How T-shirts are made

A T-shirt is knit from a single continuous yarn that loops through itself row after row.

stations: 6
things upstream: 47
raw sources: 17
steps from the ground: 8

The short version

A T-shirt is cut from knit jersey. A circular knitting machine loops cotton yarn into a stretchy tube of fabric. The fabric is dyed, cut into panels, sewn at shoulders, sleeves and hem, and often screen-printed with a design.

Loop the jersey

A knitting machine loops cotton yarn into stretchy jersey fabric. Each loop is pulled through the one before it, which is why the fabric stretches.

Goes in
Cotton yarn
Dye the fabric

The knitted fabric is bleached or soaked in dye baths before cutting. The color must be fixed so it does not wash away.

Goes in
Water
Cut out the panels

Blades cut layers of fabric into the front, back, sleeves and neck rib. The shape that gives the shirt its name is a T.
Sew it together

Sewers close the shoulders, set in the sleeves, attach the collar band and hem the sleeves and bottom. Knit fabric stretches, so the stitches have to stretch too.

Goes in
Sewing thread
Screen-print the design

In screen printing, each color is pushed through its own mesh screen, partly coated with emulsion to block the non-image area. Ink sits on top of the fabric until a dryer cures it.

Goes in
Ink
Fold and pack

Shirts are inspected, folded, tagged and bagged for shipping.

End of the lineT-shirt

Worth repeating

About two billion T-shirts are sold worldwide each year, and the average person in Sweden buys nine a year.
The invention of plastisol ink in 1959 gave printers a more durable and stretchable ink than water-based inks, and most prefer it.