Toronto Winter Staff Apparel: A Four-Piece Kit
Crewneck, hoodie, toque and jacket are four different canvases. The 9.4-inch hoodie limit, the 3-inch toque cuff, and why outerwear has to be embroidered.
- The four-layer kit
- Most Toronto winter orders are some mix of a crewneck, a hoodie, a toque and a jacket. Each is a different decoration problem, and only the first three are self-serve online.
- Toque
- ATC C100 Everyday Knit Cuff Toque — 100% acrylic 1x1 rib knit, one size, with a 3″ fold-over cuff that is the logo spot. 29 colours including camo and three neons.
- Fleece
- Gildan 18000 crewneck and 18500 hoodie share the same 8.0 oz Heavy Blend fleece. The crewneck has no hood or pocket, so its front panel is flat and takes a bigger print.
- The hoodie catch
- A hoodie front print stops at the pouch pocket, about 9.4 inches down, where a t-shirt gives 13.6. If the design is large, a crewneck is the better canvas.
- Jackets are quoted
- Outerwear is not in the online studio — it is sourced per order and quoted with a free mockup. Embroidery is almost always the right method on a coated or quilted shell.
- Volume pricing
- Large orders get volume pricing. In the online design studio the per-piece price drops at 12, 24, 50 and 100 pieces, and every colour of the same garment in one order counts toward the same price break.
- Turnaround
- Standard turnaround on clothing is 1–2 weeks, plus transit to the GTA. Most apparel orders can rush — 4–5 business days or 1–3 business days, priced at checkout.
What a Toronto winter kit actually contains
Ask a GTA employer what they need for winter and the answer is rarely one garment. It is a layered kit, bought once and worn from November to March: something to wear indoors, something warmer for the walk between buildings, something on the head, and — for anyone who works outside — a real jacket.
The mistake is treating those as one order with one design. They are four different canvases. A logo sized for a crewneck front is comically large on a toque cuff; a print that looks right on a hoodie may be interrupted by the pocket; a jacket shell may not take a heat-applied graphic at all. Getting the kit right means deciding the mark per garment rather than once.
Crewneck or hoodie: the decision the pocket makes
The two fleece options share a blank family. The Gildan 18000 crewneck and the 18500 hoodie are the same 8.0 oz/yd² Heavy Blendfleece with a brushed interior — one with a hood and a pouch, one without.
That difference decides the artwork. A hoodie’s front print stops at the pouch pocket, about 9.4 inches down, where a t-shirt gives roughly 13.6 inches. A crewneck has neither hood nor pocket, so the front panel is flat and uninterrupted and takes the biggest front design of anything in the kit. Our standard full-front width is 11 inches on both, with height following your artwork.
For staff wear specifically, the crewneck has quietly become the default: it layers under a jacket without the hood bunching at the collar, and it photographs better for a team shot. The hoodie wins on warmth and on being the thing people actually want to keep. Plenty of Toronto orders include both — and because every colour of the same garment in one order counts toward the same price break, splitting colours across a team costs nothing extra.
The full detail is in the crewneck guide and the hoodie guide.
Toques: a 3-inch cuff is the whole canvas
The toque is the highest-value-per-dollar item in a Canadian winter kit, and the one most often designed badly.
Our standard is the ATC C100 Everyday Knit Cuff Toque: a 100% acrylic 1x1 rib knit, one size fits most, in 29 colours including camo and three neons. The important specification is the 3″ fold-over cuff. That cuff is the logo spot — a doubled, relatively flat band of knit, which is the only part of a toque stable enough to carry embroidery cleanly.
Three inches tall, wrapping around a curve, on a stretchy rib knit. That is a small and unusual canvas, and it means:
- Wide and short wins. A horizontal wordmark suits the cuff; a tall stacked logo does not.
- Chunky knits eat detail. The rib texture swallows hairlines. Bold shapes survive.
- A patch is a legitimate answer. On a heavily textured knit, a flat-made patch often reads better than direct stitching.
Our toque guide covers cuffed versus uncuffed and stitch counts in detail.
Jackets: quoted, and almost always embroidered
Outerwear is where a winter order stops being self-serve. Jackets are not in the online studio— we source the shell per order and quote it, with a free mockup before anything is committed.
The decoration answer is nearly always embroidery, and for a physical reason. A softshell has a bonded, often water-repellent face; polar fleece has a deep nap; an insulated shell is quilted, so the surface is not even flat. Heat-applied graphics struggle on all three — coatings resist adhesion, nap swallows detail and quilting prevents even pressure. Stitched thread sidesteps all of it.
