Beanie hats are year-round apparel and are especially popular at this time of year to fend off the cold. Winter is the perfect time to customize knit hats with embroidery as merchandise for your business. Before you start stitching, know that they can be a bit tricky to work with. Learn more about this unique cap and some troubleshooting tips for embroidering a beanie hat.

Accommodate for Stretchiness

Using a hoop to support your material is a key step, whether you’re embroidering by hand or with a commercial machine. When working with knit hats and fabric, hoops minimize the stretchiness of the material and hold it in place. Give your beanie a natural stretch when loading it into the hoop.

You should also consider the hat’s stretchiness when choosing a design. Avoid thin text and small designs that can blend into the beanie’s knit fabric. Small text could result in poor stitching quality and wasted materials.

Pay Attention to Design Orientation

You can place designs across the surface of a knit hat; however, the most common placement for embroidery customization and logos is on the folded edge of the cap. Before embroidering, consider how you want to place your design and whether you want to be able to unfold this edge. If so, you’ll need to flip the beanie inside out to ensure it lies flat during stitching. Don’t forget to invert the design so it will be right-side-up when you flip the beanie again. You can place an extra piece of tape away from your design or use a water-soluble pen to note which side of your beanie shows the true front.

Use Cutaway Materials

Many embroidery manufacturers sell cutaway backing for embroidery. Cutaway materials stabilize your design and keep it in place no matter what type of fabric you’re working with. They are especially important to use with a beanie due to the hat’s unique and flexible fabric. The cutaway backing will hold your design in one place despite the beanie’s stretchiness. Remember to tape down your cutaway backing to hold it in place while embroidering. Once your embroidery is complete, cut the excess backing to match the shape of the design.

Purchase High-Quality Beanies

Always pay attention to the quality of the beanies you customize. Your stitches will lie much better on a high-quality beanie than one made from poor materials. Embroidery is one of the most durable and long-lasting customization methods for clothing, and you want your hats to be able to last just as long.

If you’re considering starting an embroidery and customization business, remember these troubleshooting tips for embroidering beanie hats. Fortunately, you don’t need to look far for high-quality caps for your customization business. You can find beanie hats in bulk here at KBETHOS in a variety of colors, sizes, and styles. Feel free to browse our designs today!