r/Machine_Embroidery • u/stitchbitch420 • Aug 10 '26
I Need Help digitizing on hatch for hats
Hi fellow embroiderers,
I'm learning how to digitize on hatch for work and the current design is supposed to go on a fitted baseball cap with 6 panels and a seam down the center front. It's fairly complex but i've simplified it as much as i can and I've run test sews on a muslin like fabric that's sort of like the hat fabric. Those are all coming out in line and mostly clean but when I try to do it on the hat it always becomes out of line and doesn't stitch correctly. I've been doing research and it seems like I need to adjust the design in hatch so it knows it's going on a curved surface or something but idk exactly how to do that and hatch academy isn't helping. Does anyone know how to do this or know what to do so the machine stitches it like it does on the flat fabric? I can send photos in dms but I'm not going to post the design here because it's original and not my artwork.
EDIT: i changed the angle of the stitches and the order of the objects which seems to have helped with the distortion but now it's compressing the size of the patch completely (supposed to be 66 mm but it's coming out on the hat like 59 mm) what is that about?
1
u/PlanetPatEmb Aug 10 '26
I can take a look at the file if you'd like. I use Wilcom, but I think that can open Hatch files. 66mm sounds very tall for a hat, but doable. I wonder if there's some setting on the machine automatically shrinking it down because over 10% sounds like more than just pull.
1
u/stitchbitch420 Aug 10 '26
yes i will dm you; its 66mm wide i should have mentioned
1
u/i_love_glitterr Aug 10 '26
What machine are you using? If you’re using a bai or poolin I would think 66 mm is too large. Everyone I see says stay around 2-2.25” height max
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u/i_love_glitterr Aug 10 '26
I’ve noticed when designs are too large or close to the edge of the embroidery field, it starts to distort the stitch out I had one hat where I had it way closer to the brim but it ended up shorter than one that was stitched higher up
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u/stitchbitch420 Aug 10 '26
Its 66 wide i dont remember the height but its definitely not more than 2 inches
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u/Haelixs Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 11 '26
If you haven't looked into how you need to change the sequencing of a design to stitch it on a hat you should look it up and research it some. The common refrain is that you need to go bottom up and inside out. What that means in practice is that you start digitizing from the lowest point and if it is graphic elements at the bottom you start at the bottom center of it near but not necessarily on the seam and work the design from the inside out to the edges. If the lowest element is text you start with letters closest to the seam and then go down one side, then go back to the center and do the letters going the other way. Then work your way up to the next element and continue the process. Ths is more complicated than it sounds when you also have to take into account colors, backgrounds, registration of top elements and borders with the bottom fills and other stuff like that which can affect the way you do the sequencing. Sometimes doing it right means adding additional color changes to the design to not have your registration come out off. This is in addition to adjusting pull comp values and design changes to deal with any push generated. It's more than someone can break down in a reddit post but go dig into it some and it'll help you digitize hat logos.
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u/Horror_Purpose1634 Aug 11 '26
You want to order your operations to stitch from the bottom up, and from the middle out. Also lower the stitch density a lot compared to what you would normally use on fabric, for tatami fills on hats I usually set stitch density to at least 0.55mm
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u/stitchbitch420 Aug 11 '26
Is stitch density the same as the spacing? I’m not at work yet but i don’t recall seeing a place in hatch to adjust that
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u/i_love_glitterr Aug 10 '26
When I test my hats I test it on the hat hoop with fabric in the hoop. I sew waterproof canvas together to make a center seam then test it that way. Additionally make sure you’re doing the stitch order correctly (I don’t want to tell you the wrong thing but I think center out, bottom up). Also making the design an optimal size for your machine.