Custom Kids & Adult Matching Jacquard Cardigan

A round-neck button-through cardigan in illustrated 7GG jacquard, with a contrast rib collar, placket, hem and cuffs knitted in a second colour so the graphic frame is part of the structure rather than applied afterwards. It is built as a matching programme: toddler, kids, youth and adult from the same artwork, the same yarn lot and the same colourway, so a pair bought together reads as one design instead of a big version and a small version of two different things.

The thing that separates a real kids and adult programme from a graded one is the artwork. A geometric motif can be graded by changing how many times it repeats across a panel. An illustrated character cannot, because its recognisability lives in features that are only a few stitches tall. At 7GG there are roughly 2.7 stitches per centimetre, so a 2Y front panel about 40 cm wide carries only around 110 needles across its full width, against roughly 150 on an adult front. That 1.4x difference in linear resolution lands almost entirely on the smallest features - the eye highlight, the lash line, the edge of the mouth - which are exactly what makes a drawn character read as a character instead of a shape. So we produce two charts: one cut for the kids' stitch count, with the lash and the fine outline dropped and the lid line and highlight thickened so the expression survives, and one for the adult run. Only the technical points of measure are graded between them.

Three things are decided before sampling on a children's programme. First the button and placket: children's garments are pull-tested, so buttons need a locked shank attachment and the placket has to be narrower at small sizes, with button count moving from six at 2Y to eight at adult - the spacing is a fit and safety decision, not a scaling one. Second the yarn specification, which has to be settled at brief stage rather than after the sample: if the programme needs Oeko-Tex Standard 100 Class I for children's skin contact, that changes which yarn lots we can buy and how long sourcing takes, because Class I restricts the dye range. Third the contrast rib, which is what gives this cardigan its frame but also adds a second yarn lot and a colour-match step on every dye lot - on repeats we hold the approved lot rather than re-matching.

What goes wrong at bulk is usually the artwork across the centre front. The illustration runs continuously behind the button placket, so the left and right fronts have to be charted as one image and then split; mills that chart each front separately produce a face whose two halves stop lining up once the cardigan is buttoned. The second failure is the pale ground against dark navy ribs after a domestic wash, which is why we test colourfastness on the assembled garment rather than on swatches. Typical buyers are childrenswear labels, boutique family brands, gift and holiday programmes and resort kidswear. Woven neck label, size and care labels, hang tags and retail-ready polybags ship with the development. MOQ 100 pieces per design with kids and adult counted separately, sampling 72 hours from yarn stock confirmation, bulk production 2-3 weeks after PPS approval, DDP door-to-door.