lettering on hats

[Gini]

I am having trouble getting decent lettering on hats. I am stitching white on navy, structured baseball hats and with everything I have tried the edges of the columns look sloppy. I ave tried outlining the letters, but that looks crowded and messy. The letters are not reall small- .45. I have tried density from 4- 2.5. I have edge walk and zigzig underlay. I have tried about 5 different melco and non-melco fonts with the same issues. Any ideas?

AND when is this cruise and is there still room?

[Juli in Kona]

Have you tried a smaller needle? Try a #10

Juli in Kona

[Rod or Sharon]

Gini,

Are you using any backing and if so how much? What fonts? What pull comp is being used, if any? Minimum column width?

Where is your "Auto lower limit" setting for auto activ-feed

Where do you have your presser foot set at?

Are you hooping the caps tightly enough? Watch the video that we made with Herb Acree. It is on the Amayausers web. Hooping tightly is important.

How tight is the bobbin?

Zig zag, double or single, together with edge walk or without? What stitch length and border% in the edge walk?

Check the archives, there has been a lot of chatter about the cruise these past few months...not too long ago Tina mentioned that there were still some rooms available.

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer

[Gini]

Well, I tried a 10 needle and it looks much better but the thread shreds and breaks about 4 times per letter.
I am not using backing because the hat is structured with pretty still backing in the front section. Maybe I will try adding backing next.

I am using Melco Block, its .51, I have switched to Fill stitch, pull comp is 120% min width 12 min st length 4. Edge walk 30pt 7% and ziz zag 25 pt 70%

[Juli in Kona]

So, I jut have to ask - If you are using fill and the min width is 12 (I assume that's mm), Does it look like fill or satin? Why aren't you just going with satin?

Juli in Kona

[signman]

I'd set minimum stitch lenght to 10...and stitch density to 4.5 or HIGHER, not lower! Your hat is moving in 3 directions and you can't get as thick a density for lettering-that's where a lot of your thread breaks come from.
Short stitches 'off', NO additional underlayment on the lettering unless your font 'list' tells you to, sew at 700-800 and raise it only until thread breaks start again, then back off.

[signman]

Backing might help...because the backing gets 'clamped' down along with the hat face-but the hat face will get sewn 'to' the backing-preventing even more movement. Hat by itself has a lot of play in it as it sews so you want to 'tie the sucker down'
to get as close to a flat, non-moving surface as you can. Less side to side movement when the needle goes through, less chafing of the thread on the needle plate.