Our Production Process

Following is a summary of our process to produce cotton products. Our full production process takes place in the state of Punjab, Pakistan, where the cotton is cultivated. Then, the cotton moves to Lahore, the state capital, where it cycles through multiple specialized facilities before being packed up for shipment to our warehouse and, ultimately, to our customers. 

Fibers

Manufacturing clothing begins with determining the fabric that will comprise the garment - to make fabric, you first need fibers. 

Where at all possible, we use natural fibers such as cotton or wool in our garments. We procure 100% organic cotton from Punjab - whose cotton is recognized as soft, absorbent, and durable. After cultivation, the cotton is ginned and packed into bales.  

Spinning Yarn

Next, the cotton bales are transported to a separate facility where the raw cotton is spun into yarn. The main steps include:

• Opening & Carding: Bales are opened and blended. Carding machines align the messy fibers into parallel strands, forming a soft rope called a sliver.
• Drawing & Roving: Slivers are drawn out to uniform thickness and twisted slightly into roving strands.
• Spinning: Ring spinning or open-end spinning machines draw out and twist the roving into fine, strong yarn wound onto bobbins or cones.

Cones waiting to be knit

Knitting

Knitting, in general, is creating fabric by interlocking continuous loops of yarn or thread. The process and machinery used to knit wool for a sweater versus a t-shirt. In this blog, we'll focus on the process to knit t-shirt fabric.

The cones of cotton yarn are fastened onto large circular knitting machines that interlock loops of yarn to produce tubular single fabric made for stretch and flexibility.

Wet Processing (Dyeing & Finishing)

Tubular fabric arriving at the dyeing facility

The pieces of tubular fabric are then transferred to a different facility to be refined and dyed. Key steps include:

• Scouring & Bleaching: Impurities and natural waxes are washed away so the fabric absorbs dye evenly.
• Dyeing: The fabric is immersed in dye vats to achieve the target color.
• Finishing: The fabric undergoes washing, drying, and compacting to control shrinkage, adjust weight, and apply softeners for hand-feel.
• Combing: To achieve our premium feel, the cotton fabric is combed to remove short fibers and impurities, yielding a smoother, stronger fabric.

Dyeing is the most energy-intensive step in the production process. The liquid dye must reach temperatures of 90 degrees (C) for cotton (and up to 110 degrees for certain synthetic materials). Our dyeing facility utilizes a biomass-fired boiler. While biomass is renewable, burning of biomass creates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 

Cutting & Sewing

While Big Holiday outerwear is made by individual tailors cutting and sewing the garments, our tees are produced through an assembly line type process, allowing for greater efficiency. 

It starts with pattern laying and cutting. Fabric rolls are spread out in layers, and cutters slice the fabric into body panels, sleeves, collar ribs, and neck bands according to the garment pattern. These panels are then transferred to a sewing room, where seamsters/seamstresses sew their assigned panels until you have a fully formed garment at the end of the line. 

Embroidery & Printing

For products requiring embroidery or printing, such as our sweatshirts with our palm logo on the cuff, the fabric panels are sent to a separate facility for screen printing or embroidery. Printing and embroidery is done before sewing.

Finishing & Packaging

We work with small-medium sized enterprises who pride themselves on quality. There are daily quotas, but ample time is given to allow for attention to detail. Even still, the sewn garments are transferred to a separate room for trimming and inspection. Here, loose threads are trimmed, and garments undergo quality audits for dimensions, seam strength, and color consistency. 

For garments that pass quality control, they are steam-pressed, folded, placed into a poly bags. These final products are then packed into master cartons for distribution to our warehouse and eventual delivery to you, our customers.