In the embroidery workshop, the shirt is the literal foundation of what we do. It doesn't matter how great our designs are or how durable the embroidery is if the shirt itself fails to meet expectations. After testing many brands and types of shirts, we have specially chosen the AS Colour Classic tee (5026) as our go to.
Here is why this specific heavyweight tee is our choice for all our embroidered shirts
The Physics of 220 GSM Heavyweight Fabric
Most standard retail t-shirts range between 140 and 160 GSM (grams per square meter). It feels lightweight and airy, it lacks structural integrity. Worst of all, it feels cheap. Printed designs or bargain bin basics can get away with it, but proper embroidery needs a shirt with structural integrity and an ability to last wash after wash.
The AS Colour Classic tee is a heavy 220 GSM. This density provides a rigid canvas that inherently resists the pull of the upper and bobbin threads. By using a heavy material, we minimize fabric displacement during the stitch-out. The result is a design that lies completely flat against your chest without puckering. We add an additional stability layer that further improves the rigidity, but is soft enough to not be felt. Check out our Warrior design for an example.
Combed Cotton and Needle Alignment
The Classic tee is knit from 100% combed cotton. In lower-grade apparel, carded cotton is used, which retains short, uneven fibers and impurities. This creates microscopic knots and variance in fabric thickness. When a fine embroidery needle drops at high speed, these variances cause needle deflection. The needle hits a thick bunch of uncombed fiber and shifts a fraction of a millimeter off course, ruining crisp lines.
Combed cotton undergoes an extra manufacturing step where short fibers are discarded and long strands are aligned parallel. This creates an incredibly smooth, uniform matrix. The embroidery needle penetrates the fabric with identical resistance on every single stroke, ensuring the physical embroidery matches the digital blueprint exactly.
Side Seams and Shrinkage
Many entry-level blanks use tubular construction, meaning the body of the shirt is knit as a seamless cylinder. While cheap to produce, tubular shirts are prone to torquing. After a few wash cycles, the fabric naturally twists, pulling the front of the shirt to the side. If you place a premium embroidered design on a tubular shirt, your logo will eventually sit off-center.
The AS Colour Classic features side-seamed construction. The front and back panels are cut separately and stitched together along the flanks. This locks the geometry of the shirt in place.
Furthermore, the fabric is pre-shrunk. Because polyester embroidery thread does not shrink in the wash but raw cotton does, pairing a cheap shirt with high-end thread leads to structural distortion after the first wash. The Classic pre-shrinking process ensures the cotton and thread contract at compatible rates, keeping the design sharp for years.
The Finished Product
We choose our blanks with the same discipline we use to digitize our designs. The AS Colour Classic tee costs more than standard retail blanks, but it provides the material stability required for artisanal work. It is a premium, durable piece of apparel built to outlast the trends, surviving the laundry cycle while maintaining the dignity of the craft.