[Guide] Selling Custom POD Embroidered Hats

Imagine this, you wake up and realize you only have 10 minutes to get ready. What you do next won’t come as a surprise – you reach for a hat. You whisper to yourself, “Hat day it is!”.
Have you been faced with a similar scenario before? Life happens, ain’t that right?
Start selling hats – get started today! We have plenty of hats that your customers can choose from.
Let’s dive on in and look at some of the most sold hats and the reasons why you should add hats to your online catalog.

Introduction

Embroidery and direct-to-garment printing are two completely different processes. To put this in perspective t-shirt design won’t work as a hat design.
Complicated designs are too difficult to embroider – our machines only have a certain capacity to embroider your designs.
With embroidery – less is technically more. Use bold designs with thick lines to achieve the best embroidered look.
Additionally, embroidery has limited color options. Please do not include shading in your designs.
If you are planning to use multiple colors, please make sure your designs have a large enough details for our machines to properly embroider your designs.
We offer 16 different colors. We suggest using no more than a 2 color gradients.

• Royal Blue – R:0, G:85, B:149
• Athletic Gold – R:249, G:179, B:36
• White – R:228, G:232, B:255
• Forest Green – R:45, G:74, B:56
• Orange – R:237, G:85, B:46
• Columbia Blue – R:59, G:123, B:176
• Red – R:180, G:34, B:50
• Purple – R:106, G:85, B:149
• Gray – R:116, G:125, B:135
• Brown – R:82, G:56, B:52
• Navy Blue – R:46, G:60, B:74
• Black – R:47, G:48, B:50
• Kelly Green – R:0, G:124, B:73
• Maroon – R:108, G:47, B:65
• Silver – R:169, G: 176, B:177
• Old Gold – R:202, G:140, B:63

For our visual observers, we have a cheat sheet below.

 

Best Practices ​

• Stick to fonts that are larger than .18″ in height
• Solid font if smaller than 1”
• No drop shadow or outlines around the text if it is smaller than .5″ in height
• Fill all objects containing negative space under .2” W x .2” H (transparencies) with a solid color

NOTE: Distressed fonts may be simplified without notice to the seller or customer.

Dimensions​

Embroidery file size: 4″ width x 2.4″ height
When editing embroidery files, stay within the actual embroidery area dimensions.
Scenario 1:  If your artwork is 2.4″ in height, the artwork will not be stretched to 4″, it will stay proportional to its size.
Scenario 2: If your artwork is 4″ in width, the artwork will not be stretched to 2.4″, it will stay proportional to its size.
Please we can’t stress this enough, always order samples before you start selling a new designs:
Shopify Sample Order Instructions 
WooCommerce Sample Order Instructions 

File Formats ​

• High resolution .png (with transparent background)
• .jpg files (minimum 1200x1200px at 300 dpi)
• Photos taken from a cell phone at 72dpi
• Vector formats .ai, .svg, and .eps

Top Selling Products

Twill Cap

Twill cap is considered to be the standard hat,  sometimes referred to as a baseball cap.

Snapback

Our snapbacks are six panel wide hats, with a flat brim and adjustable back.
This hat is popular among individuals who express interest in music festivals, raves, and concerts.
Snapback pulls the whole outfit together and protects the individual from the beating sun. They are considered to be rave classics.

Trucker Hat

Whether you call it a trucker hat, mesh or netback cap it’s still considered to be a baseball cap.
We like to think about trucker hats as prime promotional goodies. Many companies giveaway trucker hats during events and social gatherings.
Because of its lightweight design, trucker hats are popular gear among outdoor enthusiasts.

Baseball Cap

Baseball hats may be a 39-year-old invention but this simple hat continues to break through all kinds of fashion trends.

Dad Cap

Dad caps aren’t just for dads anymore. They provide a comfortable everyday fit.

Slouchy Beanie

Beanies can compliment an outfit in a way no other hat can.
Beanie is a popular staple of a winter wardrobe.

Do’s & Dont’s

Avoid Small Details

Embroidery comes with detail  limitations. Your designs should not include thin lines or intricate details.

Avoid Small Text

To ensure that your design has legible text, artwork must be a certain dimentions – 4″ x 2.4″ Max.

Avoid Gradients

Gradients are NOT possible with embroidery. Divide the colors and math them to our thread colors.

Avoid Using Negative Space

Designs with negative space can result in scrunched fabric. We recommend that you fill negative spaces with a solid color to avoid design problem.
See an example of how to fix gradient and negative space below.

• No Gradients Allowed
• Small Negative Spaces Allowed

• Negative spaces were color-matched to our thread colors
• Color was added to fix small negative spaces

Additionally, we do NOT recommend using photos on embroidery garments. Photos are significantly modified into simple shapes and WILL NOT look anything like your original image.

Design Inspiration

Inspirational

Every once in while the mood changes. Everyone needs something to look up to – a word that speaks to the soul.
An inspirational message can be just about anything.
You might be surprised but the right design change someone’s world.

Food

Food is one of those things that people love to talk about.
Generally, people find common interests through food conversations.
People will fall head over heels for hats that portray little icons of food just to show the world what they are about.

Animals

OK, OK! Pets are like friends!
Your customers will welcome the idea of having their favorite animal with them at all times.
Additionally, you can appeal to outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy hunting wild-game.

To Wrap This Up

Now that you know everything there is to know about embroidery, go on give it a shot!
We suggest ordering a few samples before you start selling to get a better idea of how our embroidery machines work.
Plus samples can be used for brand ambassador marketing – I call this a win-win situation.