Impressions - March 2016 - 53

You can embroider
a standard 2½" x 6"
design in the center
front of a flatbill cap.

embroidery less than 1 inch tall
and the back can't be embroidered
at all.
The crown height and curve
of a visor should be taken into
account when sizing the design.
For example, a visor with a crown
height of 2¼ inches tall would
best fit a logo 1¼ inches tall.
This would leave ½-inch at the
bottom and ½-inch at the top.
Solution: In your production
process, allow for time to modify
the customer's design so that you
know you can produce a quality
result and satisfy the customer.
Prior to taking the job, have your
art department work with your customer to adjust the design. There
is no point in taking an order
that can't be produced properly.
Small lettering or detailed designs simply may not work well on
visors due to the small embroidery
area. If the design won't work,
try to find another hat that will
work or walk away from the order.
It's not worth the risk of producing a less-than-quality result.
Five-, Six-Panel Caps
You can embroider on all four sides
of these hats. Many five-panel

caps have mesh on the sides and a
tearaway backing is recommended
when embroidering on mesh for
best results. They also have a
foam-front panel that creates
an issue with embroidery burying
into the foam.
Screen printing is a great
alternative, but some clients
prefer embroidery.
Solution: Always use a thin font
and no fine details in the design.
Six-panel caps have a seam running
down the center. You can embroider
right over it as you commonly do
with no loss of quality.
Additionally, designs on a fivepanel cap may be sewn slightly
off-center without being readily
visible. On six-panel hats, where
there is a center seam, designs
even slightly off-center may be
visually disturbing. Some designs
that are weighted to one side or
the other must be placed where
they are graphically pleasing.
Examples include italic fonts
or images where there is a small
element protruding off to the side
of the main part of the logo. The
letter "M" with a feather hanging
off the side of the letter would
cause a problem.
When centering on the entire

design, including the feather, the
center line of the M would not line
up on the center seam of the cap.
In these rare cases, center points
must be adjusted off-center to give
the appearance that the design
is centered.
Structured/Unstructured Hats
There are two general categories
of baseball caps: structured and
unstructured. The structured cap
has a stiffer supportive fabric
called buckram inside the front
two panels that helps the cap
to hold its shape or "spring
back" if folded or crumpled. An
unstructured cap means there are
no support panels in the front
two panels. Unstructured and
structured caps have a maximum
embroidery space in the front of
2½" x 6". 
Brian Burr is chief operating officer of
wholesalehats.com, Palm Desert, Calif., which
has produced embroidered garments for clientele
that includes Google, NASA and the United States
Army. He has been involved in every aspect of
the embroidery industry for more than 20 years,
including machine operation and repair. For more
information or to comment on this article, email
Brian at brian@wholesalehats.com
MARCH 2016

P.53
http://www.wholesalehats.com
Impressions - March 2016

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