Review: integration of 3D printing and embroidery technology in smart textiles functionalities

The fabrication of smart textiles has advanced across multiple dimensions, aiming not only to enhance functionality but also to improve wearability and user comfort. Despite notable progress, challenges persist, including weak integration arising from rigid components, limited flexibility, and insufficient durability of circuits and conductive pathways. Traditional printing and attachment methods often fail under repeated movement, leading to mechanical instability, delamination, and reduced performance. To address these limitations, this review explores the synergistic potential of combining 3D printing and digital embroidery within smart textile manufacturing. Together, these technologies offer new opportunities for customization, structural precision, and enhanced durability: 3D printing enables tailored geometric structures, while embroidery ensures seamless, resilient incorporation of electrical components with improved wearability. This review highlights emerging applications across healthcare, defense, automotive systems, sportswear, electronic carriers, and decorative artifacts, including wearable antennas, functional sequins, pushbuttons, embroidered passive UHF RFID tags, and innovations extending into 4D printing. Alongside examining current implementations, the paper discusses technical obstacles hindering large-scale adoption and outlines future research directions to advance this combined approach toward more sophisticated smart textile functionalities.