Guide · July 2026
Choosing blanks people actually wear
The print gets the attention, but the blank decides whether the piece lives in a rotation or a donation bag. Here's how we spec garments for live printing events, brand names included.
T-shirts: the 3001 default, and when to break it
Our default event tee is the Bella+Canvas 3001 — soft, retail-fitting, presses beautifully, and available in enough colors to match any brand palette. It reads as "shirt I'd buy," which is exactly the reaction you want when someone pulls their print off the rack. When budgets are tighter or the crowd skews toward a boxier fit, Gildan Softstyle and heavyweight lines hold up well under a DTF press and stretch the blank budget on big guest lists.
The honest rule: match the blank to how long you want the piece to live. A festival one-nighter can run value blanks without guilt. An employee-appreciation gift should be the 3001 or better, because the garment is the message.
Hats: why the hat bar runs on Richardson 112
The Richardson 112 trucker is the hat-bar standard for a reason — the structured front panel takes leather, woven, and chenille patches cleanly, the colorway range is enormous, and people already wear them by choice. Flexfit covers fitted preferences. At the station, guests pick cap plus patch, and the combination count means two hundred guests rarely produce two identical hats. That combinatorial variety is the quiet genius of a patch bar.
Beyond the shirt rack
Canvas totes press fast and get re-used weekly — the best cost-per-impression in the lineup. Hoodies double perceived value at winter events (budget for the higher blank cost and slightly slower pressing). And for gifting stations, hard goods carry surprising weight: tumblers and candle jars take UV DTF labels and laser engraving in ways that feel more "gift" than "giveaway."
Sizing the order without leftovers
For a general adult crowd we order roughly 10% S, 25% M, 30% L, 22% XL, 13% 2XL+, then bias by audience. Plan blanks for 60–80% of attendance — not everyone stops at the station, and live printing's on-demand nature means you never press what nobody wants. That's the anti-leftover advantage over pre-printing.
Want the garment talk applied to your actual event? Include the crowd description in your quote request and we'll spec the lineup with the number.