The Most Common Embroidery Mistakes #8 Embroidery Project

Embroiderers are constantly complaining about sewing caps: the embroidery is crooked or slanted or puckered or whatever. There are two basic rules for successful cap embroidery:

Rule 1:

The design must fit the cap. All too often, you try and put too much embroidery on the cap. It’s not a jacket back! Limit designs to 2.25” high by 4.50” wide and you will go a long way towards overcoming cap sewing problems. Sure, some caps can go larger, but if you always work within these parameters, you will be assured that the design will fit. In fact, use a business card as a size reference for your customers. It’s smaller than 2.25” X 4.50”, but it gets them thinking.

Rule 2:

The cap must fit the frame. If you have to force the cap to hoop it, chances are it doesn’t fit the frame properly. If not, then you will be forever destined to have cap quality problems. The best test for fit is to match the curve of the base of the crown (where the bill meets the crown) to the curve of your cap frame. Some people even remove the bill from the crown (of a test cap), then place the curved portion that was attached to the crown against the cap frame to ensure a good fit. As you will find, not every style or brand of cap is a good candidate for your particular cap frames.

If you stick with these rules, you will find that most of your cap challenges will disappear. If not, then you too will join the legions of embroiderers complaining about how difficult cap embroidery can be. It’s your choice.