Three Layer blanks are designed in the Los Angeles Fashion District and manufactured at a WRAP-certified partner factory in Pakistan. The 1003 tee uses 100% combed cotton at 30 singles, while the 1005 uses 100% ringspun cotton. Fleece styles include 80/20 and 70/30 cotton-poly blends.
Check the selected garment sample against its yarn, blend, weight and construction specification before approval.
If you are a screen printer or a brand buying blanks at wholesale, understanding the manufacturing process is not academic curiosity. It directly affects how well that garment takes ink, how it holds up after printing and washing, and whether your finished product matches what your customer paid for.
Step 1: Yarn Sourcing
Every garment starts as fiber. The quality of that fiber sets the ceiling for everything that follows. You cannot fix bad yarn with good knitting, and you cannot fix bad knitting with good sewing. It starts here.
Cotton
The fiber length, known in the industry as staple length, determines how smooth and strong the final yarn will be. Longer staple cotton produces yarn with fewer joins, which means a smoother fabric surface with less pilling and a more even texture for printing.
Three Layer’s 1005 heavy cotton t-shirt uses 100% ringspun cotton yarn. The 1003 combed cotton t-shirt uses 100% combed cotton spun at 30 singles, a finer yarn that produces an especially smooth printable surface. The 5109 premium full-zip hoodie carries this into the fleece line: its face yarn, the yarn that forms the printable outer surface, is 100% ringspun cotton, even though the overall fabric is an 80/20 cotton-poly fleece blend. The difference matters for printers: ringspun and combed yarns produce a tighter, smoother fabric surface that holds fine print detail better than open-end yarn, which has a rougher hand-feel and a more textured surface.
Polyester and Blends
Three Layer’s poly-blend fabrics run in two ratios. The french terry (style 3130), the premium pullover hoodie (style 5108), the premium full-zip hoodie (style 5109), and the heavyweight urban pullover hoodie (style 15001) use an 80/20 cotton-poly blend. The midweight pullover hoodie (style P280), the crewneck sweatshirt (style CR280), the fleece shorts (style 7770), the fleece joggers (style 8801), and the youth fleece styles (Y300 and Y5501) use a 70/30 cotton-poly blend. In both ratios cotton is the majority fiber, which keeps more of cotton’s printing behavior at the fabric surface than a poly-majority blend would.
For screen printers, the blend ratio matters because polyester fibers do not absorb plastisol ink the way cotton does. On high-poly blends, ink adhesion relies more on mechanical bonding (the ink gripping the fiber surface) than absorption. This is why many printers experience dye migration on poly-heavy garments: the sublimation dyes in polyester migrate into plastisol ink at cure temperatures, causing discoloration. Keeping cotton at 70 to 80 percent of the fabric, as Three Layer does across its poly-blend styles, limits how much polyester is available to cause this kind of migration compared with a poly-majority fabric.
Step 2: Knitting
Once yarn is ready, it goes to the knitting stage, where individual threads become fabric. The knitting process determines the fabric’s structure, weight, stretch, and surface texture. Different knit constructions produce fundamentally different fabrics, even when using the same yarn.
Jersey Knit
Jersey is the standard knit construction for t-shirts. It is a single-knit fabric with a smooth face and a slightly textured back. The smooth face is the printing surface, and the tighter and more consistent the knit, the cleaner the print.
Knitting gauge affects the result directly. Higher gauge knitting produces a tighter, denser fabric at the same yarn weight, which means better print surface quality and less ink bleed-through.
French Terry
French terry is a looped-back fabric: smooth on the outside, loops on the inside. It is lighter and more breathable than fleece, making it ideal for lightweight hoodies, crewnecks, and sweatpants designed for year-round wear. The smooth outer face prints well, similar to jersey but with more body and structure.
Three Layer’s french terry comes in one weight: 8.0 oz (271 GSM) in an 80/20 cotton-poly blend, used in our style 3130. The interior loops are left flat and unbrushed, which gives a lighter drape and better breathability than our brushed fleece styles at a similar weight. If you want a soft napped interior, choose one of our fleece styles. If you want the cooler, smoother-draping option for year-round wear, french terry is the pick.
Fleece
Fleece is a knit fabric where the interior loops are brushed or napped to create a soft, insulating interior. It is generally heavier and warmer than french terry, used for hoodies, heavyweight sweatshirts, and cold-weather garments.
