baseball caps

[Mr. Sew & Sew]

Hi folks - looking for some guidance on caps.

I've shyed away from them because I have a lot of problems sewing them. I know, I know, it's my fault, not the machine, but when you get 2 or 3 good ones out of 10 in 3 hours, you move on to something that you can actually make money on.

Now I have a school of 700 students that may want 100+ of these so I am determined to either learn how to do these or at least have someone else do them for me so as not to lose the business. My first step is to find the cap I want to work with.

I'm going through the SanMar catalog trying to find a nice cap that would work for both youth and adults. It has to be Navy and there is only text going on the caps so I don't think that will be an issue. Is there a specific cap that you prefer for sewing ease? Should I assume 5 panel structured is easier to sew on than six panel because it eliminates the front seam?

thanks for all the help and advice on these boards.

Tom Dauria
Mr. Sew & Sew

[TinaK]

What you don't do hats? Man I love doing hats it is so easy on the Amaya..Make sure you watch Herb's video on the entrance page about hat hooping it will help you alot!

I do alot of the 6 panels and love them. I especially like the brushed twill caps..I believe the flexfit hats are in right now with kids, however so look at those as well. Don't know how they are with embroidering on them however.

On 6 panel just remember you can't go by where your laser is to get center you have to put the needle down to line it up with the front seam.

Watch the video and practice hooping the hats and it will become easier...

If you dont want to do them I will do them for you not a problem...

[Judy]

Hi there. I get my caps from ottocap.com, or decky.com. Never disappointed yet.

[HERB]

Just My opinion. SanMar caps are overpriced. I also think they can be more difficult to hoop than some others. A five panel is not going to interest many school age folks very much. They are more likely to want an unstructured six panel. For ease of sewing I would try to get them interested in an Otto 19-251. Really easy six panel but it is structured.

[oldkush]

If you have a single Amaya and the job will involve 100+ caps, it will be faster and more economical for you to call in the big boys with multi-head machines and have them do the job for you.

On the other hand, if you choose to do the caps yourself, digitize the lettering so that it will stitch from the center-out and bottom-up.

Most caps can be stitched fairly easy if you are using a good design AND if the cap is properly mounted in the cap frame [I think there is a video on the Amaya website showing how to hoop a cap].

As far as what type of cap .... we always let the customer choose. People can be fussy about the style of cap they like to wear and if you select the cap, you may end up picking a cap that they do not like.

Good luck

Bob

[signman]

I run all my orders over 50 to Dick up at Squeegee Printers Inc.
He's a Melco tec and has 18 Amayas-he retired a 12 head Barudan in favor of the amayas last year!
Prices are great and I order through Sanmar because they will drop ship direct to him-free freight and he gets it the next day.
I've tried Otto cap-some prices are better-but customers noticed the hats are shaped more for Zippy the Pinhead than us New Hampshire hill bumpers...LOL
So I stick with Sanmar. At case price, it's pretty compatible.
He has no problem with 5 panel over 6 panel but its all from experience. Personally, I prefer 5 panel because of that dang seam.

[Juli in Kona]

You might want to look into getting the old reg hat hoop. It will only do the front two panels (6" across) but that is mostly what I do anyway. I got just one, and I can hoop so fast that I don't think I need another one. After struggling with the 180 deg newer hoop, you will love the old one.

I have a customer who has a group of young boys (Pop Warner). He wouldn't dare try to guess what these young guys want in the way of hats. He is coming by to give me the order soon, but he said he is amazed at what they chose. DO NOT try to outguess the teenagers!!!

Juli in Kona