Can You Use Hat Logo on a Shirt and Vice Versa?
“Can a logo that was digitized for a left chest application on a shirt also be used on a hat or vice versa?” The answer to this in both cases is, maybe! However, as a general rule a design programmed for a hat will run better on a shirt than a logo programmed for a shirt will run on hat. Some of you might ask, “Then why not program everything for hats?” The answer to this is simple; hats have their own set of limitations (especially embroidery area) that may not be suitable for your other applications. Moreover, a cap logo normally runs center out & bottom up so it does not pucker on the seam. That technique will almost always add trims (a.k.a. “time”) to the embroidery process making the design less efficient than it can be for flat embroidery.
It may sound self-serving for a digitizer (who charges per design) to tell you that in many cases it is best to have one version of a design for your flat apparel applications (shirts, jackets, sweaters, etc.) and a second version for your hat applications. However, in many cases this will provide you the superior quality necessary to blow your customers away with outstanding product and service.
There are times when it is simply not possible to provide you a quality job that will work on both hats and flats. When it is possible to economize in this manner it is your programmers responsibility to let you know. However, by the same token they should also let you know when it is in you and your customers best interest to consider one version for flat work and one version for hat work.
Embroidery digitizing is not “one size fits all.” This not only applies to hats and flats it is also true to different types of flats or hats. A design programmed for a nylon jacket MAY not work well on a pique knit polo shirt or golf towel but it MAY work wonderfully on a broadcloth dress shirt. A design digitized for a wool blend flex fit hat may not work well on a poplin golf cap. Furthermore, the logo programmed for that nylon jacket MAY work well on a cap. If you have caps to spare there is certainly no harm in experimenting and is encouraged.
Also, as you gain experience you will be able to tell “just by looking” which designs may cross pollinate better than others. Here are few guidelines you can consider for a chest design to well work on a cap:
- The design must be smaller than 2.5” in height for some hat frames and 2.25” for most hat frames. There are a few machines in the market place with slightly larger sewing fields for caps.
- Designs with multiple borders around text rarely work well on caps.
- Most modern caps have a seam down the middle. This seam can play havoc with an embroidery design. For example, say you have the letter “ I “ right in the middle of a design (with nothing behind it like a fill) that letter will fall in to the seam and usually look really bad. This is NEVER the digitizers fault. You wouldn’t park your car in the middle of a canal and expect it to float, right?
- Designs with a great deal of detail and tight registration can be very tricky on hats. The reality is, caps tend to move around in the hat frame even when properly hooped. If a hat moves while it is sewing a fill then there is a really good chance when the machine comes back around to stitch the border it may not register.
Digitizers understand you might not always be aware of the final product a design will be embroidered on. Because of this programmers do their best to program as generically as possible. when switching between fabric substrates and apparel types it is vital for the consumer of digitized assets to understand that changes and edits are a part of the embroidery process. You should be prepared to have this conversation with your digitizing provider, your embroidery professional as well as your customer.
Steve Freeman
Qdigitizing.com