[amayausers] Re: A class on Sewing Caps

Jimbo and all others,
        (Oh no, here goes Ed again..)
        As a tech, trainer, and an operator of the Amaya, I'll share what I know
about caps...
You must be good with your hands (dexterity) for hooping and have a good
understanding of what the fabric is doing while the machine is stitching.
What I mean is in all dimensions, "X" left to right, "Y" forward and back,
and "Z" up and down.
        I believe your thread breaks are being caused by flagging in the fabric.
But that's just a guess.


Basics on hats: (Let it be said there's no substitute for training in
person.)
        For the front of the cap..
Design must be upside down
WACF- wide angle cap frame hoop chosen in software
presser foot raised to it's highest setting- only to be re-adjusted again
before sewing cap
Material Thickness set to 8 or 10 and don't be afraid to go higher.
Bobbin detect turned off
Bobbin tension a little firmer than with flats for a structured cap- buckram
doesn't allow the thread to slide as easily     through fabric.  Unstructured
caps (like the soft "GAP Store" style) can be sewn with regular bobbin
tension.
All screws attaching WACF to machine should be snug
Change needle plate (throat plate) to the raised needle plate- necessary
when using the WACF mechanism- DEFINITELY check         needle centering here as
you won't be able to see what's happening when the cap is on the machine.
Depending on size of cap, design cannot be larger than approximately 2.25
inches.  A trucker cap might allow for more height      but a youth cap may
require you to go smaller.
Machine speed not to exceed around 850.  Sure the machine can go fast but
can the fabric keep up?  Read on...
Sharp needles- preferably 80/12s but 75/11s work okay too.

Hooping the Cap:
        If you are only doing the front of the cap, focus only on the front of 
the
cap.  If you are going to sew on the sides of the cap, only focus on the
sides.  Forget about that fancy feature of sewing 270 degrees around cap
with one hooping.  At least not until you know what you are doing.    For
the front of the cap, don't focus on getting the sides of the cap snug
around the hooping gauge (large silver hooping device that looks like a
coffee can) rather, make sure that the face of the cap is parallel to the
floor, or more specifically the needle plate.  If that means that the cap
looks like it's cock-eyed in the cap frame, that's fine as long as the
sewing area is held firm and flat to the needle plate.    A flat garment
rides the surface of the needle plate at all points of the hoop.  Sometimes
improper hooping can cause the inside of the cap to touch the needle plate
at the top of the cap (good) and not touch the needle plate near the bill of
the cap (not good).  Depending on the shape/cut of the bill this may be
harder for some.  Some folks use their muscles to forcibly reshape the bill
to what they want it to be for sewing and after they're done, simply shape
the bill back to normal with their hands.  You'd be surprised how easily
that cheap cardboard returns to it's original shape.
        You must understand that when sewing flats, the garment is held taught 
on
all sides by the hoop.  Not so with the WACF.  The WACF only holds the
fabric, (notice I refer to the cap as fabric!!) on the upper side (or lower
side depending on how you're looking at it).  Sure you use those silly
binder clips on the sides but that's not enough.  They only serve the
purpose of taking up slack in the sides of the cap.
        Hence, you must make sure that the fabric is good and tight around the 
cap
frame because that metal band combined with the fact the cap is curved will
be what keeps flagging to a minimum.  Unless you step up to backing.
        A structured cap will add stability to the fabric because of it's
stiffness.  An unstructured cap will require some tear away backing.  Here
you will want to use some spray adhesive or have some underlay stitches put
in the beginning of the design to tie the fabric to the backing.  Make sure
the backing is in fact part of what's hooped and that it is sandwiched
between the cap's sweatband and the cap frame.  Here again, you're trying to
add stability to the fabric.
        Designs with fills and long columns should be digitized to run from 
center
out.  Reason being that the fabric will move on you as it's being sewn since
it's not as stable as in a flat hoop.  For example, if you aren't happy with
a stitching's density and have the bright idea to sew over an area again, be
sure to do it right away because if you wait for the design to end and come
back to it later, the additional stitches in the design will be certain to
move the fabric in one direction or another so that the registration for the
beginning of the design will not be the same as it was the first time.  Yes,
been there, done that.
        *Note: This is why it's important to tell your digitizer what type of
fabric you're stitching on so that he or she can take the appropriate
measures.

        Before you sew, with the cap frame and cap on the machine, be sure to
adjust your presser foot height.  Some structured caps will run with the
presser foot all the way up.  Other unstructured style caps will require you
to lower it a bit.  But realize that with the raised needle plate, you
cannot run the machine with the presser foot all the way down without making
a loud hammering sound and peltering the fabric with the presser foot.  The
bottom of the presser foot should be a hair above the top of the fabric at
all times - no matter what fabric you are sewing on or what machine you are
using.

