Custom caps
Custom caps NZ crews wear, with your logo stitched in
Custom hats NZ-wide with your logo stitched into the front panel. Caps and hats are the one thing we decorate by embroidery only — there is no cap press here yet — so everything on this page is embroidered caps, beanies and bucket hats, not printed ones. We supply the blanks or decorate the headwear you already have.
Decorated in Glenfield, couriered to you — Mon–Fri 8:30am–5:30pm.
Before you ask
- What we do
- Decorate your garments — we are not a hat shop
- Methods
- Embroidery only on headwear — no cap press here yet
- Minimum order
- None — one cap is a real order
- Delivery
- Couriered NZ-wide, South Island included
Brands we decorate — garment brands we supply and decorate, not our clients
The range
Embroidered hats, trucker caps to beanies
New Zealand hat ranges come off a short list of wholesalers, so the real choice is crown shape, panel count and closure rather than brand. Caps and hats take a logo differently depending on how the front is built, which is the thing worth knowing before you pick one. Every style below is decorated the same way: stitched, in-house, on our own machine.
Trucker caps
Trucker caps NZ crews ask for by name: a foam or twill front, a mesh back, and a snapback closure. The structured front panel is the easiest surface in the whole range to stitch a dense logo onto, which is why so many businesses land here without meaning to.
Structured six-panel caps
The classic baseball shape with a stiffened front. The mens caps NZ suppliers stock in this cut hold their shape through a season on site, and the stiffener behind the front panel is what stops a heavy logo puckering the fabric.
Flexfit and fitted caps
The flexfit caps NZ businesses order suit a crew who want a cap that actually fits rather than one that sits on an adjuster. No closure at the back, sized S/M and L/XL, and the stretch band means the stitching needs to sit clear of the seam so it does not pull when the cap goes on.
Beanies
A ribbed acrylic beanie hat is the winter default for outdoor crews, and custom beanies stitch up well as long as the logo is sized for a knit rather than a woven front. Pom beanies work the same way. A white beanie shows every mark on a worksite, so most trades order dark and keep the pale ones for the office.
Bucket hats and wide brims
Sun cover for outdoor work, groundskeeping and summer events. The crown is soft, so a logo goes smaller and sits on the front or the side rather than wrapping. Popular for clubs and for anyone whose crew is outside all day.
Dad caps and unstructured fronts
A soft, low-profile front with no stiffener. Custom hats in this shape read casual rather than corporate, and custom embroidered hats on an unstructured front need a lighter stitch count so the panel does not collapse around the logo.
We do not print, press or put a transfer on headwear, and the reason is a machine rather than an opinion. Pressing a cap needs a cap press — a curved plate built for the job — and a flat press cannot make even contact on a seamed, curved crown. We have not bought a cap press yet. So if you need a full-colour printed cap, we are not the right shop for it and we will tell you that rather than talk you into stitching.
Thread also has limits a press does not. A photograph, a gradient or fine text under about 5mm will not survive being stitched at cap size, and if that is your artwork it belongs on a garment with a flat panel — t-shirts and polo shirts give it the room it needs.
Branding headwear
Custom embroidered hats: what a curved crown changes
Embroidered caps are the most constrained thing we decorate, and it is worth knowing why before you size a logo. Three things change once the surface curves.
The front panel is small and it curves
You have roughly 55mm of height and 110mm of width on a standard six-panel front, and the surface curves away in both directions. A logo that reads well on a chest at 90mm wide has to be redrawn rather than shrunk, or the detail closes up. Send the artwork early and we will tell you what it looks like at cap size before you order.
The centre seam decides the layout
A six-panel cap has a seam straight up the middle of the front. A logo centred across it will sit slightly proud where the needle crosses the join, so wordmarks that are wide and short handle it better than tall stacked ones. On a five-panel or a trucker front there is no seam and the whole panel is usable.
Structured, unstructured and knit all behave differently
A stiffened front carries a dense logo with no backing. An unstructured dad cap needs the stitch count kept down or the panel collapses around the design. A knit beanie stretches, so the logo is stitched onto a backing and sized to sit flat when the hat is on rather than when it is lying on a bench.
Personalised caps, beanies and bucket hats are all stitched here on our own machine, from a stitch file we make once and keep. Names on individual caps are their own job rather than a repeat of the logo, so they are quoted per cap — send the list with the sizes and the names are priced into the number you get back.
Two ways to start
Get your crew into caps that match everything else
Most quotes go back the same business day. There is no obligation and no minimum order.
Or call 021 082 12843 — Mon–Fri 8:30am–5:30pm.
