Decisions · 4 min read
Which decoration method your budget actually wants
A decision, not a preference
Every method on this site is the cheapest one for some order and the most expensive for another. Which is which depends on two things only: how many garments, and how many colours in the design.
Where each one wins
| Situation | Usually cheapest | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 18 shirts, four-colour design | Sublimation | No per-colour charge; screen printing pays four setups for eighteen garments |
| 200 shirts, one-colour design | Screen printing | One setup spread across 200 — nothing else comes close |
| 6 shirts, names and numbers only | Heat transfer vinyl | No setup at all, and it works on a garment that already exists |
| Traditional baseball look | Tackle twill | Nothing else reproduces it, so the comparison is not really about cost |
| Crest on fleece | Embroidery | Print struggles on pile; stitching does not |
The mistake worth avoiding
Designing first and choosing the method afterwards is how a program ends up with a six-colour design and a screen-printing quote that has eaten the whole budget. Deciding the method first constrains the design in ways that are usually invisible in the finished kit and very visible in the price.
The other common error is assuming the cheapest method is the cheapest per season. Vinyl on a practice top worn four times a week will need replacing before a sublimated one will, so the annual cost inverts the unit cost, which is the reasoning behind how we specify kit worn five days a week.
Ask for the quote both ways when you are genuinely unsure. A supplier who will not price the alternative is telling you something.
The same budget, spent two ways
Assume a fixed number and a squad of twenty. This is roughly where each decision lands.
| Sublimation | Stitched or twill | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per extra colour | Nothing. A twelve-colour design costs what a two-colour design costs. | Rises with each colour, because each is a separate operation. |
| Cost per extra garment | Falls steadily with quantity. | Falls more slowly — the labour per garment stays. |
| How it fails | It does not fail as decoration. The colour is in the fibre; the garment wears out around it. | Edges lift, threads catch, twill peels at the corner first. |
| What it looks like | Flat, printed, unlimited in colour and gradient. | Physical, raised, with a weight that print cannot imitate. |
| Best use of a tight budget | Full designs, many colours, large squads, anything worn hard. | A small amount of lettering on an otherwise plain garment, where the texture is the point. |
The mixed answer most programs end up at
Framed as a choice between two methods, this question usually gets answered badly, because the honest answer for most programs is both — sublimated garments for the squad, stitched or twill lettering on the few pieces where the physical texture is doing real work.
A jacket is the usual example. It is worn off the field, it is looked at closely, it is rarely replaced, and stitching on it reads as a different class of garment in a way that print does not. Spending the twill budget there and printing everything else gets you more visible quality per unit of money than committing entirely to either method.
What does not work is the reverse — a fully stitched playing kit bought at the expense of the number of garments. A squad in twelve beautiful jerseys sharing them across twenty players is worse off than a squad in twenty printed ones, and that trade is made more often than it should be.
Quick answers
Is sublimation always more expensive?
No. Above a couple of colours and below a couple of hundred garments it is usually the cheapest thing we offer.
Can we mix methods to save money?
Frequently the best answer — a sublimated body with pressed numbers, for instance. Ask for it costed that way.
Does an extra colour cost more in sublimation?
No. A twelve-colour design costs what a two-colour design costs, because the colour is printed rather than assembled. This is the single biggest structural difference between the two methods.
Why does stitching cost more per garment?
Because the labour does not scale away. Each colour in a twill or embroidered design is a separate operation on every garment, so a bigger order reduces the setup share and not the per-garment work.
Which method lasts longer?
Sublimation, and not narrowly. The colour is in the fibre, so it does not fail as decoration — the garment wears out around it. Stitched and twill decoration eventually lifts at an edge or a corner.
Then why choose stitching at all?
Because it is physical. Raised lettering has a weight and a shadow that print cannot imitate, and on a garment that is looked at closely rather than from the touchline that difference is the entire point.
What is the best mixed approach?
Sublimated garments for the squad, stitched or twill lettering on the few pieces where texture does real work — usually a jacket. That gets more visible quality per unit of budget than committing fully to either method.
What is the worst way to spend a fixed budget?
A fully stitched playing kit bought at the expense of the number of garments. A squad of twenty sharing twelve beautiful jerseys is worse off than a squad of twenty in printed ones, and that trade gets made more often than it should.
Does fabric limit the choice?
It limits sublimation specifically, which needs polyester. Stitching works on almost anything. If a program has already committed to a cotton-rich garment, the decision has partly been made for them.
Can both methods appear on one garment?
Yes, and it is common — a sublimated design with a twill name or number on top. It costs more than print alone and less than a fully stitched garment, which is often exactly the right place to land.