Can I Mix Sizes in One Custom Clothing Order?
By The Velocity Wear Team
Yes. Sizes mix freely within the 20-piece minimum, in any split you like. Two XS, five S, six M, five L and two XL is a single 20-piece order, and it costs the same as 20 of one size.
How the Split Actually Works
The minimum sits on the order, not on any line within it. Decoration setup is done once for the design, and every garment that passes through the press or the machine carries that same setup regardless of what size label is in the neck. Nothing about a medium costs less to print than a large.
The only place size affects price is the garment itself. Some brands charge a small step up on 2XL and above, because there is genuinely more fabric in them. That is a garment cost, not a decoration cost, and it is visible in the calculator when you build the order.
The Print Does Not Grow With the Garment
Here is the thing that catches people out. A screen is a fixed size. A DTF transfer is cut to a fixed size. In a standard run, the same artwork at the same dimensions goes onto every garment in the order. A 30cm wide chest print that looks confident on a large will run almost seam to seam on an XS.
There are two sensible responses. Either design at a width that reads well across the middle of your range and accept that it sits slightly small on the biggest sizes, or ask for a reduced print on the smallest sizes as a separate setup. The second option costs more, so it is worth doing only when the range is genuinely wide, such as a club ordering youth sizes alongside adult 3XL.
Placement Shifts Too
Print position is measured from the collar, not from the middle of the garment. That means a chest print sitting 8cm below the neckline lands high on a small and comfortably central on a 2XL. For a left chest logo this is barely noticeable. For a large front print it absolutely is, and a rail of finished garments will show the drift.
If the order includes a wide range and the design is large, say so at briefing. It is a conversation about how the run is planned, and it is free to have before production and impossible to have after.
Guessing a Size Curve When You Do Not Know
- For staff uniform, ask every person for their size. Do not estimate. Wrong-size workwear does not get worn, and unworn workwear is the most expensive kind.
- For retail or merch, mediums and larges usually carry the run, with smalls and extra larges as the tails.
- For sports and teamwear, size up rather than down. Kit worn over a baselayer needs room, and a tight shirt gets left in the bag.
- Order the odd 3XL even if nobody has asked for one. The person who needs it will not volunteer, and one spare garment is cheaper than one excluded colleague.
- Keep two or three back from a staff order for new starters, rather than reordering at minimum quantity in three months.
Mixing Men's and Women's Fits
Most decent garment ranges offer a matched men's and women's cut, sometimes described as a unisex and fitted pairing. You can mix these in one order the same way you mix sizes. Two things to watch: the fitted cut is usually shorter in the body, so a large front print may need dropping slightly, and dye lots can differ subtly between the two styles even within the same brand.
If everyone will be photographed together, it is worth accepting a single unisex cut for consistency. If people will wear these day to day and actually have to feel comfortable, take the mixed fit and live with the small differences. Comfort wins the argument more often than photos do.
“"The best size curve is the one you asked people for, not the one that looked tidy on a spreadsheet."”
Personalisation Within a Mixed Order
If individual names or numbers are involved, vinyl handles it, applied per item on top of the main design. This works happily alongside a mixed size run, because each garment is being handled individually anyway. Send the name list tied to sizes rather than as two separate documents, so nobody ends up with a 3XL carrying a small person's name.
Get the list right first time. Personalisation is the one part of an order that cannot be salvaged if a name is spelled wrong, and it is always the customer who holds the correct spelling.
Before You Confirm the Split
Lay the design out in the free Design Studio and look at it on the garment rather than in isolation. It takes a couple of minutes and it is the fastest way to catch a print that is too big, too high, or too small to read from across a room.
Then check the total. Twenty pieces, any mix, and you are over the line.