Not buildable in Clothix yet, and honestly the furthest away of the six — a fully fashioned sweater isn't a cut pattern at all, so it needs a different kind of model. The decision below is worth understanding before you approach anyone.
Cut-and-sew
Knitted fabric arrives as yardage. You cut pattern pieces from it and sew them together exactly as you would a t-shirt.
What it gives you: access to any cut-and-sew factory, the same pattern and grading workflow you already know, and lower minimums. If you're making one style in small quantity, this is the route that exists for you.
What it costs: fabric waste — the offcuts between pattern pieces are thrown away, and on a chunky knit that's expensive yarn in the bin. Cut edges also need finishing, and a heavy knit's cut edge is bulky, so seams read thicker than on a fully fashioned garment. And the garment looks cut-and-sew: seams cross the shoulder and the armhole in ways a knitter wouldn't produce.
Fully fashioned
Each panel is knitted to its final shape, with the knitting machine adding and dropping needles to shape the armhole and the shoulder. Panels are then linked together, often by hand or on a linking machine, edge loop to edge loop.
What it gives you: almost no waste, no cut edges anywhere, flat seams, and a garment that reads as knitwear rather than as sewn fabric. It's also the only route to shaped ribbing and integral details.
What it costs: a knitwear factory rather than a garment factory, higher minimums, longer lead times, and a completely different specification. You're not sending a pattern — you're sending a knit spec: gauge, yarn count, stitch structure, stitch and row counts per panel, and shaping instructions.
The two tech packs are not the same document
| Cut-and-sew | Fully fashioned | |
|---|---|---|
| You send | Pattern (DXF) and measurements | Knit spec, stitch counts, shaping |
| Fabric spec | Weight in g/m², structure | Gauge, yarn count, ply, stitch structure |
| Sizing | Graded pattern | Stitch and row counts per size |
| Seams | Overlock, cover stitch | Linking, mock linking |
| Waste | Offcuts | Near zero |
| Typical MOQ | Lower | Higher |
| Factory type | Garment factory | Knitwear factory |
Which to choose
Cut-and-sew for a first sweater, for anything in a fine gauge that reads close to a heavy jersey top, and whenever the quantity is small. It's the accessible route and there's nothing wrong with it.
Fully fashioned when the sweater is the product — when the yarn is expensive enough that waste matters, when you want shaped ribbing, or when the garment has to stand next to real knitwear and not look sewn.
Our view: if you're asking the question, start cut-and-sew. Fully fashioned is a different supply chain, and learning two things at once is how first orders go wrong. Which arrangement you end up in matters more than the factory.
Where rib comes in
Both routes use rib at the cuffs, hem and neck, and on a heavier gauge the rib is more of the garment than it is on a t-shirt. Gauge, recovery and stretch ratios are the same decisions, just more visible.
Rib knit · choosing an arrangement · why knitwear is hard to simulate · the garment catalogue