Custom Apparel Glossary
Forty terms from custom apparel quotes and spec sheets, each defined in one to three plain sentences and listed alphabetically with the numbers first.
A quote can read "220 GSM ring-spun, LC embroidery, 8k stitches, 24 pc MOQ, 2XL+ upcharge" and expect you to know whether that's a good deal. Most buyers don't, and most vendors don't explain. These are the forty terms you'll meet, from fabric (GSM, piqué) through decoration (digitizing, DTF) to the terms that set the price (minimum order quantity, landed cost). Where a term maps to something specific about our eight products, we say so and link to it. The decoration methods guide and the fabric guide have the long version, and the pricing page has the numbers.
0 to 9
3D (puff) embroidery
Embroidery stitched over a foam underlay so the design stands a few millimeters off the fabric. It suits bold, simple shapes and is the 3D option on the cap, where fine lettering is still stitched flat.
6-panel cap
A cap crown built from six triangular panels that meet at a top button. It's the standard corporate shape because the two front panels give a clean, centered field for embroidery. Our cap is a structured 6-panel in heavy cotton twill.
80/20 blend
A fabric spun from 80% cotton and 20% polyester. Cotton gives the softness, and polyester keeps the shape and cuts shrinkage in the wash. Our hoodie and sweatshirt use a 330 GSM 80/20 brushed fleece, and so does the zip hoodie.
B
Brushed fleece
Knit fabric with the inner face brushed to raise a soft nap. Weight matters, because at 330 GSM it holds its shape like retail outerwear and lighter fleece goes limp after a few washes. The fabric guide shows how to read a fleece spec.
C
Combed cotton
Cotton passed through fine combs after carding to pull out the short fibers. The yarn that's left is smoother and stronger, pills less and takes embroidery cleanly. Our tee and polo are both 100% combed cotton.
Cuffed beanie
A knit hat with the lower edge folded up into a double-thickness band. The cuff is where the logo goes, because the doubled fabric stops stitches showing through. Our beanie is a cuffed 12-gauge knit with a fleece-lined band, one size.
D
Digitizing
Turning artwork into a stitch file that tells the embroidery machine where every needle drops and in what order. Good digitizing is the difference between a crisp logo and a puckered one. We include it in every order, where traditional swag vendors often bill it as a setup fee.
DTF (direct-to-film)
A print method in which the design is printed onto a film, then heat-pressed onto the garment with an adhesive layer. It holds full color and gradients with a flush finish, and it's rated for 50-plus washes without cracking. There's no color-count limit, and the DTF printing page has the placement sizes.
DTG
Direct-to-garment printing, in which inkjet ink goes straight into the fabric. It's common at print-on-demand marketplaces because it needs no setup, but it looks faded on dark garments and wears faster than DTF, and we don't offer it.
E
Embroidery
Thread stitched through the fabric to form the design. Because it's permanent and outlives the garment, it's the default for polos and shirts and for every left-chest mark. We run up to 12 thread colors per design, and the embroidery page has the placements.
Extended sizes
Sizes past the standard S to XL run, meaning 2XL and up. Many vendors add a surcharge per extended size. We run every product from XS to 4XL at one price, and the sizing guide covers collecting sizes without a spreadsheet.
G
Gauge (knit)
The number of needles per inch on a knitting machine, which sets how fine or chunky a knit is. Lower gauge means thicker yarn. Our beanie is a 12-gauge knit, fine enough to hold a clean embroidered logo and thick enough to be warm.
GSM
Grams per square meter, the standard measure of fabric weight, where a higher number means a heavier fabric. Our tee is 220 GSM, the polo 200, the oxford shirt 140 and the three fleece pieces 330. The spec sheet guide says what each number feels like.
H
Heat transfer
Any method that prints a design onto a carrier and bonds it to the garment with heat and pressure. DTF is the modern one. Older vinyl and plastisol transfers feel thicker and crack sooner, so when a quote says transfer, ask which kind.
L
Landed cost
Landed cost is the full price of a piece at your door: the product, the decoration and the freight, with nothing added after the quote. We ship within the US, and the number you approve is the landed cost (see Shipping & Returns).
M
Minimum order quantity
The smallest number of pieces a vendor will make per product or design, written MOQ on quotes. Traditional swag vendors set one per design, while our orders start at 15 pieces in any size mix. For a smaller run, tell us what you have in mind (details on the pricing page).
N
Name sleeve
The paper sleeve each piece ships in, printed with the wearer's name and free of plastic like the rest of the packaging. A box of 60 garments gets handed out in minutes with no sorting by size, and it's the thing people photograph when a welcome kit arrives.
O
OEKO-TEX
An independent textile certification that a fabric has been tested for harmful substances and is safe on skin. Our fabrics are OEKO-TEX certified. The standard covers materials and says nothing about labor or environmental practice, and the sustainable apparel guide says what each certification covers.
