Crown
Crown is the front dome part of the hat, in another word, the bottom of the hat to the top of the head. It is made by sewing together triangular panels, usually, six or five panels could be made by various fabrics.
Tips:
Since hat’s crown represents most of what you see, usually it’s the main area for embroidery and customization on caps.
Tips:
When we talk about structured or unstructured caps, we mean if the crown of the cap has a buckram fused to the inside of the cap or not.
Structured caps have the buckram to keep the front ridged.
Panels
Panels are the fabric pieces used to create the top shape of the cap. Most are six or five panels in a baseball cap.
Five panels caps are mainly used for the trucker caps or caps that want screen printing or sublimation decorations on the front panels.
Panels are sewn together with threads matching or contrasting the color of the cap material to create different styles.
Top button
Top Button is made by metal or plastic covered with fabric that attached directly on the top center of the hat and connecting panels together.
Tips:
The Button color can match the color of the cap or in a different color to enhance the style.
Eyelet
Eyelets are small holes in each dome panel, for increased ventilation and style.
Tips:
Eyelets could be sewn on borders or on metal grommets, which matching cap’s color or in a contrasting color.
Sweatband
The sweatband is the fabric used on the inside bottom of hats to wick moisture away and keep your cap looking clean and dry.
Sweatband materials range from standard cotton to high-performance fabrics with a very comfortable feeling.
Tips:
Sweatband could also be decorated with clients Logo to enhance brand awareness.
Bill (also called Brim or Visor)
It’s the piece that extends out from the crown of the cap to shade you from the sun or elements.
The bill is normally curved or can be flat as in Snapback Caps. Bill is plastic and inlaid between two pieces of fabric.
Tips:
A contrasting sandwich could be created by attaching another piece of fabric along the front of the bill between the top and the bottom fabric.
The sandwich fabric is normally in a contrasting color and could be printed with the logo for customization.
Flip-style bill (sometimes called trimmed bill) is another decoration method which similar to Sandwich Bill.
It uses a contrasting color of fabric on the bottom of the bill and folds it up over just the edge of the top bill.
Stitches on the bill could range from 4 rows to 8 rows.
Back closures
Closure help caps fit properly and can impact the final look of the product. There are a variety of closures could be used on adjustable caps.
Most common types of closures are hook and loop – it’s an industry term for the trademark of Velcro, Adjustable V Clip (also known as sliding buckle), deluxe locking brass buckle or plastic snap (used on Snapback Caps and Trucker Caps often).
Tips:
Flex Fit or Stretch to Fit Cap has no closure style.
Brass buckle could be embossed.
Profile
When someone talks about the profile, they are talking about how closely the cap follows the lines of the forehead. It means the angle of the front panels.
A High profile cap extends beyond the forehead with angles almost straight up the front crown, while low profile cap will fit snugly to the forehead.
Tips:
The structure of a cap is determined by the amount and flexibility of addition of buckram in the front panels of the cap.
Stiffer buckram gives the cap a higher profile with more body and more inner support for the panels.
Buckram
Buckram is a stiff woven fabric that is used to structure the front two panels of the crown. This helps it to stand prominently upright.
Tips:
For a more casual and relaxed looking cap, such as Dad Cap, the buckram should be skipped in favor of a more pliable, comfortable fit.
