- 07740 760 305
- barrienorth@threadsembroidery.co.uk
Hello and thank you for visiting our website. My name is Barrie North and I acquired Threads Embroidery in 2020 from Harry and Julie Shaw whose names you may be familiar with. Harry, I am glad to say, is still on board in an advisory capacity.
I suppose that you are looking to buy a martial arts belt, or maybe more than one, or else you wouldn’t be looking at our website. So, whether you know all about martial arts belts or would welcome some guidance here are a few notes that may be of assistance before you proceed to the Order Form. If you have any further queries please contact us either by email on barrienorth@threadsembroidery.co.uk or on the mobile number 07740 760305
Martial arts belts come in a wide variety of colours depending on the discipline concerned – judo, karate, taekwondo, jiu jitsu etcetera, and are awarded according to a student’s progress. The colours associated with Judo and karate, as listed below, are the most common and these are the belts we hold in stock, although there are others which can be sourced if ordered.
A beginner would start with a white belt and progress through yellow, orange, green, blue and brown to the highest grade, black. Red belts are also awarded in karate or sometimes to differentiate between contestants in a contest. In order to merit a black belt, the student will have worked hard in training over perhaps several years, invested a considerable amount of time and expense and possibly suffered pain and injury along the way.
Most of the belts we embroider are black belts usually with the student’s name on one end and, on the other end, either the name of the school or of the martial arts discipline involved, together with the requisite number of Dan bars. Our black belts come two fabrics, silk and cotton belts come in two grades, Standard and Ultimate. All are of excellent quality and, to borrow a phrase from TV’s Antique Road Show, can be regarded as good, better and best.
Our Silk belts are 4cm wide and come in lengths 240cm to 320cm.
Standard cotton belts come in widths 4cm, 5cm and 6cm and lengths from 240cm to 320cm.
We have now added a third grade of belt to our product list, our Superior cotton belt which, like the Ultimate belts also come in 5cm thickness but are more pliable and less hefty. The purpose in adding another grade of belt to our range is three-fold to give our customers a wider choice, to avoid being dependent on one supplier and to acquire an additional supply route at a time when supply chains can be effected adversely by world events.
Our Ultimate belts come in 5mm thickness and are available in 5cm with lengths from 240cm to 320cm.
Embroidery is available on either one end or both, as may be required.
The usual process on completion of the embroidery design is to black out the white under thread of the design with fabric paint. This element can be omitted if required or the under thread can be done in the same colour as the embroidery thread.
In addition to English the embroidery required can be translated into Japanese Katakana or Korean Hangol. Also, customer’s own designs (including designs in Japanese Kenji which is not readily translatable – see below) can be digitised into a format suitable for embroidery purposes by a specialist outside contractor at a small cost due to the work involved. Where a design or translation is already held on our files there will be no charge for translation or digitising.
Japanese Kenji, being a pictogram language, is not amenable to direct translation which is to say that if there is no character for, say, Google, then Google can’t be translated into Japanese Kenji. If the translation required is in our library it will be provided free of charge. If the translation is not in our library but a picture of the required Kenji text is available (from the customer) it can be digitised into a suitable format that our embroidery software will recognise.
Where English is chosen the fonts available as standard, and are most often requested in martial arts embroidery, are the same as in MS Word as listed below.
Dated Dan bars, commemorating the year of a grading, are available and named dan bars, acknowledging the support in progressing in martial arts of a relative or instructor, are also available (limited to not more than four letters on 4cm belts, five letters on 5cm belts and six letters on 6cm belts).
We can also add additional Dan bars to customers own belts. Where a belt has to be rejected on the grounds of the difficulty of obtaining a satisfactory result due to wear or insufficient space for example a replacement belt will be offered at half price.
If more than one embroidery thread colour is required there will be an additional charge for each colour change and likewise, if a metallic thread is ordered there will also be a small additional charge. Madeira thread is used, almost exclusively, and is available as standard in the following colours (Madeira reference numbers shown in brackets). These colours, for the avoidance of doubt, can be seen in true colour on Madeira’s website. Other colours are of course available if requested with the appropriate Madeira reference number quoted to eliminate any uncertainty.
Double line embroidery is available.
Where we are asked to embroider belts provided by the customer a small handling charge will apply.
Where the requirement is for unusually complicated embroidery a surcharge may be added at the discretion of Threads Embroidery in addition to the charges for individual components of the design.
Threads Embroidery operates a no quibble guarantee on all products that in the event of a fault with an item we will replace it free of any charge on receipt of the item in question. Where customer’s instructions are in error, for example with spelling, we will replace the item at half price.
Threads Embroidery
The Oaklands
Rookery Lane
Burleydam
Whitchurch
Shropshire
SY13 4AY