What happens next
- 1. You send rough numbers and what the team does.
- 2. We come back with garment options and a price per garment, decoration included, usually the same business day.
- 3. Once you go ahead, we confirm logo size and placement in writing before anything is stitched.
How it works
From artwork to a boxed run
Custom caps run to the same three steps as everything else we decorate. Getting logo hats in Auckland right is mostly about settling the artwork size before anything is stitched.
Step 1
Send the artwork and the numbers
A style code if you have one, or just "black trucker caps, about thirty". Send the logo in whatever form you have it. We will come back with what it looks like at cap size, which is the one thing that surprises people about headwear.
Step 2
We quote it per cap, decoration included
One price per cap per run with the stitching already in it, plus a one-time setup if we have not already set your logo up for headwear. We will say which crown shapes suit the artwork and where the logo can sit on each of them.
Step 3
You approve it, then we decorate it
Size and position confirmed in writing before anything is stitched. Then the order is embroidered here, packed and couriered out with tracking.
A price for headwear is an estimate until the logo is digitised. The exact stitch count — and with it the final price — is only known once a one-time setup has turned your artwork into a stitch file, and on a cap that setup usually involves redrawing the logo for a smaller, curved surface rather than just converting it. That is why headwear needs its own file even when we already stitch your logo on polos — a curved, seamed front has to be stitched from the middle outwards, and a file built for a flat garment puckers on it. The cap setup is charged once and kept on record, so reorders for new starters skip it entirely.
Who we stitch headwear for
Custom hats go to three kinds of customer more than any others, and each wants something different out of them.
Questions
Questions people ordering custom caps ask
If yours is not here, ask when you request a quote and you will get a straight answer.
Can you print on caps?
No — headwear here is embroidered only. Pressing a cap needs a cap press, which is a different machine from the flat press we run: it has a curved plate built to make even contact on a seamed crown, and a flat one cannot. We have not bought a cap press yet. So every cap, beanie and bucket hat that leaves here has its logo stitched in. If your job genuinely needs a printed cap, say so and we will tell you straight rather than steer you into stitching.
Do you supply the caps, or do I?
Either. We source blanks from the same NZ wholesalers that supply most custom caps with a logo in Auckland, or you send us headwear you have already bought and we decorate that. If your crew already wears a cap they like, there is no reason to change it just to get a logo on it — send a couple through and we will tell you whether the front panel will carry your artwork.
How big can a logo go on a cap?
Around 55mm tall by 110mm wide on a standard structured front, and less on a soft crown or a beanie. That is the real constraint on personalised embroidered hats and it catches people out, because a logo that looks fine on a polo chest has about half the room here. Wide, short marks work best. Fine text under about 5mm will close up no matter how carefully it is stitched, so we will usually suggest dropping a tagline rather than shrinking it.
Do you do beanies as well as caps?
Yes, and they are a large part of what goes out over winter. The branded beanies Auckland trades order are usually a ribbed acrylic in a dark colour, stitched on the cuff so the logo sits flat when the hat is turned up. Hospitality goes lighter — the embroidered beanies Auckland hospitality crews wear tend to be finer knits in black. The stitching is done on a backing either way, because a knit stretches and an unbacked logo distorts the first time someone puts the beanie on.
How long does it take?
Roughly 5 to 21 working days from artwork approval. A reorder of embroidered caps in Auckland, with the file already on record and stock on the shelf, sits at the quick end. A new logo, a new blank or a run that needs caps brought in sits at the slow end. If you have a hard date — an event, a season opener, a trade show — say so when you ask and you will get an honest answer about whether it is achievable rather than an optimistic one.
Do you deliver outside Auckland?
Yes — North Island and South Island, rural addresses included. We stitch in Glenfield on Auckland's North Shore and everything ships from there with tracking, so a run heading to Christchurch, Wellington or Dunedin arrives on an overnight or two-day courier depending on the address. Ordering from an Auckland decorator costs you a courier leg and nothing else.
Can I come and pick it up?
No. There is no shop, no showroom and no walk-ins — the workshop is not set up for visitors. Everything goes out by courier with tracking, Auckland included, so the answer is the same wherever you are.
What do custom caps cost?
Every job is quoted, so there are no prices published here. The blank you pick moves the price most, then the stitch count in your logo, then how many you order. A very small order also carries a handling charge, since the setup behind a job is much the same for one cap as for fifty. Send rough numbers and the artwork and you will get a price per cap back, usually the same business day.
Send us the logo and the numbers
Usually same-business-day replies, Mon–Fri. One cap is a real order.