched in the first place. It's just like opening the belt, but without the overlap I talked about. I think this is the ideal way to do it, IF you don't mind the lines of stitching running through the characters. Usually, this takes the longest to have done if they have to ship it from overseas and can be pretty expensive. We don't offer this service.

NON-MA EMBROIDERERS

Finding one with tough enough needles isn't easy. We have one that we use. He embroiders on some belts and uniforms. We also have a martial art embroiderer with tough needles that break on some of our hardest belts, so you never know. Oh, and local guys might not be able to do Asian characters unless you provide the artwork or might charge a lot. MA embroiderers will often have translation available.

BRANDS/COMPANIES

We sell embroidered Tokaido belts, but we have them embroidered here. Most companies will do it this way. I think Shureido USA has theirs embroidered in by Shureido in Okinawa before being constructed. I don't know of anyone who imports Hirota belts to the US, but they're a premium quality company in Japan. Everyone says great things about Eosin Panther. Don't know about Kataaro. We've done a lot of business with Best and Golden Tiger for almost 2 decades. They're both reputable companies, but I'm not familiar with their embroidery programs.

I know exactly what you're talking about on the back of the belt, and I'm one of those people that doesn't like to see the embroidery come through on that side. For that reason I've typically had my belts done at Eosin Panther, but they are very expensive.

[Akikazeninja]

From what I have seen eosinpanther does one of the best embroidery jobs out there but qick question when it asks you what language and you select japanes when you write your name in english in the box do they translate it or what please help me out here

[masterphoenix]

From what I have seen eosinpanther does one of the best embroidery jobs out there but qick question when it asks you what language and you select japanes when you write your name in english in the box do they translate it or what please help me out here

I never do them online... I draw it out, make notes about what thread color I want each line, belt size, belt width, belt style, etc, and then I fax it to them.

[sensei8]

From what I have seen eosinpanther does one of the best embroidery jobs out there but qick question when it asks you what language and you select japanes when you write your name in english in the box do they translate it or what please help me out here

I never do them online... I draw it out, make notes about what thread color I want each line, belt size, belt width, belt style, etc, and then I fax it to them.

I concur with your method and the faxing!