        When it comes to positioning the design, center the design LEFT TO 
RIGHT by
referencing the center seem on the cap (6 panel cap) using the laser beam.
However, the laser beam is focused on where the regular needle plate hole
would be and since the light comes down at an angle from the right side, the
higher you come up from the focus point, the more the laser beam will appear
to be to the right of where center is.  Therefore, use a pair of tweezers (I
use my fingers) to hold the fabric down to the point at which it touches the
needle plate.  While holding the fabric down, move the cap accordingly using
the jog buttons to center the laser beam.  If you really need to get
specific, simply do a presser foot check by clicking on "bottom center"
under the "Maintenance", "Head Timing" tab and this will bring the needle
down through the fabric at a point we can call "center".
        When centering the design FRONT TO BACK, one must pay attention to two
areas: the metal band strapped just above the bill and also the very top of
the cap.    You should stay about 1/2" above the metal band so that the
needle clears not only the metal band on the surface but also the cap frame
and it's metal teeth underneath the fabric.  Some folks choose to go higher
and some play it dangerously and move closer to the bill.  This is of course
depending on how you hooped your cap.  Remember that at the bill, because of
the cap frame teeth and such, the cap fabric is not low enough to touch the
needle plate.  Hence the closer you get to the bill, you are now sewing on
fabric that is on a sharp angle which can push the presser foot into the
back of the needle causing the needle to hit the needle plate and break.
You can also bend the presser foot damaging it.  Play it safe and don't try
to get too close to the cap bill until you know what you are doing.
        As for the top of the cap, as you do a design trace, focus on how much
pressure is put on the underside of the cap by the front of the needle
plate.  Although the design may look like it's traces just fine, the needle
plate might be getting in the way of allowing the fabric free movement
during the upper portion of the design resulting in poor sew quality and
messing up the rest of the design registration.  What's happening here is
the cap is trying to move WITH the pantograph but it is being hindered by an
obstruction (needle plate) and ultimately the cap is moving within the cap
frame which is what you are trying to avoid by hooping the cap tight.
        Make sure you have installed the smaller of the two sets of cap supports
(look like silver shoulder pads over the needle plate) on your cap frames
and that you aren't trying to sew too high for the style of cap you are
sewing on.  A higher profile cap will allow you to sew higher than a low
profile (more popular) cap.  Let's face it, some designs will have to be
sized smaller depending on what style cap you are running.  Remember, "can't
please all the people all the time"...
        If you have more than one Amaya, do not mix and match cap frame drivers
between machines.  Each cap frame driver has been tailored to fit one
machine at the factory.  Theoretically they should be the same but you know
how that goes- nothing's perfect in this world.
        A few final notes:  Always order a couple extra caps per run to 
practice on
until you get to a point at which you know what you are doing.  While she's
running make sure the bill isn't rubbing against the underside of the needle
case as you sew closer to the bill.  Sewing over the folded center seem will
always be a problem for the Amaya as the material thickness practically
doubles but only for a few stitches until it crosses over to the next panel.
Here is where you should educate yourself on the feature called "Settings by
color".  Or sit by the PC as the machine sews and raise the material
thickness up and down in those areas at the appropriate times.  If you do a
lot of caps, the buckram fall out in the rotary hook area can be abrasive
over time so keep this area clean and lubricate the rotary hook often.
Check your bobbin between caps as the bobbin detect feature is turned off.
Changing from one style or model cap to another on the cap frame may require
you to make wing nut adjustments accordingly to make sure that the cap
you're sewing on is snug/tight under the metal strap on the cap frame.  This
can be a pain as those wing nuts can sometimes require pliers.  Some folks
have found success using the CCF, conventional cap frame, as opposed to the
WACF, wide angle cap frame, to only do the front of caps.  It's a $250 per
frame option but definitely holds the fabric on all four sides since there's
a rectangular window for sewing.  Might be an option if all you do is cap
fronts, but be sure to get the correct size CCF for your machine.
        If I can think of anything else I may have forgotten along the way, I'll
add it later.
Sure hope this helps some of you.  I hate giving away my secrets so keep
this information to yourselves.  Okay?

Ed Orantes
Amaya Tech, Trainer & Owner
New Orleans, La.
504-258-6260
emservice@xxxxxxx



-----Original Message-----
From: amayausers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:amayausers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of
ImpressingPromo@xxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2005 11:46 PM
To: amayausers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [amayausers] Help Sewing Caps


I need some desperate advise on how to sew caps on the AMAYA.  We have had
our machine for about a month and a half.  We have figured out the sewing
flats
but these cap techniques are really tripping us up.  I have tried all of the
steps in the manual but am still having problems.  I load a design that I
know
works for hats and get about 10 stitches per thread break.  We have adjusted
the presser foot, speed, MT and cleaned the bobbin case. Any advise of what
I
am possibly doing wrong?
Thank you,

Jimbo Childs
Impressing Promotions, LLC
2575 Campus Drive
Suite 341
Klamath Falls, OR 97601
(541) 891-5748  Cell
(541) 273-5798  Office/Fax

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