Sewing on Patches to Hats with Embroidery Machine

[KevinO]

Hello! I wasn't able to find a thread that went over this, but we are having hell of a time with sewing on Patches onto hats. Here is our current process:

- We run the square stitch on the hat
- We apply a mist adhesive to the back of the patch
- Line the patch onto the hat

We are just having an issue with consistency. I have uploaded a picture of what we are getting and another picture from a previous embroider.

We are using Tajimas.

Any suggestions are appreciated as we are fairly new at embroidery and keep getting requests for patch applications.

Thanks!

[mk162]

I used to take these to an alterations shop and have them done.  They had better control with a regular sewing machine.  Are any of your employees good on a regular sewing machine?  They may be able to do a better job.

[cleveprint]

we also have had zero success doing this. we just order them with adhesive now and heat press them to the hat.

[KevinO]

I used to take these to an alterations shop and have them done.  They had better control with a regular sewing machine.  Are any of your employees good on a regular sewing machine?  They may be able to do a better job.

We do sewing on a regular basis here and apply patches to flat items such as jackets all the time. I'll have to ask our team if they are able to do these hats on our sewing machines, but didn't think it would be possible due to the structure of the hat.

[zanegun08]

One at a time, hold them on by hand in addition to spray adhesive.

It sucks, but heat pressing smashes out the embroidered patch, and isn't very permanent anyhow.

It all depends on the patch, but we do this so much that I'm trying to get a couple single heads in here just for running samples and patches, you also gotta design your stitch line to compensate for the curvature of the hat with a little negative arch in most cases.

Basically it's a PITA, China gets to do them on flat pieces before the hat is constructed, doing them domestic with good quality is a slow process.

[mooseman]

Ok here is the hard way which is typical when sewing hats.......
Digitize a file that has two stitch patterns the first in a color say red is the exact same size as the patch ,the second that is the sew down stitch in a different color so you basically have the exact patch outline followed by the desired sew down stitch.

The only purpose of the exact outline stitch is to allow you to trace the design while you watch the tracking relative to the patch edge.
Your design should have two different colors for the outline and the sew down. When you program your machine program the same color for both stitches. That way your machine will auto stop when the design calls for a color change and the machine instruction calls for the same color  to continue.
Add the patch to the cap with fabric adhesive so it is fixed in proper place.
Hope the hat and run a trace , you can even use the float option and advance the design one stitch at a time by operating the start button each time.
This is called Float on my SWF may be called something different on. Tajima but I assure you it is there.
If the outline follows the edges of the patch correctly  exactly you are good  to go with the sew down part of the design. If it does not loosen the hat from the cap frame while on the machine adjust and  reclamp and  retrace.
If the trace is good then fire up the machine and complete the design. If not simply start over again and again. By the time you get good at it you will have finished the job

. Your machine speed should be 400 to 500 RPM but no more
Yes it is a PITA but so is seeing the patch like your picture shows.
Good luck
mooseman

[projay]

So it looks like the the problem that's occurring here is that your outline stitch is basically "rolling" the cap and possibly that's why your not getting consistent results.

So what you'll have to do is tack that cap down to your backing by first digitizing some underlay stitches within the boundary of the patch.
So now that the area is tacked down then continue on with your outline stitch and this should give you consistent results.

-Jay

[KevinO]

Awesome, thanks for all the input! I will definitely have to stop and take the time to figure this out.

[screenxpress]

Not being an embroider I probably should just keep quiet, but am too old to start now ...........................

Going to the store on "their" hunting website shows their merchandise.  I see shirts and there are no black borders making their logo stand out.  And at the very bottom are 3 hat images (image inserted) that do not have the black patch outline like the ones on the top.

So......here's my question.  Due to the difficulty of sewing, not to mention the (really ugly to me) appearance with the black background, and the fact they already have hats without the black outline patch indicating the black box is not part of their corporate logo, have you thought about suggesting to just embroider and not use the patch?   

I think just the embroidering like the bottom 3 hats looks a lot "cleaner"

Interestingly enough, I see no product they are selling that would justify me spending 19.99 to buy a hat with a logo representing 3 guys who evidently have access to some awesome hunting property and hunting stock.  Maybe I'm just jealous 

My 2c, before inflation.