Choose stock, custom color or a new style
Start with stock blanks when an existing fit and fabric meet the brief. We offer no minimum ordering from January through September. During our busy season, October through December, please order single sizes in packs of 6 (one polybag) per color, per size. For a custom color on an existing style, plan for 600 pieces per style per color for fleece styles and 1,200 for the 1003 and 1005 tees. For new garment construction, plan for 2,400 units per style. Both custom paths take 120 days total, including 60 days production and 60 days shipping.
Cost Comparison
Launching with Blank Apparel: Lower Upfront Investment
Blanks arrive pre-constructed: the garment is already designed, cut, sewn, and often dyed. Blank apparel can often be launched with a much lower upfront investment than cut and sew, sometimes in the low thousands depending on quantity and decoration. Your focus shifts to branding through graphics, trims, relabeling, and packaging. This lean approach allows for rapid market testing and minimal inventory risk.
The Investment of Cut and Sew: Higher Upfront Costs
Cut and sew starts with raw fabric and requires pattern making, fabric sourcing, sampling, design revisions, and bulk production. Cut and sew usually requires substantially higher upfront investment, often ranging from several thousand dollars into the tens of thousands depending on fabric type, number of SKUs, fit development, sampling rounds, and production country. For a new Three Layer style, plan for a 2,400-unit minimum and 120 days total, with 60 days production and 60 days shipping.
Speed to Market: Timeline Differences
Blank Apparel: Weeks to Launch
Working with blank apparel offers the shortest timeline to market. Once your designs are finalized, you can typically have branded products ready for sale within weeks. Many wholesalers with US-based warehouses hold ready-to-decorate inventory, minimizing lead times. This agility supports quick-turn client orders, event merch, seasonal programs, and test drops.
Cut and Sew: Months of Development
From initial design sketches and pattern development to fabric sourcing, sampling, revisions, and full-scale production, the timeline can stretch to 3 to 9 months or longer. This extended timeline requires careful planning, knowledge of production cycles, and capital to sustain operations during the development phase.
Minimum Order Quantities (MOQs)
| Path | Minimum | Timing | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stock blanks | We offer no minimum ordering from January through September. During our busy season, October through December, please order single sizes in packs of 6 (one polybag) per color, per size. Sizes and colors can be mixed. | In-stock paid orders placed by 12pm PT ship the same day | Decoration and relabeling of an existing garment |
| Custom color on an existing style | 600 pieces per style per color for fleece styles and 1,200 for the 1003 and 1005 tees | 120 days total, 60 days production and 60 days shipping | The color, with the existing fit, weight and blend |
| New custom style | 2,400 units per style | 120 days total, 60 days production and 60 days shipping | A new garment style |
Ask the decorator for its minimum and completion date before setting the finished-garment launch date.
Quality Control
Quality with Blank Apparel: Supplier Responsibility
When you choose blank apparel, you depend on the supplier’s consistency in fit, construction, fabric performance, color continuity, and inventory availability. Vet your blank supplier thoroughly by reviewing samples, measuring against stated specs, and testing decoration results. Your quality control then focuses on the decoration process: ensuring your prints, embroidery, and finishes meet your brand’s standards.
Quality with Cut and Sew: Greater Control, Greater Responsibility
With cut and sew, you have greater control over key garment variables, with final results still shaped by factory capability, sourcing limits, and budget. This allows for a more precisely crafted garment, but you must establish rigorous quality control protocols at every stage of production.
The Growth Trajectory: When to Start with Blanks and Transition to Cut and Sew
Starting Strong with Blanks
Blank apparel serves as an effective launchpad for new clothing brands, screen printers expanding their offerings, or merch sellers testing new markets. The lower costs, faster timelines, and manageable MOQs allow you to:
- Validate your designs and brand concept with minimal risk.
- Build a customer base and generate revenue quickly.
- Refine your brand’s aesthetic and target audience based on real-world feedback.
- Learn how to price decorated goods, manage supplier relationships, and forecast reorders without the added complexity of custom manufacturing.
Transitioning to Cut and Sew
As your brand grows, demand stabilizes, and you accumulate capital and experience, the transition to cut and sew becomes a natural progression. This typically happens when:
- You have a clear vision for unique silhouettes or specialized fabrics not available in blanks.
- Your sales volume justifies higher MOQs and increased production costs.
- You want to differentiate your brand by offering proprietary designs and fits.
- You have the resources to invest in the longer development cycles and complex quality control required.
The cut and sew vs blank apparel decision does not have to be permanent: a phased approach lets you leverage the strengths of each model at different stages of your business.
Hybrid Approach: Combining Blanks and Cut and Sew
Blanks for Core Items
Use blank apparel for core items: t-shirts, hoodies, and sweatshirts with consistent demand. Premium blanks provide cost efficiency, quick replenishment, and consistent quality. Many wholesalers offer coordinated product lines across hoodies, joggers, and tees, making it easier to maintain a cohesive core collection.
Cut and Sew for Distinctive Designs
For a stock heavyweight hoodie, compare the 15001: 12 oz, 80/20 cotton-poly brushed fleece, 3 colors and sizes S to 3XL. Consider a new custom style only when the required pocket, panel or trim construction is unavailable in stock, with a 2,400-unit minimum.
Account holders comparing stock with custom production can buy garment samples at standard wholesale price, with the cost credited on the first order. Orders of $200 or more on listed wholesale prices ship free. The production paths above use Los Angeles designs made at a WRAP-certified partner factory in Pakistan.
Choose your starting blank
If a stock hoodie meets the fit and fabric brief, approve a sample and set the decorated launch quantity from your demand forecast. A custom color requires 600 pieces per style per color for fleece styles and 1,200 for the 1003 and 1005 tees, while a new custom style requires 2,400 units. Compare P280 and 15001 in the wholesale blanks shop before committing to custom development.