Best blanks for embroidery

Embroidery puts thousands of needle hits into a small patch of fabric, and every stitch pulls on the cloth around it. A thin or loose blank gives under that pull, and the logo puckers. So choosing a blank for stitching comes down to weight and knit. Every style below is 6 oz or heavier, so each one has enough body to hold a stitched logo. Between them they cover tees, a long sleeve, crewnecks, a hoodie, a toddler crew, and a pique polo. If you're stitching hats, start with the best hats and caps for embroidery.

The shortlist

Each style covers a different fit, fiber, or job, so you can match the blank to the order.

• Comfort Colors 1717 Garment-Dyed Heavyweight T-Shirt: 6.1 oz, 100% ringspun cotton, relaxed fit, garment-dyed. Best for embroidered retail tees with a relaxed, garment-dyed look.
• Comfort Colors 6014 Garment-Dyed Heavyweight Long Sleeve: 6.1 oz, 100% ringspun cotton, relaxed fit, garment-dyed. Best for the same look with sleeves.
• Next Level 7200 Heavyweight T-Shirt: 6.8 oz, 100% combed ringspun cotton, relaxed fit. Best for runs that mix embroidery with screen print or DTG.
• Lane Seven LS16005 Urban Heavyweight Tee: 7.6 oz, 100% combed ringspun cotton, oversized fit. Best for a heavy, boxy streetwear tee.
• Gildan 18000 Heavy Blend Crewneck: 8 oz, 50/50 cotton/poly, classic fit. Best for team and event crewnecks.
• Gildan 18500 Heavy Blend Hoodie: 8 oz, 50/50 cotton/poly, classic fit. Best for left-chest logos on everyday hoodies.
• Lane Seven LS14004 Premium Crewneck: 8.3 oz fleece. Best for a premium embroidered crew line.
• Independent Trading Co. PRM3500 Pigment-Dyed Crewneck: 9 oz, 80/20 cotton/poly, ringspun, classic fit. Best for dense, high-stitch-count designs.
• Rabbit Skins 3317 Toddler Fleece Crewneck: 7.5 oz, 60/40 cotton/poly, toddler sizing. Best for embroidered kids' pieces.
• AllPro 62800 Men's Pique Polo: 6 oz, 65/35 poly/cotton pique. Best for staff and corporate polos.

How heavy should an embroidery blank be?

Match the weight to the stitch count: heavier fabric gives the stitches more to grip, so the design stays flat. On this list, 6 oz is the floor and 9 oz is the top.

• Big back piece or thick fill logo: go up the weight ladder. The Independent Trading Co. PRM3500 is the heaviest here at 9 oz. The Lane Seven LS14004 and both Gildan Heavy Blends sit close behind.
• Small chest mark or text: the 6 oz tees and polo hold it fine.

A print shop that reports printing 15,000+ Comfort Colors 1717s says its 6.1 oz weight minimizes puckering, even on dense designs. If a hoodie is on the table and you want more on fleece itself, the pullover hoodie buyer's guide goes deeper.

Does fiber matter for the stitch?

Not much for the stitch itself. Thread sits on top of the fabric, so a cotton tee and a poly-heavy polo both stitch well at the right weight. Fiber matters when the same order also gets printed.

The cotton tees (Comfort Colors, Next Level 7200, Lane Seven LS16005) are 100% cotton, so screen print and DTG both go down cleanly. That means one blank can carry an embroidered chest and a printed back. The 50/50 Gildans pair better with screen print, DTF, or vinyl than with DTG. The AllPro polo is 65% polyester, so it takes sublimation well. That suits a stitched logo on a sublimated team look.

The polo's pique is a textured knit. As a general embroidery practice, a water-soluble topping helps small lettering sit on top of a textured surface instead of sinking in.

How do you stitch garment-dyed tees?

The Comfort Colors 1717 has a relaxed, dropped-shoulder cut, and it runs best with a few setup changes. A print shop that reports printing 15,000+ of them recommends a medium-weight cutaway stabilizer. The same shop slows the machine 10–15% to prevent thread breaks. Because of the dropped shoulder, it also places chest logos about half an inch lower than on fitted tees.

Plan thread colors with the dye in mind. Decorators report that garment dyeing leaves subtle color variation around the seams of the 1717, so no two shirts match exactly.

Will it shrink after you stitch it?

The two Comfort Colors styles, the 1717 and 6014, are garment-dyed, which adds shrink on top of the fabric's own. Size those with care. Shrink matters more for embroidery than for print. If the fabric draws up around a stitched logo, the logo can ripple.

A print shop that has run 15,000+ of the 1717 reports shrinkage of about 2–3% even with a hot wash and high-heat dry. Decorators also report that cold washing is the safer care advice for the 1717.

On any style, wash and dry one sample and measure it before you lock sizes.

Where do caps, jackets, and wovens fit?

Each has its own guide, because the setup is different. Caps run on a cap frame, and the crown shape changes how a logo sits, so the headwear buyer's guide covers crowns and profiles. Jackets bring shells and linings into the stabilizer choice. For those, start with the outerwear buyer's guide.

Which blank for which job?

For dense embroidery on fleece, the Independent Trading Co. PRM3500 is our pick. At 9 oz it's the heaviest blank here, so a high-stitch-count design has the most fabric to hold onto. For everything else, match the job:

• Team or event crewnecks: Gildan 18000
• Everyday logo hoodies: Gildan 18500
• Staff and corporate polos: AllPro 62800
• Retail tee with a stitched logo: Comfort Colors 1717
• Mixed embroidery and print on one run: Next Level 7200
• Streetwear, oversized: Lane Seven LS16005
• Kids' orders: Rabbit Skins 3317