Hooping is the other constraint. A lined or insulated jacket cannot simply be clamped in an embroidery hoop the way a t-shirt can, which is why placements on outerwear are conventional — left chest, back yoke, sleeve — rather than anywhere you like. Ask before planning something unusual. Our jacket guide goes through softshell, fleece, insulated and work jackets properly.
Getting it to the GTA, and when to order
We decorate in-house in Ottawa and ship across the Greater Toronto Area— there is no Toronto storefront. Everything that used to need a visit happens on screen: you see the logo on the real garment in a free mockup, and a designer has looked at your file before anything runs.
Standard turnaround on clothing is 1–2 weeks, plus a day or two of transit to the GTA. Most apparel orders can rush — 4–5 business days or 1–3 business days, priced at checkout — and every order shows the dates it will be ready before you pay.
The seasonal reality is worth saying plainly: everyone wants fleece and outerwear in the same eight weeks, popular sizes in popular colours move first, and a first embroidered order includes digitizing. If the kit is for December, the time to start is well before December. Orders in the hundreds are quoted through the free quote form, and corporate apparel in Toronto covers the wider staff-kit picture.
You can build the crewnecks, hoodies and toques yourself in the free studio with no account and no deposit, and send the jacket line for a quote at the same time. Every order is reviewed by a human designer before it goes to press. A person checks artwork resolution, colour, sizing and placement, and either fixes the file or tells you what is wrong — it is not an automated preflight.
Frequently asked questions
Should we order crewnecks or hoodies for staff?
Crewnecks layer better under a jacket because there is no hood bunching at the collar, and they take a bigger front print — a hoodie's front stops at the pouch pocket about 9.4 inches down. Hoodies are warmer and are the piece staff are most likely to keep. Many orders include both, and because every colour of the same garment counts toward the same price break, mixing does not cost you a tier.
Where does the logo go on a toque?
On the 3″ fold-over cuff. That doubled band is the only part of a knit toque stable enough to carry a clean logo — the body of the hat is stretchy rib knit that distorts under stitching. It means wide, short marks work and tall stacked ones do not, and that a chunky knit will swallow hairline detail.
Can we get branded winter jackets online?
Not in the design studio — outerwear is sourced per order and quoted, with a free mockup before anything is committed. The studio carries tees, long sleeves, hoodies, crewnecks, polos, caps and toques. You can build the fleece and headwear half yourself and send the jacket line for a quote in the same conversation.
Why does embroidery suit jackets better than printing?
Because of what the shells are made of. Softshells have a bonded, often water-repellent face that resists adhesion, fleece has a deep nap that swallows detail, and insulated jackets are quilted so the surface is not flat enough for even pressure. Thread worked into the fabric avoids all three problems, which is why stitched logos dominate outerwear.
Do you have a Toronto location we can visit?
No — we decorate in-house in Ottawa and ship across the GTA, typically arriving a day or two after the order leaves the shop. You approve a free mockup on the actual garment before paying, and a human designer reviews the artwork, so the parts that used to need a visit happen on screen.
When should a Toronto business order winter apparel?
Earlier than feels necessary. Standard turnaround on clothing is 1–2 weeks plus transit, but everyone orders fleece and outerwear in the same eight-week window, popular sizes and colours move first, and a first embroidered order includes digitizing. Rush is available at 4–5 or 1–3 business days, priced at checkout, but it costs more than planning ahead.
Can we mix garments and still get volume pricing?
Price breaks are per garment, so twenty crewnecks and twenty hoodies are two quantities rather than forty of one. But every colour of the same garment counts together — twenty black and twenty navy crewnecks are one quantity of forty. Large mixed orders are quoted directly and get the same free mockup and designer check.
Design it yourself. A human designer still checks every order.
Our free studio gives you the price and the mockup in the browser. What it doesn't do is print your file blindly — every order is reviewed by a real designer before it reaches the press.
- Step 1You design it — free
Upload your logo, drop it on a real garment, set the size and placement, pick colours and quantities. No account, no deposit, no waiting on a reply.
- Step 2A human designer checks it
Before anything prints, one of our designers opens your file and checks resolution, colours, sizing and placement. If it won't print well, we fix it or tell you exactly what's wrong — a person, not an automated preflight.
- Step 3You approve, then we print
You get the corrected mockup back on the actual product. Nothing goes to press until you say yes — then it's ready in 1–2 weeks, or in 1–3 business days with a rush.
Build the winter kit for your team
Design crewnecks, hoodies and toques yourself in the free studio and watch the price drop at 12, 24, 50 and 100 — then send the jacket line for a quote. We ship across the GTA from our Ottawa shop.
Every order is reviewed by a human designer before it goes to press. A person checks artwork resolution, colour, sizing and placement, and either fixes the file or tells the customer what is wrong — it is not an automated preflight.