All-Over Print and Cut-and-Sew: A Complete Production Guide

All-over print (AOP) garments are made by sublimation-printing the fabric panels before they are cut and sewn into the finished garment. Because the print covers every centimetre of fabric including across seams, AOP requires careful design preparation, polyester-only fabric, and higher minimum orders than standard decoration — but it produces garments that are genuinely impossible to achieve any other way.

What Is All-Over Print Production?

Unlike screen printing or embroidery applied to a finished garment, AOP works by printing flat fabric (on a roll or in pre-cut panel form) with sublimation dye, then constructing the garment from those printed panels. Sublimation converts solid ink to gas under heat and pressure, bonding the dye permanently within the polyester fibre. The result is a print that is part of the fabric — it cannot peel, crack, or fade independently because the dye is inside the fibre structure, not on the surface.

Polyester-Only Fabric Requirement

Sublimation dye bonds only with polyester fibres. On cotton, the ink simply sits on the surface and washes out rapidly. This means all-over print garments must be made from 100% polyester (or very high polyester content — typically 95%+ for acceptable results). The good news is that modern polyester fabrics are far removed from the scratchy performance fabrics of the past; high-quality brushed polyester fleece, interlock knits, and woven twill all sublimate beautifully and feel premium.

Preparing Design Files for AOP

• Provide artwork at the full garment panel dimensions — typically supplied as a flat template by the manufacturer
• Resolution must be at least 150 DPI at finished size (300 DPI preferred); low-resolution files will show pixelation across the large surface area
• Colour mode must be RGB for sublimation — CMYK conversions can shift colours significantly under the sublimation process
• Bleed of at least 10 mm beyond each panel edge is essential to account for cutting variance
• Seam allowances must be accounted for in the design — elements you want to appear continuous across a seam must be planned to shift by the seam allowance amount on each panel

Seam Matching: The Key Challenge

Seam matching is the most technically demanding aspect of AOP design. If your design has a pattern (geometric, floral, camouflage) that you want to flow continuously across the side seam, sleeve seam, or shoulder seam, the design team must offset the panels precisely to account for the seam allowance taken up in sewing. Perfect seam matching across every seam simultaneously is extremely difficult and typically requires multiple sampling rounds. Many successful AOP designs intentionally use pattern scales and layouts that look intentional even if minor seam shifts occur.

Minimum Orders and Economics

AOP cut-and-sew has a higher cost per unit than standard decoration because each garment requires full-fabric sublimation printing, precise cutting, and garment construction from scratch. Velocity Wear's 20-piece MOQ applies, making AOP accessible for premium limited drops, team kits, and brand collaborations. Bulk discounts of up to 40% are available as quantities scale, significantly improving margins for larger production runs.

What to Expect from Production

1. 1Submit artwork as an RGB file on the provided garment template at 150–300 DPI
2. 2Velocity Wear's team reviews the file for bleed, resolution, and seam considerations
3. 3A digital mockup and/or physical sample is produced for approval
4. 4Full production begins on approval; sublimation printing, cutting, and sewing are completed in sequence
5. 5Finished garments are quality-checked and packed for tracked delivery

“"AOP garments are a completely different product category to decorated stock garments — the design and the garment are created together, which opens creative possibilities that simply don't exist in standard decoration." — Velocity Wear design team”

Velocity Wear handles full AOP cut-and-sew production from a 20-piece minimum order, with tracked delivery to the UK, USA, Europe, and worldwide. Use the free Design Studio to build your concept across the garment panels, and request a free quote to discuss your design, fabric options, and production timeline.