Womens Cropped Top

Bonded Into the Polyester

A screen print sits on the surface as a film, which is why it cracks along fold lines, peels at the edges after enough washes, and feels warmer than the fabric beside it. A sublimated print has nothing to crack because there is no separate layer; the color is part of the polyester. That is also why the artwork can run edge to edge and over a seam without a hard border, which a screen print cannot do cleanly.

• Nothing sits on the surface. The color is inside the fiber rather than on it.
• No cracking along folds. There is no film to split where the fabric bends.
• It breathes like the cloth. The printed area behaves exactly like the rest.
• Edge to edge is possible. Artwork can cross a seam without a hard border.

Choosing the Print

Because the whole panel can be printed, these designs behave more like fabrics than like graphics. A dense tropical or mandala pattern reads as a textile from a distance and hides marks well; a bold comic or graphic design reads as a statement and puts a focal point on the chest. Scale is the thing to check: a large motif on a cropped panel is cut off by the hem and the neckline, which can look either deliberate or accidental depending on the design.

• Dense patterns read as fabric. Repeating motifs behave like a textile at a distance.
• Bold graphics read as a statement. One large motif puts the focus on the chest.
• Watch the scale. A big motif gets cropped by hem and neckline.
• Marks hide in pattern. A busy print forgives what a plain panel shows.

How Much It Covers

Cropped covers a wide range and the difference between the ends of it is not small. A shorter cut exposes the midriff and wants a high-rise bottom to meet it; a longer one sits just above the waistband and works with almost anything. Because these are cut close, the coverage you see in a flat photograph is roughly what you get, with none of the extra length a loose top gains from hanging away from the body.

• Short wants a high rise. The shorter the crop, the higher the waistband must sit.
• Longer crops are versatile. Just above the waistband suits most bottoms.
• Close cuts do not gain length. There is no drape to add coverage as it hangs.
• The flat photo is honest. What you measure is roughly what you wear.

What the Cloth Is

The knit under these prints is a polyester and elastane blend, and what each fiber contributes is set out on the polyester elastane blend page. The construction details that make the same knit comfortable against skin are on the stretch crop top page. Between the three, the fabric, the finish and the print are each covered once rather than three times.

• Polyester carries the print. Sublimation only works on synthetic fiber.
• Elastane carries the fit. The stretch component is what holds the shape.
• Cotton cannot be sublimated. The same process on a natural fiber does not bond.
• Three pages, three subjects. Fabric, finish and print are each covered once.