Cap Embroidery Machine
3D Embroidery Costs and ROI
How much can you make with a cap embroidery machine?
Custom embroidered caps are BIG business right now, and 3D embroidery on caps is at the top of that game.
Using the new Avance 1501C from ColDesi, we’ll give you the inside scoop on what it takes to make a super-profitable custom cap – and just HOW profitable that can be.
There are 3 Steps to Cap Embroidery:
Step 1: Design
Step 2: Sew Out
Step 3: Finish
Step 1: Designing for Cap 3D Embroidery
Designing for embroidery of any kind is called “Digitizing.” If you’re doing it yourself, you would start with a graphic or customer logo as we did for this example, and then either convert it to an embroidery file or have a service do that.
Most people getting into the custom cap embroidery business with the Avance 1501C commercial embroidery machine opt to get Liberty digitizing software along with it – and that comes with training too.
But there are a few things that you need to know about 3D embroidery on caps specifically:
You MUST design it to be embroidered from the middle of the design out. That’s different than the usual design process for a flat item. You do that so it is perfectly centered on the cap, handles the middle seam better, and fights any movement during embroidery.
You have to design for using 3D Foam. To make a 3D design, you sew the foam onto the cap. It’s hidden under the stitches for the most part, but it does require you to put specialized digitizing into your design to accommodate the foam.
Because 3D embroidery is a little different than your standard left chest logo, many experienced embroidery pros will send out their 3D, or even all their cap designs, to a digitizing specialist.
For our return on investment example, we used our ColDesi-Graphics.com services.
That process went like this…
Hiring a Digitizer for Caps
We sent our full ColDesi logo to the team at coldesi-graphics.com and asked them to pick out JUST the text “ColDesi”.
Our instructions were that it was for a six-panel trucker hat, that we needed it in 3D and that we’d like it done in one of the Royal Thread colors.
ColDesi-Graphics.com is a premium service. So, they don’t just do the designing/digitizing on-screen and send you a file to test. The actually SEW OUT THE DESIGN! Make changes, and Sew it out Again.
That’s hugely valuable!
Here’s the picture they sent of the sew out three days later [we could have rushed it, but there was no need].
So you can see the depth, the color we had requested, and that it sews out beautifully.
When our embroiderers sewed this onto a cap it was perfect the first time.
The actual design/digitizing cost was $36.08. That included their test sew out you see above. Some companies charge for this separately and some incorporate it into the original job cost. For this RO (return on investment) we’ll assume a separate charge for it.
We now use our ColDesi-Graphics service for 99% of our digitizing!
Step 2: The “Sew Out” – Sewing onto the Cap
In addition to quality digitizing, you also need a QUALITY cap. You’ll see the part number in the ROI profit calculation, but we bought an excellent six-panel hat from colmanandcompany.com for $4.10.
The Avance 1501C comes with 2 Cap Frames, which are the hoops you use to embroider on caps. For hooping, you will need to tear away cap backing, 3mm foam a similar color to your thread and some tape. So you would “hoop” your cap as shown in the webinar video below and load it onto the machine.
On the full-color touch screen, select the cap hoop, then select your thread color (we chose a Royal brand blue polyester thread, and then trace your design.
Once you hit the start button, it takes around 10 minutes to sew out this particular design.
Here’s where you can really tell the quality of the digitizing AND the embroidery machine. The Avance 1501C cap embroidery machine sewed out the design on the first try, no thread breaks, easy-peasy.