The exterior face of fleece is smooth and printable, but the density and nap of the interior affect how the garment sits on a platen and how it absorbs heat during curing. Every fleece style in the Three Layer line, the P280 pullover hoodie, CR280 crewneck sweatshirt, 5108 premium pullover hoodie, 5109 premium full-zip hoodie, 15001 heavyweight urban pullover hoodie, 7770 fleece shorts, 8801 fleece joggers, and the Y300 and Y5501 youth styles, has a brushed interior. That brushing is what separates fleece from Three Layer’s french terry (style 3130), which keeps its interior loops flat and unbrushed.
Fleece weights in the Three Layer line span three tiers. The 5108 premium pullover hoodie and 5109 premium full-zip hoodie are lightweight fleece at 7.8 oz (264 GSM). The P280 pullover hoodie, CR280 crewneck sweatshirt, and 7770 fleece shorts are midweight at 8.8 oz (298 GSM). The 8801 fleece joggers and the Y300 and Y5501 youth styles share that same 8.8 oz (298 GSM) weight. The 15001 heavyweight urban pullover hoodie tops the range at 12 oz (407 GSM).
Why Knit Construction Matters for Screen Printers
A printer who understands knit construction can anticipate how a garment will behave on press. Jersey knits stretch more than fleece, so registration can shift if the garment is not platened carefully. French terry sits between the two. Fleece has the most body and stays put on the platen, but its thickness changes cure dynamics.
The tightness of the knit also affects ink penetration. A loosely knit fabric lets ink sink deeper into the fiber structure, which can be desirable for water-based prints (softer hand) but problematic for plastisol (lost opacity). Tightly knit fabrics hold ink closer to the surface, producing brighter colors and sharper edges.
Step 3: Dyeing
Dyeing is where color happens, and how a garment is dyed affects far more than just color accuracy. The dyeing method influences shrinkage, hand-feel, color fastness, and how the garment interacts with printing inks. Understanding the differences between dyeing approaches, covered below, helps printers and brands make better decisions about the blanks they choose.
Piece Dyeing
Piece dyeing means the fabric is dyed in large rolls after knitting but before cutting and sewing. The knitted fabric is run through dye baths, then dried and finished as a continuous roll of colored fabric. This is the most common method in the apparel industry because it is efficient and produces consistent color across large fabric lots.
For screen printers, piece-dyed garments are the most predictable substrate. The color is locked into the fiber before the garment is constructed, which means minimal color variation between garments in the same lot and reliable behavior under heat during curing.
Garment Dyeing
Garment dyeing means the blank is fully cut and sewn in white (or greige) fabric first, then the finished garment is dyed as a whole piece. This produces a distinctive, slightly uneven, lived-in color that is popular in fashion and streetwear. Garment-dyed blanks have a softer hand-feel because the dyeing process includes additional washing and tumbling.
Printers need to know that garment-dyed blanks can behave differently under ink. The softer, more open fiber structure absorbs more ink, and the slight color variation across the garment surface may affect print consistency on large solid fills. Garment-dyed blanks may also have more shrinkage variation than piece-dyed garments because the dye process involves additional heat and moisture. Test prints are especially important here.
Yarn Dyeing
Yarn dyeing means the yarn is dyed before it is knitted into fabric. This produces the most color-fast result because the dye penetrates the yarn thoroughly before it is locked into the knit structure. Yarn dyeing is expensive and typically reserved for specialty fabrics, heathered blends (where different colored yarns are knitted together), and high-end applications.
Three Layer’s standard colors ship from stock already on hand in Los Angeles, so in-stock orders move fast. Custom colors require 600 pieces per style per color for fleece styles and 1,200 for the 1003 and 1005 tees, with sizes mixed within the run. The custom timeline is 120 days total: 60 days production and 60 days shipping.
Step 4: Cutting and Sewing
This is where fabric becomes a garment. Cutting and sewing quality is the most visible indicator of a blank’s manufacturing standards, and it is the first thing an experienced printer or brand buyer checks when evaluating a new blank.
Cutting
Cutting is where fabric first becomes garment pieces, and accuracy at this stage sets up everything that follows. Consistent cutting across a size run matters most for brands that reorder throughout the year: an XL cut in one production run needs to match an XL cut in the next for the garments to fit the same way.
Pattern grading, the way a garment’s measurements scale across sizes, also affects fit. Grading that only adds width as sizes increase, without adjusting sleeve length, body length, and shoulder width, produces a garment that fits worse at the smallest and largest sizes even when the fabric and construction are identical.
Sewing
Construction quality in a blank garment shows up in specific, checkable details:
- Side seams vs. tubular. Tubular knit construction, where the garment body is knit as a continuous tube with no side seam, is common in lower cost blanks. Because the fabric is not cut and sewn along the sides, it can relax unevenly after washing, which shows up as a twisted garment. Side-seamed construction generally holds its shape better through repeated washing.
