Hats

[cmack]

Does anybody else cringe when its time to do hats?

I hate hats, things sew out fine on flats but as soon as its on a hat it looks terrible.
Everyone wants a six panel low profile hat.
I know it can be done I have seen my competition sew the design on six panel hats, doesnt look perfect, but its better than mine.

Sorry this turned into a rant. If anybody has any suggestions to make me put the bottle of asprin down when hats get ordered please let me know.

[levelbest]

1) Digitize the design specifically for hats

2) Use a CCF (our fave) or if you use WACF, watch Herb's Video

3) Slow the machine down... 800-850

4) use thick tear away

5) buy a box of hats to practice on.

[Rod or Sharon]

6. If unstructured, try a light spray of adhesive spray to keep the fabric from moving.

7. Make sure your presser foot is low enough to keep the fabric from flagging.

8. When digitizing for caps, remember to stitch from bottom to top and center out.

[scot]

That's all I do is hats. )I sew at 700 and thick tear away. you do need to make sure the hat is secure. I run trace on every hat to check for pulling. I am still new at it. I didn't get to go to melco school. They shut the whole dam school down in Dec. That was the only time I could go. I got screwed out of school, but its not the end of the world. Just take your time.

[levelbest]

Scot brings up a good point - I trace each design as well to check for pulling - and to look for problems...

[cmack]

I am really having trouble with this one design.
I have had it digitized by strawberry stitch (supposedly) for hats, but it still sews terrible.

I will try your suggestions and see how it goes.

[Gabi Kat]

What kind of hat, backing? Needle (I use Groz-Beckert 80/12 DB x K5? I also change the needle on the first fray or thread brake pressure on the foot - up/down? try slowing down to 550-600.
I use the WACF. always center/trace. structured twill I don't use backing.
And alway Center-up and out on the sew.
Shalom
Gabi Kat
Tucson

[levelbest]

BTW, Use sharp needles on caps btw - it does make a difference..... most times we still use 75/11.

[cmack]

I use 75/11 sharp needles I use a heavyweight backing 2 layers presser foot 1 clicl up and I was running at 900 spm with a wacf.

to rule out digitizing issues I have sent the design out to pro digitizing.

any thoughts on pro digitizing?

[Redina]

Not a rant but I too have cap issues. Not the digitizing but getting the cap to stay in the frame. I do all the suggestions: trace, get it digitized for caps, heavy cap backing, new needle, but the cap tends to slide out from under the toothed band while sewing and then the registration is lost. Once I pull the sweatband out toward the hooping frame as instructed, there is nothing for the band to dig into since the seam allowance is now forward. I try to get it as tight as I can but it still manages to creep out from under the band. Also on the frame, the lower part of the piece that locks the brim protrudes toward the cap and appears too long to allow the cap/brim seam to engage between the teeth. I can't seem to get the teeth on the band to lock under the teeth on the frame with a cap on it, but empty it is fine. I hope this makes sense and someone can offer suggestions. I have watched the video several times and he makes it look so easy.

Redina

[Rod or Sharon]

Redina,

My wife and Herb, made that vidio clip while I was working on one of his machines a couple of years ago. Nothing has changed since then....

Follow what Herb is saying , to the letter!! Use a large enough piece of backing to span the teeth on both sides of the cap frame.

There are.... THREE FATAL MISTAKES....in hooping and sewing caps with the XT style cap frames.

But first, if you have the WACF cap frames without the standoff and you have an XT with a one piece cap driver, then the WACF cap driver should be chosen. If you have cap frames with the standoffs and the cap driver is in two pieces, that is, you can leave the lower bars on the machine and slide the cylinder off of them, then you need to chose the XT Extended cap driver.

Fatal mistake # 1..... If you bend the bill of the cap back toward your belly and try to shove it deeper underneath the standoff, thinking this will give you a better bite on the bill seam, you have just lost the battle, period. Do not do this!! Straighten out the cap bill, just as Herb describes, snd push it up tight against the standoff, no more.

