EMBROIDERING ON HEADWEAR
Digitizing and Embroidery Tips
WHEN TO CHOOSE EMBROIDERY
Hats come in as many shapes and styles as there are reasons and people
to wear them. Some common types of headwear that sport embroidery today
are knit caps, racing caps, headwraps, straw hats, bucket hats and
visors. When considering a hat for embroidery, however, the baseball cap
stands out from the crowd.
The baseball cap, an American invention, was first worn by national
baseball teams and gained widespread popularity in the 20’s and 30’s
when “regular folk” started wearing them to show support for their
favorite team. The baseball cap, with the bill backwards, sideways or
facing front, is more popular today than it was then. It is a trendy
item that can “spread the word” for your customer for years to come.
LOCATION
Baseball caps come in 5 basic styles:
• high profile with high flat fronts, good for advertising but not as
popular with younger hat wearers,
• low-profile with a lower frontal area and a sloping crown. This is the
most popular style but has a more restricted embroidery area,
• pro-style, which is a low-profile hat with a more upright
front—traditionally used by professional teams,
• 5 panel, a high-profile hat with no front center seam,
• 6 panel, available in high, low or pro-style with a front center seam.
For a design over 4” wide, which is to be sewn on a cap front, it is
generally necessary to digitize from the middle of the design outward
since sewing from left to right may cause most caps to pucker at the
front seam. (This is not as much of an issue on a 5-panel, high-profile
cap.) Therefore, if you are trying to cut costs to spec a job and are
considering using one tape for both a cap and left chest, keep your
design under 2.25” high and digitize for the cap. Your embroiderer will
be able to go from a cap to a flat (left chest) much more easily than
from a flat to a hat. For best results, of course, we recommend that
each embroidery tape be digitized specifically for the area on which it
will be embroidered.
If you are planning to embroider a design on the side of a hatband for a
hat worn by men, make sure the design is placed on the left side.
Anything on a woman’s hatband must be on the right side. (This custom
has its roots in the seventeenth century and the Cavalier hat with its
long plumes and ostrich feathers, which needed to be restricted to the
left side to free the sword arm.)
FABRIC
The most common fabrics used for embroidered hats today are poplin,
twill and wool. Of the three, poplin is the best all around choice for
embroidery. It holds its shape, shows off embroidery well and is pliable
enough to be easily hooped. Twill and wool also display embroidery well
but are not quite as pliable as poplin. Wool’s thickness and stiffness
make it the most difficult of the three to hoop for the embroidery
process once backing is included.
On the other end of the spectrum, avoid foam hats, which are impossible
to embroider and painters caps, made of paper-thin fabric, which do not
embroider well. If you want a finished product that you can be proud of,
investing in a better quality fabric for your embroidered caps is well
worth the investment.
DESIGN ELEMENTS
The baseball cap, in particular, can be a veritable “walking billboard”
today with 180° and 270° hooping capability. This treatment is most
often seen in resorts, pro shops or country clubs, but done tastefully,
could show up at a company picnic or corporate event. Keeping the sides
fairly simple is the suggestion here. A long, narrow design, interesting
text or complimentary logos along the sides can make a statement without
making the hat appear too busy or confusing.
A recent trend is to have a customer’s website address along the back of
the hat and the company logo across the front. (This would require two
separate digitized tapes.)
An ongoing problem with embroidery design elements for all types of
fabrics is text size. This is especially critical on hats. A design
layout may need re-thinking if small text is included. In this situation
the company logo may be sewn across the front and text across the back
or on the side. Script or serif fonts are not advisable for text up to
½” high. For best results, use capitalized letters in a sans serif font
such as Ariel. (Your digitizer will let you know if the text in your
design will sew out well at its original size.)
Suggested minimum letter height:
Polar fleece, nylon and corduroy..……………. 1/ 4”
Poplin, twill, wool and most other fabrics….. 3/16”
MARKETING IDEAS
You could increase your chance of a sale as well as provide your
customer with a promotional tool he might not otherwise have by turning
him on to the possibility of co-op dollars. Monies are often available
to help cover the cost of an item, such as a hat, to promote the
vendor’s name alongside the company’s name. The side panels of a hat
would be ideal for this. A good example would be a local hardware store
owner who secures co-op dollars from two of his vendors. A national tool
manufacturer and a national paint manufacturer would be good prospects.
Many national organizations have funding available for just such a
purpose. (A single 270° tape would handle the embroidery and help keep
the cost manageable.)
Another exciting marketing idea that’s showing up in the promotions
industry today is the “theme hat.” where a scene is embroidered on the
bill of a baseball cap or visor. Examples would include a casino
environment, sporting event, beach scene, etc. The design normally tells
a story that relates to a specific target industry. Once basic designs
have been created, the hats can be marketed in two ways:
1. Sales of 1,000 units or more can be customized to customer
specifications at the manufacturing level, before the hat is assembled.
2. Smaller quantities can be sold from a stock of inventoried hats that
have been produced in a variety of designs. The hats can then be
personalized on the front and/or back once a customer chooses a design.
Copyright 2005. Unauthorized Duplication Prohibited. Contact Fast Embroidery Tapes for permission.
