Sweater Manufacturers for Custom Clothing Brands

A sweater can seem fairly straightforward, but there‘s lots of tiny details involved in the manufacturing process. It begins with the yarn, then passes through programming the machines, knitting, shaping, finishing, and inspection. The help of sweater manufacturers can be invaluable to a brand.

Yarn Sets the Direction

It all begins with the wool, or silk or cashmere, or whatever fiber you choose to work with.

Cotton gives the sweater a soft and casual feel. Wool can make it warm and cashmere lighter and more luxurious. Blended yarns can combine two qualities, and enable labels to reach certain price levels and aesthetics.

Yarn selection is also important for the knitting procedure. As the thick yarn requires another machine setting than the fine yarn, the manufacturer should match the yarn with the proper level of gauge and knitting technique.

Machines Turn Yarn Into Knitwear

A sweater doesn‘t always begin life as an enormous piece of material.

Flat knitting machines convert warp or yarn into sleevs or other small garment parts in many factories. CottonWorks states, that flat-bed knitting machines “enable it to form a sweater panel through needle movement” and “electronic V-bed machines enable it to produce a totally finished garment.”

Today, however, just one machine can be programmed to shape, and change shapes and colors through digital programs. This has evolved designers’ freedom ten folds.

Gauge Changes the Feel

Gauge sounds simple, but its simply concept seem complex.

A gauge in general creates a different fabric structure, the smaller the gauge the thicker the knit and the larger the stitches. The larger the gauge the smaller the stitches making a finer, lighter looking knit. At the moment the standard for knitwear production is most often 3GG to 14GG, depending on the yarn and end result you are trying to achieve.

Imagine a chunky winter sweater versus a thin merino sweater. Both are knitted projects, but they will look and feel quite different due to the weight of their gauge and choice of yarn.

Stitch Structure Creates Texture

You can learn about the quality of a factory from the looks of a sweater.

Rib can add some stretch to e.g. the cuff and neckline. Cable knitting adds texture and weight to e.g. designs. Jacquard allows for detailed multi-color motifs, and intarsia for more large blocks of color.

Contemporary knitting machines are equipped to apply various techniques within a single item. For example, STOLL‘s ADF models accommodate intarsia, plating and additional knitting technologies to enable elaborate decoration.

Shaping Can Happen During Knitting

Usually, when an item is produced in the traditional way, the producing process involves making each front, back, and sleeve piece separately and then assembling.

In the computerized machine these pieces can be manipulated while the item is being knitted, the producer can dictate how increases and decreases are performed, control of edges, length of leaf, etc. via the machine program.

WHOLEGARMENT takes this idea to its greatest level. SHIMA SEIKI has developed its technology so that a whole garment can be knit in one 3D process on the knitting machine.

One-Piece Knitting Changes the Construction

WHOLEGARMENT made its commercial debut in 1995 when SHIMA SEIKI produced a machine that produced a whole garment in a single process. Since 1995 the technology has continued to evolve and SHIMA SEIKI have introduced newer machines capable of producing four needle beds and fine gauge garments.

This process can eliminate several step-seams, as the garment is knitted as one entity on the machine. While some patterns will still involve some stitch-seam construction, the outcome may be much different from a classic panel-and-linking style of construction.

Patterns Can Start Inside the Machine

It is not always necessary for the branding to be added to the garment at the end of a piece of knitting.

The machine can produce colors and pattern during the knitting process. The designers can choose jacquard, intarsia, stripe, cable and other structure to give a sweater its own personality.

STOLL and SHIMA SEIKI offer graphic computerized knitting systems that provide the manufacturer a highly developed control of stitch structures and pattern development.

Digital Design Can Save Development Time

Using computers, designers are able to examine many concepts in the initial development stages and before making actual samples.

Creating systems for virtual samples and digital product creation, SHIMA SEIKI enables designers to simulate colors, shapes and patterns on the computer.

This tactic allows the brand to test more experiments without physically sampling a product for every minor change.

Traditional Production Still Works

There are some styles that do not necessarily require the entire sweater to be knitted.

As well as being used in pattern cutting, many manufacturers produce several panels and then assemble them. CottonWorks states one of the reasons why there is increased use of cut-and-sew in sweater manufacturing. is because the manufacturers will get more of a single fabric piece before subdividing the garment pattern.

The best method is dependent on the design, the yarn, quantity, construction and the factory equipment.

Finishing Gives the Sweater Its Final Shape

Knitting is not enough.

Once knit, a sweater can move onto linking, washing, steaming, shaping, pressing, trimming, labeling and packing. Plucky Reach, for instance, documents sourcing of yarn, programming the machinery, gauge swatches, linking, boarding, steaming and private-label packing.

These stages can affect the size of the sweater, the dryability, the hand and the appearance.

Small Details Change the Look

One neckline can take the same sweater from a relaxed look to one that is more elegant.

Cuffs and hems also influence the overall look. The use of buttons, pockets, labels, embroidery, color combinations may add another dimension to the variation.

Good knitwear design thus considers the garment as a whole rather than the body lining.

Different Machines Suit Different Products

A manufacturer might have multiple knitting machines as each machine is configured for one or many specific items.

A chunky cable sweater will require a different approach from a fine-gauge merino top. A complex jacquard design will require a different machine capability from a simple rib-knit sweater.

SHIMA SEIKA‘s present machine range at the time of writing covers various gauges, knitting width and production methods all of which indicates why it is important that the manufacturer will match a machine to the correct product.

The Production Route Depends on the Design

A simple sweater might follow this path:

Yarn → programming → knitting → linking → finishing → inspection → labeling

A whole-garment style can take a different route:

Yarn → programming → 3D knitting → finishing → inspection → labeling

Seems unnoticeable on paper but can make a huge difference on construction, labor and the appearance.

Good Development Starts With Clear Information

A manufacturer wants more than a product name (e.g., “oversized wool sweater”) to describe what is available.

Can be helpful reference sample, measurements, cotton or wool, count, stitch detail, plot, colors, artwork, trims, labels, finishing details.

The other thing that a clear tech pack can do for the factory is give a much better starting point. If the design has a special texture or construction, reference samples can be very useful.

Sweater Manufacturing Needs the Right Experience

The production of T-shirts by a manufacturer in the basic (plain) area does not mean that the manufacturer has the machinery and technical skill for knitwear.

Knitwear production also involves an understanding of yarn, gauge, stitch structure, machine programming, shaping and linking, finishing. A factory must also employ skilled technicians who can make a design using a standard repeat machine process; this requires knowledge of class settings, knitting sequences and link programming.

That experience becomes even more important when a brand requires unusual textures, intricate designs, precision gauges or complicated shapes.

Developing Knitwear With JiuvelWear

JiuvelWear engages with clients in co-developing the custom apparel, finding the materials, sampling, production, labels, decoration, finishing and quality control. Dongguan Jiuzuo Clothing Co., Ltd. also makes T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, jackets, denim, streetwear and other custom apparels.

A brand may be based on a sketch, a reference sweater, a tech pack, or an of-the-plate product idea. From there it moves onto the development stages: choosing and sourcing material, sample development, production, finishing and QA.

Something that can appear so basic when a garment is hanging it a shopping trolley can prove to be more complex once you understand the manufacturing process. The process of creating the garment involve yarn, gauge, machine settings, stitch structure, shaping and finishing.