Fatal mistake # 2.....Not having the band tight enough and not ironing the cap down tight enough, as Herb describes in the video clip. This band needs to be adjusted to the particular brand/style of cap that is sewn on an ongoing basis. There is "no" one setting that will work for all caps and loose or snug is not an option here. TIGHT, is the only way and make sure the band teeth are in the bill seam. The toggle clamp should take some force to close it shut.

Fatal mistake # 3.....Trying to sew too tall of a design or trying to sew any design too high in the sewing field. This is especially true on low profile caps, whether structered or not. On the unstruchered, use at lease two pieces of backing. I use a bit of adhesive spray to stick these together and even pray a little on the top side to help iron the cap material to so it can't float over the top of the backing. It kind of builds a structered cap out of it.

How tall is too tall? Depends on cap style, but the lower the profile, the more critical this becomes. For best sucess, not more than 2 to 2 1/4 inches for vertical height. The closer to 2 1/4 inches you get, the lower in the sewing field you need to be sewing on the cap. That is, closer to the bill. This is because of the sewing arm rubbing against the crown of the cap....if the design is too tall or any design is too high in the sewing field, then the point of the sewing arm will push the cap out of the frames.

Watch Herbs video clip over again. Hoop TIGHT and DO NOT under any circumstances, be tempted to bend the bill of the cap back and force the cap band further under the standoff. Herbie's way is the light.....go to the light........goooo toooo the lllliight.......

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[Oregonian1a]

I have noticed that a slight amount of resistance when pulling the cap frame off the ring gauge is a pretty good indicator that the band that grabs the seam is tight enough. When I can feel this, and when I use a good amount of force to "rub out" the slack on the front of the when it is still on the ring gauge then I don't have any problems.

Of course I trace the design to check if the cap is being pushed off the frame because the design is too high.

[HERB]

With caps you have to deal with three separate curves.
#1 The bill.You want to get it straight. Bend it back past straight. This will give you the ability to get the straps teeth into the seam. If you cannot get the teeth into the seam all the way across the bill, you did not get it straight enough.

#2 The roundness of the cap. The key to it is to get it to be the same shape as the ring gauge. This makes it fit the machine as it should. This is where I rub the face to get it to fit nice and snug on the ring gauge. If you do not get it "FLAT" you will experience flagging and the accompanying thread issues.

#3 The curve from the bill to the crown. At some point the face of the cap begins to curve as it reaches the upper area. This changes every time you select a different cap. You can sew farther up the center than off to the sides, but only by a small amount.

Melco says you can sew a 3 inch design on a cap with the XT and I can say they are correct. BUT, the cap is the limiting factor, not the XT. I limit my low profile structured to 2 inches max.
Low profile unstructured are 2 1/4 inches max.
From there the designs get taller as I go to a mid profile/pro style cap. Again though, not all manufacture them with the same dimensions so you have to chek them. Finally I get to the old 5 panel trucker style, this is where you can get the 3 inches.

I trace the 1st cap on each machine but after that I dont trace at all. I only move left/right to get center. I will say I have never had a cap get pushed off the hoop. I know the video makes it look easy and with lots of practice practice practice it will become easier for you as well.

[Yan]

I'm not sure if anyone who has had problems doing hats has tried this... I have followed all of the sugestions and video for doing hats. My low profile Otto hats loose registration near the crown of the hat and once the hat does the electric slide, well, my son has a new hat... I finally did 2 things that solved all of my thread breaks and registration issues.
1. I really really put the strap on tight, 2 layers of backing.
2. I haven't seen anyone suggest this - I used (under the "tools, settings, thread feed" tabs the Material Thickness of "9". All my trouble went away. All of them.

I had to do 50 hats and they were taking an hour each with all the tread breaks. Once I made these 2 changes there were not many thread breaks at all. Perhaps 1 per hat. Thats it. Not sure if it will work for everyone but thought it might help. Very new to all this and love the site and all the tips!

[Impressive Threads]

Speaking of unstructered hats, can anyone tell me how to keep them from puckering close to the band when sewing? I use the Clips to hold them but after straitening the bill out they wrinkle and if the design is sewn close to the bottom there is puckering. I do sew from the middle out / top down but sometime there will be a little pucker between words. I would love to have a solution for this one.

Cindy