Jersey Knit

Jersey knit is a single-knit construction — one set of needles looping yarn in a single direction — which is why it has a smooth face, a slightly textured back, and why a cut edge curls if it isn't hemmed. "Fine jersey," the phrase on nearly every tee spec sheet, just means a tighter, finer gauge of that same knit, most commonly landing in the 4.2 to 6.1 oz per square yard range for adult tees.

This is the base construction behind the entire category — Gildan's Softstyle and Heavy Cotton lines, Bella+Canvas 3001, Next Level 3600 — every one of them is jersey knit, just at different weights and fiber blends. When a buyer asks what fabric a shirt "is," nine times out of ten the honest answer is jersey; the real spec differences live in weight, fiber, and yarn, not the knit structure itself.

Because jersey is a single knit, it stretches across the width but almost none lengthwise, and it will run or curl at a raw edge — that's why every tee needs a hem, not because the fabric is fragile. Lighter jersey, 4.2-4.5 oz, drapes softer but shows more through-print and body shape; heavier jersey, 5.3-6.1 oz, holds a print flatter and survives more washes before pilling.

"Jersey" names a knit structure, not a fiber or a brand — a point that gets lost when buyers ask what a shirt is made of. You can have cotton jersey, poly jersey, or blended jersey, and all three are correctly called jersey. If a spec sheet just says "jersey" with no weight or fiber content listed, you're missing half the information needed to actually compare blanks.