Oxford cloth
A woven cotton shirting with a fine basketweave, heavier than poplin, with a hand that softens in the wash. Our button-up shirt is a 140 GSM cotton oxford with a button-down collar.
P
Pantone / color matching
Pantone is the reference system brands use to name exact colors. In embroidery we match a Pantone to the nearest thread, and in DTF the print comes from your artwork's color values. The only reliable check is a physical sample, which a paid sample set gives you when the color has to be exact (see brand guidelines for merch).
Piqué
A knit with a raised, waffle-like texture that gives a polo its structure and lets it breathe. It hides wrinkles better than flat jersey and holds an embroidered logo flat. Our pique polo is 200 GSM combed cotton piqué, tailored, with a split hem.
Placement (left chest / back yoke / sleeve)
Where a design sits on the garment. Left chest is the standard logo position, up to about 4 in wide for embroidery and about 10 in for a print, while the back yoke below the collar suits a small wordmark and a sleeve takes a small mark or one line of text. The Design Studio previews every placement on every product.
Pre-curved brim
A cap visor shaped into a curve in production rather than left flat. Pre-curved is the usual corporate choice because it looks finished out of the box, and a flat brim is a streetwear look. Ask which one a cap ships with when you compare vendors.
R
Remake guarantee
Report a defect within 30 days of delivery with a photo and we remake the piece free. It covers manufacturing and decoration faults. Fit and color are settled before production, on a sample set if you order one.
Reorder
Any order after your first, made from the design already on file. Because we hold your artwork and size list, a reorder needs only a quantity, and onboarding kit programs are built on that. Production still takes three weeks from the day you approve it.
Resolution (300 dpi)
The pixel density of a raster image, in dots per inch. Artwork should be 300 dpi at the size it will print. A 1,000-pixel logo printed 10 inches wide is 100 dpi and will look soft, which is a problem vector files avoid.
Ring-spun cotton
Yarn made by twisting and thinning the cotton strand continuously, which gives a finer, stronger yarn than open-end spinning. It's the reason a good tee feels smooth. Our tee is 100% combed ring-spun cotton at 220 GSM.
S
Sample set
A set of the actual pieces, made so you can check them before the full order runs. Ours is a paid extra ordered ahead of the bulk run, and it takes about two weeks. Check the fabric weight and the color against your brand, then wash it before you sign off.
Satin stitch
A dense zigzag stitch that lays parallel threads across a shape, giving lettering and borders their smooth, raised surface. Because it needs a minimum width to hold, we set lettering at 5 mm high or larger.
Screen print
Ink pushed through a mesh stencil onto the garment, one screen per color. It's the default at traditional swag vendors and the cheapest per piece on long runs of flat-color art, but every color adds a screen charge. We screen print as well on the garments that suit it (ask us which), and the decoration methods guide compares it with embroidery and DTF.
Size run
The spread of sizes in an order, say 4 S, 10 M, 12 L, 8 XL and 4 2XL. Getting it wrong is the largest source of waste in team apparel. The Studio's share link collects each person's size directly, and a reorder fills any gaps later.
Stitch count
The number of needle penetrations in an embroidered design, which sets machine time and cost at most vendors. A left-chest logo runs 5,000 to 12,000 stitches, and our prices don't change with the count.
Structured vs unstructured
A structured cap, like our mid-profile cap, has a stiffened front panel (buckram) that holds the crown's shape on a head or on a desk. An unstructured cap is soft and relaxed, and takes embroidery less evenly.
Sublimation
Dye turned to gas and bonded into polyester fibers, for all-over prints with no hand feel. Because it only works on light, high-polyester fabric, it's common on sports jerseys and rare on cotton team apparel, and we don't offer it.
T
Tech pack
The production document for a garment, covering measurements by size, the fabric and trim specs, decoration placement with dimensions, and packaging instructions. Our designers build it from your approved Studio collection to give production one unambiguous file.
Thread colors
The thread shades in an embroidered design, each one a separate needle on the machine. We run up to 12 per design. Fewer reads quieter, and tonal single-color marks are the ones people keep wearing on polos and shirts.
Tonal embroidery
Thread in a color close to the garment, navy on navy or charcoal on black, so the logo shows through texture and sheen instead of contrast. It's the quietest way to brand a piece and the one people wear outside work, for reasons covered in why your team doesn't wear the merch.
Twill
A weave with a diagonal rib, made by passing the weft over and under several warp threads in an offset pattern. It's dense and hides wear, which makes it the standard cap fabric, and our cap is cut from a heavy cotton twill.
V
Vector artwork
Artwork defined by paths (SVG, AI, EPS, PDF) rather than pixels, so it scales to any size without going soft. It's the ideal input for digitizing and for DTF. A 300 dpi PNG works too, and our designers redraw when needed.
Volume tier
A quantity at which the per-piece price drops. We have two, with 12% off from 50 pieces and 22% off from 150, and both count the whole mixed order rather than each product, as the worked examples on the pricing page show.