Caps

lynn sherman · February 5th, 2011, 10:00 AM

I'm a newbie to embroidering. I'm using a SWF 1501. I'm having trouble with hats, when I sew on flat surfaces design comes out great, but when I do it on hats, it comes out terrible, do I need to get designs digitized specifically for hats. Thank you for any suggestions with this...

Stitches 13

sharpsight · February 5th, 2011, 11:27 AM

Lynn, there are difference is digitizing a design for a cap vs flat. Also, are you changing your needle plate to the cap one? On the SWF 1501 there is also a menu setting that you have to toggle from flat to cap.

shellyky · February 5th, 2011, 12:30 PM

in addition to changing your needle plate, and putting it on the cap setting, and the reduced density, youll generally need to "puff up/widen" the stitches to overcompensate for the thickness of the hat material (in my experience). Also you should sew from the middle, out when possible, otherwise you could start to see 'pleating' of the hat.

cnasherman · February 5th, 2011, 04:38 PM

"youll generally need to "puff up/widen" the stitches to overcompensate for the thickness of the hat material (in my experience). Also you should sew from the middle, out when possible, otherwise you could start to see 'pleating' of the hat."

How do you accomplish both of these....new to embroidery myself.

lynn sherman · February 5th, 2011, 05:42 PM

Thank you for the helpful suggestions on the caps. I need to be more specific in describing the problem I'm having; the cap is centered and the trace is fine, when I sew designs that are under 1 1/2 inches in heighth they sew out okay, anything 1 1/2 inches or larger I run into the following problem: when sewing in the Y axis the cap peak/bill hits the plastic cap guard on the machine, holding it back, and distorts the design, and also while sewing out the top, it hits the crown and distorts the design.

shellyky · February 5th, 2011, 06:54 PM

usually 2" tall is the max i can safely do on a hat without any problems. also try to bend your bill flat (or close at least) before you sew it, that helps with the deflection off the 'guard' on the back and helps you get a more uniform sew.

lynn sherman · February 5th, 2011, 10:48 PM

ShellyKy, thank you for your advice, I shall certainly try bending the bill.

lynn sherman · February 6th, 2011, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharpsight

Lynn, there are difference is digitizing a design for a cap vs flat. Also, are you changing your needle plate to the cap one? On the SWF 1501 there is also a menu setting that you have to toggle from flat to cap.

Sharpsight, thank you for your info, however, I could not find the menu setting to toggle from flat to cap. I also watched the training CD (cap section) for my machine and it did not mention this menu setting from flat to cap. I have the SWF T1501C, may I have some detailed instructions on finding this menu setting and switching from flat to cap. I appreciate all the help I can get in my learning process.

shellyky · February 6th, 2011, 10:15 PM

Machine button, machine setting or machine function (cant remember) then it should say CAP(1) FLAT (0) i believe....1 for cap...some people claim they do not change the setting when doing hats, I think it must just turn the design 180 degrees automatically when you load it in AFTER you turn it to cap mode--because i have forgotten before to put it on cap and noticed no difference. I could be wrong.

cnasherman · February 7th, 2011, 05:29 PM

"youll generally need to "puff up/widen" the stitches to overcompensate for the thickness of the hat material (in my experience). Also you should sew from the middle, out when possible, otherwise you could start to see 'pleating' of the hat."

How do you accomplish both of these....new to embroidery myself.