💥 How We Turned Leatherette Scraps into Profitable Custom Hats (and You Can Too!)

At Kim & Garrett Make It, we’re always on the hunt for creative ways to turn scraps into sales—and this week’s project is hat gold. 🧢💰

In our latest YouTube video, we show you how we transformed leftover leatherette scraps from Lone Star Adhesive into UV printed, laser cut hat patches—and then turned those into finished hats we can sell for $25 each.

Sound too good to be true? It’s not. It's print and cut cash, and we’re breaking down every step so you can do it too.

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🧢 Materials We Used

Here's the full list of what we used to make these high-quality, sellable custom hats:

• Bright White Leatherette from Lone Star Adhesive — Save 10% with code KGMAKEIT10

• Richardson 112 Trucker Hats — High-quality, best-selling structured hats

• LogoJet UV Printer — For full-color, durable prints

• Aeon Nova 14 CO2 Laser — Precision laser cutting that pairs perfectly with UV print

• Lone Star Branding Iron Hat Press — A dual-platen heat press made just for hats

🛍 Want one of the finished hats? They’re now available in our online store!

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🎨 Step 1: Design Your Patch in Illustrator

We started by designing a custom patch with our K&G Craft Studios logo in Adobe Illustrator. To make it laser-ready, we added an offset path for the cut line and organized the file into separate Print, Cut, and Reg Marks layers.

👉 This makes lining up your print and cut files so much easier in LightBurn.

🧠 Pro Tip: Use lime green registration marks for better visibility with red dot alignment.

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🖨 Step 2: UV Print Your Patches

Next, we brought the file into the LogoJet UV Printer software and printed directly onto the bright white leatherette. This particular material is a game-changer—it’s smooth, vibrant, and doesn’t require a white underbase.

✅ Already backed with adhesive
✅ Takes ink beautifully
✅ Cuts like butter with the laser

If you don’t have a UV printer, don’t worry—you can use UV DTF transfers as an alternative!

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🔥 Step 3: Cut with Your CO2 Laser

Now for the fun part—cutting! We used our Aeon Nova 14 with LightBurn’s Print & Cut Wizard. This makes it super easy to align your laser cut path with the printed graphics using just two registration marks.

We used:

• 40 speed

• 45 power

• 1mm/s jog & pulse for pinpoint accuracy

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👊 Step 4: Press with a Purpose

We pressed our patches to the hats using Lone Star’s dual-platen hat press (aka the branding iron). This press has top and bottom heat, and is specifically designed for pressing patches onto curved hat fronts. Game changer!

No more stuffing t-shirts into your press or ending up with wonky placements.

🎯 Just align, lock it down, and press at 280° for 45 seconds. Done!

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💸 Step 5: Let's Talk Profit

Here’s the real kicker—the numbers:

• Cost of Hat: $8

• Cost per Patch: $0.66 (24 patches from a $15 sheet + ink)

• Total Cost: ~$8.66

• Selling Price: $25

• Profit per Hat: $16+

That’s what we call Print & Cut Cash! 🤑

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🧠 Craft Show Bonus Idea: The Custom Hat Bar

We’re seriously thinking about bringing this setup to a craft show. Picture it:

🎩 Customers pick a hat
🎨 Choose their favorite patch
🔥 You press it right there live

It’s interactive, fast, and profitable—and it turns your booth into an experience.

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🧢 Grab a Finished Hat or Make Your Own

Ready to wear your own K&G hat?

➡️ Click here to get one in our shop

Want to DIY your own?
💥 Shop leatherette and supplies from Lone Star Adhesive
🧠 Don’t forget to use code KGMAKEIT10 for 10% off!

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🎥 Watch the Full Step-by-Step Video

Don’t miss the full walkthrough on our channel:
👉 WATCH NOW

We show you everything—from Illustrator setup to pressing the final patch!

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💬 Got Questions?

Drop them in the comments of the YouTube video or DM us on Instagram. And if you recreate your own patch hat, tag us @kandgmakeit so we can feature your creations!