Short answer. Custom embroidery costs ₹1,199 to ₹4,464 per shirt in India when the work is done by hand, with most custom names and monograms landing between ₹1,294 and ₹1,517. The number is set almost entirely by artisan hours: roughly two for an initial, six for a wreath, fourteen or more for a full back panel.
Embroidery pricing in the West is quoted per thousand stitches. That convention comes from machine work, where a digitising file tells you the stitch count before anything runs, and the machine bills by time.
Hand embroidery does not work like that, and pretending it does produces nonsense quotes. Nobody counts 14,000 individual stitches by hand. What we count is hours.
What actually sets the price per shirt
| Input | Typical range | Share of final price |
|---|---|---|
| Artisan hours at the frame | 2 to 14+ hours | About 44% |
| Blank tee, 220 GSM combed cotton | ₹250 to ₹300 | About 17% |
| Thread, needles, stabiliser | ₹70 to ₹140 | About 6% |
| Design, redraw, sampling | ₹80 to ₹250 | About 7% |
| Wash, press, QC, packaging | ₹100 to ₹150 | About 8% |
| Courier across India | ₹120 to ₹160 | About 9% |
| Payment and platform fees | 6% to 9% of order value | About 9% |
Where the price of one custom tee goes
Tap a cost line to light up its share of 100 squares.
Artisan hours at the frame. About 44 per cent, and the input that moves most: 2 hours for an initial, 14 or more for a full back panel.
Blank tee. A 220 GSM combed cotton tee costs ₹250 to ₹300, about 17 per cent of the final price.
Thread, needles, stabiliser. ₹70 to ₹140, about 6 per cent.
Design, redraw, sampling. ₹80 to ₹250, about 7 per cent.
Wash, press, QC, packaging. ₹100 to ₹150, about 8 per cent.
Courier and payment fees. Courier across India is ₹120 to ₹160, about 9 per cent. Payment and platform fees are 6% to 9% of order value, about another 9 per cent.
Indicative allocation on a mid-range chest-motif tee, roughly six artisan hours.
Design size moves the price more than anything else
Here are seven real designs from our catalogue, ordered smallest to largest. The pattern is not subtle.
| Design | Placement | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Single Initial & Heart | Chest, small | ₹1,428 |
| Custom Name, floral | Chest | ₹1,494 |
| Floral Wreath Monogram | Chest, medium | ₹1,517 |
| Cosmic Energy | Front panel | ₹1,785 |
| Night Jungle | Back panel | ₹1,799 |
| Parakeet & Floral | Oversized front | ₹2,677 |
| Eagle | Full back | ₹4,464 |
Thread shades are the cost line nobody expects
Every additional colour means the artisan stops, ties off, re-threads, and restarts. On a nine-shade jungle scene that happens dozens of times. It also means colour matching across a batch, because thread lots vary and a customer who orders the same design twice notices immediately if the green is off.
A two-shade monogram and a nine-shade animal motif can cover similar surface area and still differ by ₹800.
Stitch type matters as much as stitch count
Satin fill is the expensive one. It lays dense parallel threads across a shape, eats floss, and takes real time to keep even. Back stitch and stem stitch draw an outline quickly and use a fraction of the thread.
This is why a line-drawn botanical from our Botanical AW26 collection can cost less than a much smaller solid-filled heart. Area is not the whole story.
Same shape, three stitches
Tap a stitch to see how it covers the petal, and what that does to the cost.
Satin fill. The expensive one. It lays dense parallel threads across a shape, eats floss, and takes real time to keep even.
Back stitch. Draws an outline quickly and uses a fraction of the thread.
Stem stitch. Like back stitch, a fast outline that uses a fraction of the floss a satin fill needs.
Area is not the whole story. A line-drawn botanical from the Botanical AW26 collection can cost less than a much smaller solid-filled heart.
What you should refuse to pay for
- A “digitising fee” on hand work. Digitising is a machine-embroidery step. If someone charges you for it, ask what machine is running your file.
- Per-colour setup charges. Again, a machine convention. Hand work has thread cost, not setup cost.
- Rush fees with no change in queue position. Ask what specifically moves.
Ordering more than one
Expect 8 to 12 per cent off at twenty pieces or more, and no more than that. The reason bulk barely helps is the same reason the work costs what it does. If you need 200 identical shirts on a budget, machine embroidery is the honest recommendation and we will tell you so.
For smaller runs where the recipients matter more than the count, look at personalised embroidery gifts or corporate gifting.
Frequently asked questions
How much does custom embroidery cost per shirt in India?
₹1,199 to ₹4,464 for hand embroidery, with most custom names and monograms between ₹1,294 and ₹1,517. The blank tee is included in those prices.
Is embroidery priced per stitch or per hour?
Machine embroidery is priced per thousand stitches because the machine bills by time. Hand embroidery is priced by artisan hours, roughly two hours for a small initial and fourteen or more for a full back panel.
Why do more thread colours cost more?
Each shade means stopping, tying off, re-threading and colour matching across the batch. A nine-shade design can cost ₹800 more than a two-shade design covering the same area.
Should I pay a digitising fee for hand embroidery?
No. Digitising converts artwork into a machine file. It has no place in a hand embroidery quote. If a seller charges it, ask which machine is running your file.
Does custom embroidery get cheaper in bulk?
Only slightly. Expect 8 to 12 per cent off at twenty pieces. Design and sampling costs spread across the run, but the stitching hours per garment do not change.
Who wrote this
Vee Threads is a hand-embroidery label run by Vikash Tomar and Mansi from a studio in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh. Every piece is stitched by hand by women artisans on the studio floor, on 220 GSM combed cotton tees and 400 GSM sweatshirts. We have shipped more than 5,000 orders. Mansi runs the studio and quality control, Vikash handles the digital side. Prices, timings and hours quoted in this article come from our own production records, not from industry averages. Browse the hand embroidered T-shirt collection or start a custom hand embroidery order.
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