Low MOQ activewear manufacturer: 150 pieces per style, from your pattern
Activewear is the category where fabric performance and construction quality decide whether a brand gets a second order, and where a printed blank is least convincing. From 150 pieces per style and colour, our sister company, Collective Studio Ltd., makes training tops, leggings, sports bras and shorts in Narayanganj from your pattern in stretch and wicking knits, with the seams and labels the category demands. CMB Sourcing Ltd. manages the order, from tech pack to inspection and delivery.
- Minimum
- 150 pieces per style, per colour
- Made by
- Collective Studio Ltd., Narayanganj, our sister factory
- Small runs since
- 2019
- Production time
- About 40–50 days after sample approval; freight on top, DDP
- Organic option
- Organic cotton on request (ask for the factory’s GOTS licence number and check it in the GOTS public database before you order)
- Colours
- Stock shades keep a first run small; custom dye lots need larger fabric minimums
- Typical fabrics
- Polyester-elastane and nylon-elastane knits; polyester mesh and interlock for tops
Made by our sister factory
Collective Studio Ltd.
Small runs on this page are cut and sewn by our sister company, Collective Studio Ltd.: a Narayanganj factory making small quantities since 2019, to support new businesses and creators. CMB Sourcing Ltd. manages your tech pack, sampling, quality checks and DDP delivery exactly as on its own orders, and names the factory in writing before production. Both our founders work with Collective Studio Ltd.: Homaira Jashim is a co-founder and AB Rahman is Head of Growth; see our founders. Our sister company has its own website and minimum, and prices these runs itself.
In short
Activewear from 150 pieces per style and colour, cut and sewn from your pattern in stretch and moisture-wicking knits, with flatlock seams, bonded or heat-transfer labels and sublimated or printed graphics, made by our sister factory, Collective Studio Ltd., in Narayanganj and delivered DDP to your door. For gym, studio, running and athleisure labels testing a first range.
Fabrics that perform
Activewear fabric is chosen for what it does under sweat and stretch. Polyester-elastane knits wick moisture, dry fast, hold colour and take sublimation print; nylon-elastane knits feel softer against the skin and suit studio and yoga wear; polyester mesh and birdseye ventilate a training top; interlock gives a heavier, more opaque legging. Recovery matters as much as stretch: a knit that stretches and does not recover produces bagging knees within a week. On a 150-piece run the fabric comes from our sister factory’s stock performance knits, which cover these constructions in the usual shades; printed and custom-dyed fabrics need larger runs.
Construction that does not chafe
The seams are the difference between activewear and a stretchy t-shirt. Flatlock seams lie flat against the skin and are the standard for leggings and fitted tops; coverstitch hems stretch with the fabric; a gusset at the crotch of a legging improves fit and durability; bonded or heat-transfer labels replace sewn labels where a label edge would rub. Sports bras add a lined front, a stated support level, elastic under the band and optional removable pads. Every one of those details is written into the tech pack and can be checked on the sealed sample.
- Flatlock or coverstitch seams on all fitted garments
- Wide flat waistbands with or without internal elastic; high or mid rise stated per size
- Gusseted leggings; key pocket or phone pocket where wanted
- Heat-transfer neck and care labels instead of sewn labels
- Sports bras: lining, band elastic, strap style, pad pockets
Graphics: sublimation, print and reflective details
Polyester activewear is the natural home of sublimation, which dyes the fibre so there is nothing on the surface to crack, and which costs the same at any coverage, so all-over prints and panel colour blocking are open even at 150 pieces on white or light fabric. Screen and digital printing handle logos on dark fabrics, and reflective transfers suit running wear. Every method is approved on the bulk fabric and the garment colour before the run.
Sizing, fit and the sample loop
Activewear is fitted, so the fit sample is worn and moved in, not only measured. The pattern is graded at chest, waist, hip and inseam, and the pre-production sample is checked at the base size and at one end of the range. On 150 pieces across five sizes the ratio is weighted to your core sizes. The sample loop for activewear usually needs one more round than for a tee, and it is worth it.
