Camilo Llanos is an expert embroiderist with more than 25 years of experience. He oversees embroidery and DTF heat transfer services at Boca Terry. In our interview, Camilo offers fascinating details on what it
takes to bring a branded product to life, and talks about why heat transfer technology is opening new doors for what’s possible.
BT: How did you get into the embroidery business?
CL: I started working in the embroidery industry back in 1998, initially by repairing machines. As time passed, I gained expertise in embroidery creation, leading to the opportunity to acquire my own machine and grow my business from there.
BT: What do you enjoy about working with Boca Terry?
CL: I love working with Boca Terry! Every day brings a new project with different logos. It’s amazing that we are located in the Boca Terry warehouse; we get to work with the sales managers directly, which makes us more productive and involved in every step. The environment and the people are what I enjoy most.
BT: What was one of the largest or more challenging embroidery designs you had to process?
CL: It was after 9/11 when we had a customer who wanted the American flag with a bald eagle embroidered on the back of a bathrobe. I’ll never forget, it was 180,000 stitches. To put that into perspective, a regular or standard logo is usually around 5,000 stitches.
BT: How many items can you embroider at one time, in a week? How many machines do you have?
CL: We currently have eleven machines, a total of 73 heads. We can embroider approximately 4,000 pieces per week, which equals 800 pieces per day, depending on the size of the logo and its stitch count.
BT: How long does it approximately take to embroider a standard logo on a robe?
CL: A standard logo is usually 5,000 stiches or less and takes about 15 minutes to embroider.
BT: Boca Terry recently added a new option to embroidery, DTF, Direct To Film Heat Transfers, can you tell us a little bit about the process?
CL: DTF is a new and excellent service that we offer! It’s a brand new addition to the market, producing detailed and clean designs quickly and easily. The color options are vibrant, designs can include intricate details, and the results have long-lasting quality. DTF has become very popular with Boca Terry slippers because of it’s very low minimum and quick turnaround time since it is done right here in the warehouse.