Having a hat embroidered is a popular way of distinguishing you or your group from the rest. It is especially common in sports teams, schools, golf, and country clubs. In recent years, uniquely designed hats have started to gain momentum in the fashion industry. They give individuals a fresh look and add to an inimitable sense of style.
To achieve a unique hat that mirrors your personality, you’ll need a reliable embroidery machine to get the job done. We therefore provide you with 10 of the best embroidery machines you can use to create beautiful embroidery on hats for your friends, loved ones, or your clients.
Bernette 79 Sewing and Embroidery Machine
The Bernette 79 sewing and embroidery machine or b79 is one of our top picks if you need a machine specifically built for embroidering hats. The b79 is the top-of-the-line combo machine by Bernette and it’s capable of creating unique and specially made embroidery on different kinds of clothing like hats, shirts, dresses, and more. With an extensive embroidery area, it has multi-function knobs that are beginner-friendly for quick operation. The computer software has 500 available stitches to choose from with Stitch Designer creating endless possibilities to unlock your creativity.
This embroidery machine has a 5” colored LCD touchscreen that allows for easy navigation. It’s positioned in the center of the machine so it’s possible to select different designs and preview them before starting the embroidering process. The b79 is quite expensive but if you need a machine that can do intricate designs on hats, then you should definitely check this out. It makes easy work of uniform hats for teams, country clubs, schools, or for custom-made requests from your clients.
Ever Sewn Sparrow 30s Sewing and Embroidering Machine
The Ever Sewn Sparrow 30s is an affordable device if you’re looking for budget machines for your hat embroidery business. The machine has a blush pink and rose gold finish that looks great for all ages. The design looks pretty at any corner of your home. The Sparrow 30s is computer-controlled and offers everything you need for your embroidering and sewing needs. It has 310 stitch patterns to help personalize every project. It also includes 32 utility, 84 decorative, and 2 full alphabets.
If you have custom designs to put in your hats, the memory function of this machine allows individual combinations to be saved for future use. It can also be transformed into a free motion quilting machine for you to be able to sew a big piece on a much larger surface. The digital LCD advisor on the right side of the machine gives you all the information you need in order to start your sewing and embroidery. It shows you a view of your selected built-in stitch, stitch length, width settings, and recommended presser foot before starting the stitching process.
BTY Portable Handheld Sewing and Embroidery Machine
The BTY portable handheld sewing and embroidering machine is perfect for hobbyists and professionals who make custom-made embroidered hats for fun or for business. It’s affordable, lightweight, and comes in chic colors like pink and purple. This combo machine is recommended for beginners because it has a full range of user-friendly features to help newbies start their sewing and embroidering hobbies.
This multi-functional combo machine allows you to make quilts, prom dresses, pet clothing, dolls, crafts, hats, and more. It even allows cuffs to be made because it comes with a tube slot. The device is equipped with a LED lighting function and a needle protection cover for safety especially when beginners or children end up using it. The lighting feature also helps reduce eye strain. It has 2 power modes so you can use it by connecting to an external power cord or you can go cordless by using 4 AA batteries. This machine makes a perfect gift for everyone due to its price and sleek look. The manufacturer also includes a 6-month return or replacement guarantee which is a great addition to the purchase.
SINGER Legacy SE300 Embroidery Machine
The SINGER Legacy SE300 embroidery machine makes easy work of your hat embroidery projects because it has up to 250 built-in stitches to choose from. This includes basic, stretch, decorative, and buttonhole stitches allowing you to sew and embroider on any kind of fabric for your home décor, crafts, fashions, and more. The estimated embroidery speed of the Legacy SE300 is up to 700 stitches per minute. SINGER guarantees all your hat projects can be finished quickly without encountering any problems along the way.
This embroidery machine also makes use of an automatic threading needle that follows a threading path right on the machine. This time-saving feature helps you to automatically thread the eye of the needle and saving you frustrations and eye strain along the way. Another neat addition the Legacy SE300 has is the 200 built-in embroidery designs included on the machine. The hundreds of designs allow you to pick and choose the styles you or your clients want to patch up. You can also insert your own creations if you have ideas of your own because this embroidery machine allows you to import your designs via its USB port.
Janome Horizon Memory Craft 9850 Embroidery and Sewing Machine
The best embroidered hats usually come from the best embroidering machines. This is where the Janome Memory Craft 9850 embroidery and sewing machine come in. It’s one of the more expensive embroidery machines you’ll find online and definitely with good reason. This machine takes your imagination and creativity to the next level because of its multitude of features that you can take advantage of with just the touch of your fingers. The Memory Craft 9850 has 200 different built-in stitches to choose from, 6 one-step buttonholes, 2 fonts of European characters, and 2-3 letter monogramming functions. It also has 175 built-in embroidery designs giving you a lot of customization options for your hat ideas that other machines simply cannot compete with.
This combo machine works best for garment sewing, home décor, fabric crafting, and more. The Memory Craft 9850 also lets you import your own designs just like other machines we have on this list. It has a USB port that gives you the option to transfer your own designs into its built-in memory and patching them to your hat projects for a more customized and unique design. Lastly, it has a great sewing speed of 1000 stitches per minute and a large embroidery field of up to 8” for larger custom designs.
OMLTER Fashion Mate Electric Household Sewing & Embroidery Machine
The OMLTER Fashion Mate is a nice combo machine for hobbyists and professionals who like to embroider hats for their friends and loved ones. It’s compact so you can bring it anywhere and transport it with ease. If you’re working on a difficult hat project and you need illumination as you work, the built-in LED lighting allows you to continue your designs and see all the details even during the night. This handy feature also gives you a more accurate look for darker fabrics.
