Ball caps are the most commonly embroidered type of hats. Embroidery files should be digitized specifically for hats for the best stitch out results. Caps have a smaller area available for embroidery due to the crown’s curved shape. Some caps have a center front seam, while other cap fronts are stiffened (structured caps) or foam backed (trucker caps). All of these factors create unique digitizing problems when creating embroidery files for caps.
Digitizing Tips:
- Digitize from the bottom up and from the center out
- Digitize any tag lines to stitch first, to ensure that the words are straight
- Don’t use thin fonts or very fine details for best results
Why Hats Are Digitized Differently
A hat is curved, and the top of the hat comes in different sizes (high profile and low profile crown heights, as well as different diameters) so they can be harder to hoop tightly. Wrinkles and loose fabric are pushed up and outward as the hat is stitched. To keep the design centered, the design is stitched from the center bottom and then up and outward. The center outward method also ensures that each half of the design stitches straight and that a center seam doesn’t distort the design.
A well-digitized hat design should also stitch nicely on a flat item, such as shirts or bags. However, a nicely digitized flat design may not look good when stitched on a hat, as well-digitized flat designs are optimized to have fewer jump stitches. Hat designs are digitized with the stitch direction being the primary consideration.
Hats have size restrictions. The hat has a limited area for an embroidery design, and each brand’s cap driver attachment will have its own size limitation for a front ball cap hat design. The most common size for front hat designs are up to 2.25″ tall and up to 4.0″ wide. Some cap drivers may allow taller or wider designs.
Hats can also be embroidered on the side or back. The same embroidery design size restrictions apply to these areas, as the restrictions are based on the embroidery field size of the cap driver.
Cap Terminology and Definitions
- Baseball Cap – A type of hat with a round crown, a long bill in the front of the hat, and a button on the top.
- Bill – The horizontal part of the hat The bill shades the wearer’s face. Also called Brim or Visor.
- Brim – The horizontal part of the hat. The brim shades the wearer’s face. Also called Bill or Visor.
- Buckram – A stiff material added to create structure in hats.
- Button – A fabric covered round disk that is used to cover the point where the panel seams meet at the top of the cap.
- Crown – The shaped, vertical part of the cap which covers the top of the wearer’s head.
- Eyelet – A small round hole in the crown of the hat that provides ventilation. The eyelet hole is encased with closely spaced satin stitch to prevent fraying. Air vents for the top of the hat.
- Fitted Baseball Cap – A cap with a front brim and no adjustable back closure.
- Front Panel – The section of the front crown of the hat that is attached to the brim. The front panel is the section that is embroidered or decorated with a company logo or other design.
- High Profile Hat – A hat with a tall crown and front panel. A high profile cap has a crown height of greater than 4″. Due to the height, a high profile cap needs additional stability and is a structured cap with a stiff front panel.
- Low Profile Hat – A hat with a shorter crown and front panel. A low profile cap has a crown height of 2″ to 3″. A low profile cap may be structured or unstructured.
- Mid Profile Hat – A hat with a medium height crown. A mid profile cap has a crown height of 3″ to 4″. A mid profile cap may be structured or unstructured.
- Panel – Sections of the top of the hat that are stitched together to create the crown.
- Peak – Another name for the Bill, Brim, or Visor of a hat.
- Profile – The hat crown’s height. Caps and hats can be low profile, mid profile, or high profile.
- Sandwich – The layers in the brim of the cap which are stitched together to stiffen the brim. The bill’s sandwich includes the top fabric layer, the middle stiffening layer, and the bottom fabric layer.
- Seam – The line where sections of the hat are stitched together. The crown is made of several shaped panels stitched together at the seams.
- Snapback cap – A hat that uses strips of plastic that snap together at the back of the hat to adjust the size of the crown.
- Strapback cap – A hat with a strip of leather, fabric, or other material at the back of the hat that is adjusted using a buckle. A strapback cap uses the back strap combined with a buckle to make the hat fit closer to the wearer’s head.
- Sweatband – A strip of fabric or other material on the inside of the hat which covers the joint where the brim meets the crown. The sweatband functions to prevent sweat from staining the crown of the hat, to cover the seam and prevent it from rubbing the wearer’s foreheat, to make the inside of the hat look more finished, and to add comfort and a better fit to the inside of the cap.
- Top stitching – The decorative and functional stitching used on either side of the crown’s panels seams. The top stitching adds strength to the panel seams, while also holding down the seam allowances so that they don’t rub the wearer’s head.
- Visor – The horizontal part of the hat. The brim shades the wearer’s face. Also called Bill or Brim.
Tips to Embroider on Structured Caps
Structured caps are hats with a stiff crown (top). Due to the extra stiffening material, structured hats may require extra care when stitching. Here are some tips to try when embroidering structured caps.
- Steam the center seam to make it more pliable
- Slow down the machine’s stitch speed
- Use titanium needles, which stay sharper longer than a non-titanium needle
- Use painter’s tape to protect the bill of the cap from embroidery machine rub
- Use a rubber mallet covered with fabric (to prevent transfer of rubber marks) to pound the center seam flatter
- Adjust the actifeed or tension of the embroidery machine as needed
- Raise the foot of the embroidery machine a few clicks to adjust for the additional thickness of structured caps