As an apparel designer, consumer soft product manufacturer, or recreational sewing buff,  the cloth label identifying your name and your brand is probably last thing on your mind and is often overlooked until the last panicked moment.  Whether your textile branding needs are simply personal---such as  simple name identifier (e.g. "Made by Grandma"), or an actual custom designed branding message, many manufacturers, crafters, and designers often overlook labeling their products until the last critical moment. We suggest allowing for 4-6 weeks for optimum pricing and quality options.

 There are two major types of clothing labels: Woven and Printed 

Woven labels are constructed with a weave (threads interlaced on a vertical and horizontal axis)  based on your design specifications. A digital  air jet loom  receives digital information from a graphic interface and weaves your artwork ad part of the fabric. The labels are then hot cut or ultrasonically cut and/or folded.

Pros:                          

-durability: The polyester fibers do withstand repeated use very well, including washing/dryer and high friction use.

Cons:

-usually, manufacturing woven labels takes a longer time course for completion. Most woven textiles have to be imported to places such as . If a clothing designer is in a time crunch, that is, short on time, then this is not the recommend choice for clothing labels.

Woven artwork limitations:

-all artwork, including logo drawings an lettering have to be a clear, smooth 2-d linear presentation. There can be no color gradients, shadows, or extremely small fonts with irregular edges. You must keep in mind that the loom is weaving a very small piece of fabric, and that the label design woven must conform to weaving loom principles and limits with technology. If you have an intricate design, it is prudent to manufacture printed clothing labels, as described below.

-unless cut ultrasonically, the label may be scratchy to the skin.

Printed clothing labels are constructed of various types of ribbons or other materials that are printed, cut, and folded. The most common materials are cotton and satin. Other options include. leather, faux suede, tyvek, or jackron.

Pros:

-a shorter turnaround time. Often, printed labels are domestically manufactured---that is, made in the North American continent, Europe, or Australia---this allows for a shorter logistics manufacturing chain, and a faster completion time.

-with the advances in textile technology, manufacturers are able to print photographs-quality images, including , color shading and shadows and three-dimensional color gradients. Highly elaborate details of your design (such as photograph) can be captured. This allows for strong branding opportunity.

-very soft to the touch.

-48 hour rush manufacturing turnaround available with some US manufacturers.

Cons:

-may fade over time with repeated frictional hot washing/dryer use, though the technology is advancing constantly

-background colors usually need to be either pastel or white colors---though less detailed screen printing is available for darker material.

Be sure to plan 4-6 before product launch. Planning early saves you stress, time, and a LOT of money.

Mary Wingo, Ph.D. is a partner of a textile label research and innovation team and head of business development at Woven Label Source, a international deep-discount custom clothing label supplier for 25 years. Woven Label Source is a division for TX ATA Design Investments, Inc., and has pioneered exciting cutting edge technology and innovation in the textile, printing, and plastics industries.

Learn more about clothing labels from the Woven Label Source at www.wovenlabelsource.com