Custom Fleece Jackets: What to Check Before You Order
By The Velocity Wear Team
A custom fleece jacket is specified by three things: pile weight, whether the fabric is anti-pill, and how it closes. Microfleece around 180 to 220 GSM is a layer. Classic polar fleece around 280 to 320 GSM is the standard branded jacket. Anything heavier, bonded or sherpa-faced is an outer layer. Embroidery is the default decoration on all of them, because a heat press permanently crushes pile.
Three Kinds of Fleece Doing Three Different Jobs
Microfleece is thin, light and made to sit under something else. It is the right choice for a layering piece or a lightweight branded gift, and the wrong choice if people will wear it as their outer garment on a yard in February. Classic polar fleece at around 300 GSM is what most people picture: warm, cheap to produce, easy to embroider, and comfortable across a wide temperature range. Heavyweight, sherpa and bonded fleeces are outerwear, and bonded versions carry a membrane between the face fabric and the backing.
That membrane matters more than most buyers realise. Plain fleece is warm but it is not windproof at all. Air moves straight through the pile, which is why a 300 GSM fleece can feel colder on an exposed site than a much thinner softshell. If people work outdoors in wind, a bonded or softshell-backed fleece is a genuinely different garment, not an upsell.
Anti-Pill Is Not Marketing Language
Pilling is what happens when loose fibres on the surface tangle into little balls under abrasion, especially where a bag strap or a seatbelt rubs. Untreated fleece pills fast, and once it starts, a navy jacket takes on a grey fuzzy cast that no amount of washing removes. An anti-pill finish shears and treats the surface so the fibres are less inclined to migrate.
If you are buying staff kit that has to look consistent for two years, anti-pill matters more than an extra 20 GSM of pile weight. It is the difference between a fleece that ages and one that looks neglected.
The Spec Details That Change the Garment
Two fleeces at the same weight can be very different once you look at the hardware.
- Full zip versus quarter zip: a full zip is an outer layer people take on and off; a quarter zip is a midlayer and reads as smarter.
- Chin guard and zip garage: a small fabric flap at the top of the zip, and the reason people stop complaining about the zip pull against their throat.
- Cuff finish: elasticated cuffs seal warmth and look sportier, bound or plain cuffs look tidier and suit corporate kit.
- Pockets: zipped side pockets keep phones in, open handwarmer pockets do not, and zipped pockets are worth the small extra cost on anything worn outdoors.
- Drawcord hem: keeps cold air out at the waist, and it is often missing from budget fleeces.
Why Embroidery Is the Default Here
Fleece is a pile fabric, so anything you stitch into it wants to sink. Good fleece embroidery uses a water-soluble topping laid over the surface so the stitches sit on top of the pile rather than disappearing into it, and a cut-away backing underneath to stop the design distorting as the fabric moves. The digitiser should also allow a little extra pull compensation, because fleece shifts under the needle more than a woven does.
The practical consequence is that fine detail does not survive. Thin serif letterforms, hairline rules and text much under 5mm high will close up or vanish into the pile. Simplify the mark before production rather than arguing with the stitch-out afterwards. A logo that has been redrawn for stitch nearly always looks better than one that has been forced through unchanged.
What a Heat Press Does to Pile
It crushes it, and the crush is permanent. A platen flattens the fibres wherever it touches, so a transfer on fleece typically ends up surrounded by a glazed halo slightly larger than the design itself. On dark colours that halo catches the light and is visible from across a room. You can reduce it with a lower press temperature, a raised platen and a cover sheet, but you cannot eliminate it.
If your design genuinely needs a full-colour printed graphic, the honest answer is to change the garment rather than fight the fabric. A bonded softshell has a smooth woven face and takes a transfer cleanly. Pile fleece does not.
“"Fleece forgives a simple logo and punishes a clever one."”
Sizing for a Garment That Goes Over Other Layers
A fleece is worn over a polo, a shirt or a hoodie, so it needs room the base layer does not. Ordering to the same size chart as a t-shirt is how you end up with jackets nobody can zip over a jumper. Check the chest measurement rather than the letter, and size generously if your team runs to broader builds. Ladies-fit and unisex cuts differ noticeably in body length and sleeve, so decide before you order.
Getting the Order Placed
Velocity Wear supplies online with no physical shop, so you brief, proof and order through the site and the finished fleeces are delivered on a tracked service. The minimum is 20 pieces per order with sizes mixed freely, and bulk discounts reach up to around 40% as quantities rise. Use the free Design Studio to see how your logo sits on the chest at real size, and the instant price calculator to compare quantities. Embroidery typically takes around 10-15 working days from artwork approval, with UK delivery usually 2-5 working days after dispatch. Production starts when the artwork is approved, so a quick proof turnaround protects your date.