Backing for Knitted Winter Hats

[Gingerboys Embroidery]

Does anyone have a recommendation for backing materials for knitted hats (like skull caps)?

[Five Point Emb]

I always use a cutaway.
Darlene

[Bill C @ Fineline]

We use a sticky back tearaway on beanies, just turn them inside out, get the edge straight, stick a 3-4 in piece on, turn it back out, mark center with a pin & hoop using topping. Just did a bunch of them. You can ajust the machine to the position U want.

[flebow]

I guess depending on your stitch count and density you can use a tearaway (sticky or not) or a cutaway
You will generally get better registration w a cutaway than a tearaway as the fibers are longer in a cutaway (long polyester fibers for softness)
than with the short celulose fibers of a tearaway
and the threads become more eaily and tightly entangled
Cutaways come in wht and blk
Use one layer of the proper weight of a wet laid non directional, dense non woven.
We will gladly send samples Pls e-mail me direct

Fred

[signman]

We do a large batch of the high loft ski hats for a local contractor every fall-using the 6" speed frame. Posted notes on it last year...and use 3oz. tearaway with clips to hold it on the speed frame.
center the hat on the frame (inside out) so the foldup 'edge' is on the backing, gently pull the fabric as you tighten the clamp so that your 'ribs' pull back to vertical lines. The logo is some lettering but mostly large fill 'initials' for the logo. After sewout, pull the hat off, and then stretch both hands inside the hat-and the tearaway almost falls out-very little left to pick off. The client did NOT want the 'patch' affect you get with cutaway-they wanted it sewn like the commercial hats in the stores. On other clients with smaller lettering or detail, we also use a layer of solvy on top. Again, don't try picking off any solvy until you have 'stretched' the hat-you'll see all the tearaway and solvy pop right off the stitches.
Roland

[Susan Dudley]

New to doing the knit hats. What type of hoops will I need? I have the micro clamps the large and small. Please email me if this subject has been discussed to many times already.
Susan MI
[email protected]

[GF]

When following these hooping instructions, I experienced numerous thread breads. The design is fine because I've done it hundreds of time previously. I'm using a FastFrame with sticky back (the good kind), and have my auto lower limit to 15 (which is where is seems to hover). Any suggestions for what else I may check? This is problematic only in this type of hoop setup. Machine sews everything else fine. The thread just seems to pull out from the needle giving me a thread break. Thread is not shredding or anything to that effect. Can't seem to get the tension settings right. Tried standard and the same thing happens. Better in auto...

[The Embroidery Authority - OLD]

GF,
Why would you set your Auto Thread Feed lower limit to 15 ????
Melco's default is set to 1.
Are you specifically trying to achieve a looser look???
Are you finding that the Auto Thread Feed is pulling your stitches too tight???

Ed

[GF]

1 is way too tight, so 3 is the lowest I'll go, and sometimes 5 works really well for thick materials like the knit caps. The autofill lower limit hovers at around 18 but everytime the machine stops, it starts at like 4 or something. If I change it back to 18, it's good until the next thread break. And yes I am deliberately trying to "lay" the thread on the fabric rather than clump it on. Leaving it on 1 just creates too much pull on every design, especially silk or other tightly woven fabric.

[Wishes]

Mr. Ed, the machine guy,
Would you kindly go though an explaination of the Auto Thread Feed Lower Limit. The help menu doesn't do this justice. We "play" with it all the time and really don't have a good handle on how it affects things. If you have done this before is there someplace on the list that we can find it? I think it would be a good reference to save if not done already. Thanks so much,
Margaret

[Rod or Sharon]

I'm not ED, but....

In the beginning there was the light and then Melco begat Standard Acti-feed. Standard then begat Auto Activ-feed and then all the little activ-feeds started causing problems until some controls were exercised.

Standard Acti-feed prior to Auto Acti-Feed was all we had to use. In Standard, you had to set your own material thickness setting based on the thickness of the material being sewn on. We also had to either learn to use the "Settings by Color" tool or babysit the machine to raise and lower the material thickness in Standard manually to go over , for example, the center seam on caps.

Auto Activ-feed now does this little chore for you. The thread break sensor bar/tube has two little extremely pressure sensitive crystals, one on each end, that sense pressure changes from the up and down motion of the takeup levers. Think of it like this. If you were sewing on a piece of broadcloth with no seams, then you wouldn't see much change taking place within auto acti-feed altho the amount of thread that is fed will/can/may fluctuate depending on vertical columns, horizontal columns, etc...

If you are sewing on this piece of broadcloth with some cords trapped between the backing and the broadcloth to simulate a ribbed effect, now the material thickness will change everytime it encounters one of these bumps. As the machine starts to encounter one of these "bumps" , on the upward throw of the takeup lever, the thread will be pulled tighter against the threadbreak sensor tube. This signals the machine to release more thread to compensate for this change on the next downstroke of the takeup lever. This process will continue until the maximum material thickness is reached and it starts down the other side of the bump, whereby the process is reversed..i.e., less tension, less thread.....

Auto Lower Limit.....this is nothing more than a tool that will allow you to control how low the auto acti-feed can go to. There are times, like sewing caps, that the default setting of 1, is just too low , the thread is just being pulled too tight and thread breaks and/or fraying will occur. Auto lower limit is used to control the machine from going below a given number. I will normally use a number between 6 to 12 for various styles of caps...just have to see what works for you as every machine is just a bit different.

If the Auto Lower limit is set too high, too much thread will be fed on thin materials or thick materials for that matter, as auto can go up to 40. this will cause loopy embroidery and/or false or real bobbin and/or threadbreaks....

It is a simple but complicated system that is affected by many varibles in the machine, timmings, lubrication, thread, needles, bobbin tension is a biggie and so on....

There is a lot more,but enough for now...I'll let Mr Ed go on from here....

Rod Springer
Amaya Tech & Trainer