Many embroiderers avoid knit beanies altogether because they don't know the best way to work with them. The loose knit and nappy surface makes them nervous — which is unfortunate because they are simple to embroider and, especially during this time of year, they sell like hotcakes.
Beanies can boost sales for any embroiderer whose shop is located in cooler climates. They are good “throw-in” items that can be used to generate additional sales after the first order. Just stitch a customer’s logo on a beanie and include it as a freebie with their order. The investment is small, but the payoff can be big. The loose knit leaves a textured surface, so you may want to use a piece of water-soluble topping. Also, because they are knit, beanies require heavy stabilization. Normally on goods this stretchy, you should use a cutaway stabilizer. Because of the nature of beanies, however, you must use heavy tearaway stabilizer.
Most of the care in dealing with beanies is in hooping them.
Because of where the design is placed — typically at the edge of the beanie — the cap will not be hooped completely in the hoop. I hoop beanies about three-quarters of the way in the hoop. The stabilizer, of course, covers the entire hoop. Having it fully framed provides the necessary stability. Once the design begins sewing, the first few underlay stitches secure the cap to the stabilizer and it will not move.
Another thing to watch for when hooping a beanie is how much it is stretched during hooping. If it is overstretched, your embroidery will look as if it sank into the cap. If the beanie is too loose, the design will be distorted as it sews. I try not to worry about the stretch too much while I am hooping. I don’t pull it too tight to make it stretch, nor do I try to keep it from stretching while it is being hooped. The normal amount of stretch that occurs during hooping should be adequate for the design to sew correctly. It usually matches the amount of stretch the beanie will go through when it is put on someone’s head.
Another funny thing about beanies is design placement, which is usually near the edge. What makes this tricky is that there are two general types of knit beanies: cuffed and not cuffed.
Cuffed beanies are longer — typically 12 inches or so — and folded over at the bottom, while short beanies (8-9 inches) are not. The shorter (uncuffed) beanies are sewn upside down as the cap is loaded with the bottom of the beanie toward the back of the machine.
The cuffed beanies are sewn right side up. When hooped, they should be turned inside out because the folded edge that shows (when it is being worn) is actually on the inside of the cap. That end of the beanie should be hooped so that it is loaded with the top edge toward the back of the machine. Though it sounds confusing because the cap is inside out, remember that the edge on this type of beanie is actually the top of your design.
Knit beanies can be easy to work with. If the toughest part about embroidering knit beanies is remembering which way you should turn the design, then they shouldn’t be much of a problem at all — and they have the potential to boost your sales when you add them to your product line.