The FASHION MATE weighs approximately 15 lbs. which is lighter than most machines. It has a maximum stitching speed of 800 stitches per minute which is surprisingly fast for such a small device. This sewing and embroidery machine is one of the latest products you’ll find on Amazon. It’s great as a starter machine if you’re a beginner but it still packs a punch if you’re going to use it for your hat embroidery business.
Brother PE800 Embroidery Machine
The PE800 embroidery machine from Brother is one of several models from the same manufacturer you’ll find on this list. This particular model has one of the highest positive reviews you’ll find on Amazon because of its versatility. If you’re in the business of embroidering hats, this machine has 138 built-in designs to choose from. The designs include scrollwork, florals, quilt patterns, and a lot more. This embroidery machine also gives you the option to import your own ideas. That is because it has its own USB port to transfer your creations from design into reality.
The PE800 machine has features that are really helpful and ready for immediate use when you start it up. It has 11 fonts you can use for your monogramming and lettering projects while also having 7 English, 3 Japanese, and 1 Cyrillic font styles to embroider to a lot of different fabrics. Lastly, the large 5” x 7” embroidery field is perfect for stitching large designs, making it a versatile machine for your customized hat projects. Brother also provides a 25-year limited warranty when getting the PE800 so it’s a good investment if you’re into embroidering.
Brother SE600 Sewing and Embroidery Machine
The 2nd sewing and embroidery machine in this list from the same manufacturer is the Brother SE600. It has a 3.2” colored LCD touchscreen to aid in previewing and editing your designs before starting the embroidery process on hats and other projects. The touchscreen display also allows you to select 80 built-in designs and another 6 lettering fonts readily available for use. If you want to make your own custom embroidery, the SE600 gives you this option as you can import your own designs via its USB port.
This machine also utilizes a built-in LED light that works well when embroidering in dim areas or during the nighttime. It’s a nice utility you can use for your projects to make sure everything turns out perfect when you start the stitching process. The SE600 also has 103 available sewing stitches to mix and match and has 10 styles of auto-size buttonholes. Lastly, this device has a maximum sewing speed of up to 710 stitches per second ensuring you’ll be able to churn out a number of hats in no time.
Brother LB5000M Sewing and Embroidery Machine
The Brother LB5000M combo machine is an embroidery device that surprisingly is licensed from a popular movie franchise. This embroidery machine is licensed by MARVEL and if you’re looking for a device that can embroider your favorite superheroes into your hats in an instant, then you should definitely go for this one. It has 10 built-in MARVEL characters for immediate use. Beyond that, you also have the option to download 10 more additional superhero-inspired designs with the free code Brother includes with the purchase. This machine has 3 interchangeable faceplates to personalize your experience. These include Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man. In addition to these, there is a standard Marvel Avengers faceplate available.
To add to its versatility, the LB5000M has 80 built-in designs and 103 sewing stitches to choose from to start your embroidery process. If you want to create designs of your own, it’s also possible as you can just import your own designs via the machine’s USB port. The 3.2” colored LCD touchscreen display lets you preview your designs before you stitch them so you’re always sure your creations will come out perfect.
Brother PE550D Embroidery Machine
Last on our list of the best embroidery machines for creating beautiful headwear is the Brother PE550D embroidery machine. There are 125 designs you can use right away so you can customize your hats in whatever way you like them. Like the LB5000M, this machine also has 45 licensed designs from Disney that you can use to embroider into hats. Needless to say, this will definitely be a hit among the children.
What makes the PE550 one of our picks if you’re into hat embroidery is the fact that it has 9 fonts to choose from which includes 6 English and 3 Japanese lettering style fonts. They’re easily accessible as the machine is equipped with a 3.2” colored LCD touchscreen located on the right side of the machine. This allows you to preview anything before starting the stitching process. You can also import your own designs because this device has a USB port. Lastly, it has a 4” x 4” embroidery field and comes with a hoop, foot, and built-in alignment tools to assist you in creating the headwear projects that will stand the test of time.
Buying Guide
Embroidery Field
Having an adequate embroidery field is always a plus especially when you use it specifically for hats and other types of headwear. This provides you with versatility and freedom of movement as you can design all sorts of shapes and sizes when you have ample room to operate. As a general rule, it’s recommended to have an embroidery machine with at least a 4” by 4” embroidery field so you can have more control over your designs.
Versatility
Some of the machines we have on this list act as both sewing and embroidery machine so you don’t have to move from one machine to another. It’s a good investment to buy combo machines as you get two for the price of one. They also give you the ability to sew your favorite hats and headwear to completion and embroider them at the same time.
Customizations
Almost all embroidery machines provide you with hundreds of available stitches to choose from giving you a lot of options to create endless combinations for flashy headwear. Another neat feature you should look out for is the ability to import your own designs into the machine’s built-in memory and then turning them into reality. You’ll be able to distinguish yourself against a lot of competition if you’re capable of unique designs that not everyone can get their hands on.
Price
If you’ve reached this part of the article then you should know by now that not all embroidery machines are created equal. There are affordable machines included in this list and there are machines that are expensive that they almost feel like quite an investment. For hobbyists and casuals, it’s better to go for machines that are made for beginners since they can do the basic jobs just as well as the higher-priced models. But if you’re serious about creating perfect headwear then it’s better to go for the premium machines as they provide you with more options to go about your craft.
FAQs
How large can I embroider a hat without it looking ugly?
A common way for you to judge how your embroidered hats will look is by researching different baseball clubs’ logos on their headwear. Most hats are okay with a 2.25” maximum height and 4” maximum width embroidery. If you want a low profile, you can even go smaller than this.
Can I embroider all kinds of headwear?
If you’re wondering if you can embroider all kinds of headwear from sports caps, collegiate hats, top hats, and the like, it usually only depends on the embroidery machine that you have and the limits of your imagination. The possibilities are endless so create your own designs as you see fit.