Why fabric is the most important decision
Fabric is the decision a customer feels first and remembers longest. You can cut and stitch a garment flawlessly and still ship a disappointment if the cloth is thin, shrinks, or simply does not match the weight the customer expected to hold. No finishing rescues the wrong base material — which is why fabric, not decoration, is where a good garment is really made.
Choosing well is not about finding the cheapest roll. It is about matching the right fabric to your product, your customer, and your price, then proving it will behave. This guide covers the vocabulary and the choices so you can brief a manufacturer with confidence.
Understanding GSM and fabric weight
The single most useful number in fabric is GSM — grams per square metre — which measures weight. A higher GSM generally means a denser, more substantial, more structured fabric; a lower GSM means something lighter and more fluid. GSM is the most honest shorthand for how a fabric will feel, and it is the number to anchor any conversation with a manufacturer.
As a rough guide for cotton knitwear: 140–160 GSM is light and summery, 180–200 GSM is a solid everyday tee, and 220–240 GSM is genuinely heavyweight — the structured, premium hand that oversized tees and quality basics are known for.
Common apparel fabrics and what they suit
Most modern brands live in knitwear and cut-and-sew. The usual options:
| Fabric | Typical weight | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Single jersey cotton | 140–200 GSM | Regular & classic tees |
| Heavyweight cotton | 180–240 GSM | Oversized & premium tees |
| French terry / loopknit | 240–320 GSM | Sweatshirts & light hoodies |
| Fleece | 300–360 GSM | Heavy hoodies & winterwear |
| Pique | 180–220 GSM | Polo shirts |
| Cotton-poly blends | 160–260 GSM | Performance & value ranges |
Heavyweight cotton and premium tees
If there is one fabric worth understanding, it is heavyweight cotton. The reason premium tees command their price is largely in the cloth: at 180 GSM and above, cotton has a structure and drape that reads instantly as quality, holds a boxy or oversized shape, and survives washing without going limp. It is our specialty, and it is what separates a memorable tee from a giveaway one. The trade-off is cost — heavier cloth uses more cotton — which is why it belongs in your hero pieces rather than every style.
Knits vs wovens
Broadly, knits stretch and wovens do not. Knitwear — jersey, terry, fleece, pique — is made by looping yarn and gives the comfort and give that t-shirts, hoodies, and polos rely on. Wovens, like the cloth in shirts and trousers, are made by crossing threads and hold a crisper, more stable shape. Most contemporary brands, and most of what we make, live in knits, because that is where casual, everyday apparel sits.
Testing: GSM, shrinkage, and colourfastness
A fabric is only as good as its behaviour after the customer takes it home. Three tests matter before any fabric goes into bulk: GSM confirms you are getting the weight you paid for; shrinkage tells you whether the garment will still fit after washing; and colourfastness tells you whether the colour survives wash and wear. Our fabric sourcing runs these checks on a swatch, so a problem is caught before it reaches your order rather than your customer.
Matching fabric to your price point
Fabric is where budgets are won and lost, so match it honestly to your price. A premium feel and a sharp price need different cloth, and pretending otherwise leads to either a blown budget or a weak product. Decide what your customer is really paying for — a substantial hand, a specific composition, a particular finish — and let that guide the fabric, then let the rest of the spec follow. For how this fits into the whole making process, see our garment manufacturing process guide; if you are earlier on, start with how to start a clothing brand.
Know your fabric and everything downstream gets easier. Tell us your product and price point and we will source and test options that fit.