Name: Gregg
Message: I have yet to find a t-shirt where the stitching will take the dye along with the rest of the shirt. Do you know of any brands that are sewn with cotton thread? Thank you.

There are several manufacturers of cotton clothing blanks that have been sewn with cotton thread. You never see cotton thread on clothing that is not specially labeled as having it, however. Polyester thread is the standard for most pre-sewn 100% cotton clothing, which causes problems since polyester cannot be dyed with cotton dye, resulting in thread that stays white when the rest of the garment is dyed. Look for clothing that is labeled "PFD" (for "Prepared For Dyeing") or "RTD" (for "Ready To Dye"), then check to be sure that the garment truly was sewn with cotton thread. Try a search of your supplier's web site using the abbreviation "PFD".

Gildan manufactures a 6.1-ounce cotton t-shirt that is sewn with cotton thread. ("6.1 ounce" refers to the weight per yard of fabric, not per t-shirt.) You will probably notice that their "PFD White" is more expensive than the other white shirts in the same line, which are sewn with polyester thread. One of many sources for these shirts is Shirtsupplier.com.

A source for an incredibly wide variety of all sorts of inexpensive clothing blanks, including but not limited to a good selection of t-shirts by different manufacturers, is Dharma Trading Company. Many of their garments are sewn with cotton thread; they clearly indicate whether or not a particular garment is sewn with cotton thread. There is no minimum order size. Another source for wholesale quantities of cotton clothing blanks which have been sewn with cotton thread is Alegre Fashions. For contact information for these and other suppliers of materials for hand-dyeing, see "Sources for Dyeing Supplies Around the World".

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