- Labels. Three Layer garments use tear-away labels, so a printer or brand can remove the label cleanly for private labeling or a fully blank presentation without damaging the garment.
A few Three Layer styles have additional construction details worth calling out. The 15001 heavyweight urban pullover hoodie is a regular fit on the same size chart as the P280 and 5108, which matters for brands ordering by a standard size chart. The Y300 youth pullover hoodie ships without drawstrings in all sizes and the Y5501 youth fleece jogger in sizes XS through M as a child safety measure.
Why Construction Quality Matters for Printers
Construction quality affects printability in direct ways that most garment spec sheets do not mention:
- Consistent sizing means consistent platening. If garment dimensions vary within the same size, printers have to re-adjust platen position and registration mid-run. This wastes time and causes misprints.
- Flat seams mean clean prints. Bulky seams, especially at the shoulder and underarm, create raised areas that can contact the screen and smear ink. Clean, flat seam construction eliminates this problem.
- Shape retention means reorder consistency. A brand that sells a printed tee in March and reorders in August needs the garment to fit the same way. Blanks that shrink or twist unpredictably make that impossible.
Step 5: Quality Control
Three Layer works with a WRAP-certified partner factory in Pakistan. WRAP covers labor and social compliance. Ask which quality checks apply to the style you are buying, then approve a garment sample before production or decoration.
For a P280 sample, compare its 8.8 oz, 70/30 fabric specification with the product record. For Y300, check that every size has no drawstring. Measure your selected sample, inspect seams and color, then record the decoration and wash results before approving production.
Why Manufacturing Details Matter for Screen Printing Results
Most conversations between printers and blank suppliers focus on price per unit, available colors, and delivery timelines. Those matter. But the manufacturing decisions behind the blank, the ones described above, have a direct and measurable impact on the printer’s production quality and efficiency.
Here is how the upstream choices connect to downstream print results:
- Yarn quality determines fabric surface quality. Better yarn produces a smoother, more consistent knit surface. That surface holds fine print detail better, absorbs ink more evenly, and produces fewer rejects from fabric-related print defects.
- Knit construction determines ink behavior. The gauge, tension, and type of knit affect how ink sits on or penetrates the fabric. A printer who understands the knit construction of their blank can optimize their ink system, mesh count, and squeegee pressure accordingly.
- Dye method determines heat behavior. Piece-dyed garments are dimensionally stable under heat because they have already been through a heat process. Garment-dyed blanks may have residual shrinkage that manifests during flash cure or final cure. Knowing the dye method helps printers anticipate and manage shrinkage.
- Construction quality determines production efficiency. Consistent garment dimensions mean fewer platen adjustments. Flat seams mean cleaner prints. Reliable sizing means fewer customer complaints about fit after printing. Every construction quality marker translates to time and money in the print shop.
- Quality control determines reject rates. A blank with a hidden fabric defect becomes a reject after printing, which wastes the blank, the ink, the screen time, and the labor. Rigorous QC at the manufacturing level reduces reject rates at the printing level.
The Three Layer Difference
Three Layer has been in the blank apparel business for 13 years. Garments are designed in the Los Angeles Fashion District and produced at our long-term partner factory in Pakistan, which is WRAP certified for socially compliant manufacturing. The factory also holds OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and amfori BSCI certification, and we follow FLA, C-TPAT and Sedex practices. Three Layer neither owns nor operates the partner factory that manufactures its garments.
Every Three Layer garment has a tear-away label for relabeling. Ordering at a glance
Stock: 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.
Samples: wholesale account required, paid at standard wholesale price, cost credited on the first order
Dispatch: paid in-stock orders placed by 12pm PT ship the same day
Shipping: free at $200 or more on listed wholesale prices
Custom color on an existing style: 600 pieces per style per color for fleece, 1,200 for the 1003 and 1005 tees
New custom style: 2,400 units
Custom timing: 120 days total, 60 days production and 60 days shipping
Origin: designed in Los Angeles, manufactured at a WRAP-certified partner factory in Pakistan Local pickup is available at 1246 S Main St in downtown Los Angeles.
Three Layer holds a BBB A+ rating.
If you want to see and feel the result of this process, browse our full catalog or request samples. Samples ship on request once you have opened a wholesale account, so you can evaluate the fabric, construction, and printability before placing a wholesale order.
Explore our wholesale t-shirts, wholesale pullover hoodies, and wholesale joggers to see the full range of blanks we offer for screen printers and brands.