Samples, approval and delivery
A fit sample, then a pre-production sample in the bulk knit with seams, labels and graphics as they will be in production, approved and sealed.
Performance claims on the tag: what backs them on a small run
Activewear is sold on words: moisture-wicking, four-way stretch, squat-proof, recycled. Each is a claim a customer, a marketplace or a regulator can ask you to prove. On a 150-piece run the fabric comes from our sister factory’s stock, so the proof is a test report the mill already holds for that fabric, or a test you commission on the bulk fabric before the swing tag is printed. Ask which reports exist when you choose the fabric, and claim only what they cover.
Generic green words carry the most risk. In the EU, Directive (EU) 2024/825 applies from 27 September 2026 and bans generic environmental claims such as “eco-friendly” unless the trader can show recognised excellent environmental performance; the UK’s Green Claims Code points the same way. On a first run, “made with recycled polyester, GRS transaction certificate on file” says more than an adjective and holds up when someone asks for the document.
Tie each word on the tag to a named test method, run by an accredited laboratory on the fabric in your order or confirmed by the mill’s report for it. The laboratory reports a measured result against that method, and the result, not the adjective, is what you keep on file with the sealed sample and quote if a retailer or a customer asks.
- Moisture-wicking: AATCC TM195, liquid moisture management, which reports wetting time, absorption rate, spreading speed and one-way transport of liquid from the inner face to the outer
- Four-way stretch and recovery: EN ISO 20932-1, elasticity of fabrics by strip tests, which replaced EN 14704-1
- No bleeding in sweat: ISO 105-E04, colour fastness to perspiration
- Pilling at the inner thigh: ISO 12945-2, Martindale method
- Squat-proof: a wear test in a squat under bright light on the sample; describe what was checked
- Recycled: a GRS or RCS transaction certificate for the fabric in your order
Ordering in export quantities instead? See Activewear and sportswear at volume, made in our sister factory or an audited partner factory that suits the order. Not sure which route fits: our minimum order guide.
Questions about small-run activewear.
Can I get proper activewear fabric at 150 pieces, or only cotton?
Proper performance knits, from our sister factory’s stock. The stock covers polyester-elastane knits that wick and dry fast, nylon-elastane knits that feel softer for studio and yoga wear, polyester mesh and birdseye for ventilated tops, and interlock for heavier, opaque leggings, in the usual shades. What a 150-piece run does not cover is a custom-dyed shade or a custom printed fabric, because performance knits are dyed and printed in lots far larger than 150 garments; those come when a style has proved itself and the quantity per colour justifies a lot. The property to specify beyond weight is recovery, because a stretch knit that does not recover bags at the knees within a week; we choose stock fabrics for recovery as well as hand-feel, and the fit sample is worn and moved in before the run. Send a garment whose fabric you like and we match it with swatches.
Which seams and labels should activewear have?
Flatlock seams on anything fitted, because they lie flat against the skin and do not chafe under movement; coverstitch on hems, so the hem stretches with the fabric instead of snapping threads; a gusset at the crotch of leggings for fit and durability; and heat-transfer or bonded labels in place of sewn labels wherever a label edge would sit against skin. Waistbands are wide and flat, with or without an internal elastic, and the rise is stated per size. Sports bras add a lined front, elastic under the band, a stated strap style and optional pad pockets. Reflective transfers suit running wear and are applied like a heat-transfer label. All of these are lines in the tech pack, and all of them are on the sealed pre-production sample you approve, which the run is then judged against at inline and final inspection.
Can I have all-over prints or colour blocking on a small activewear run?
Yes, on polyester, through sublimation. Sublimation dyes the polyester fibre itself under heat, so the print cannot crack or peel, it breathes, and it costs the same whether the design is a small logo or an all-over pattern, which makes it the one decoration method where a 150-piece run can carry a full-panel design or colour blocking without a set-up penalty. The limits are the fabric, which must be polyester or a high-polyester blend, and the base colour, which must be white or light because the dye cannot lighten what is underneath. Logos on dark garments use screen or digital printing instead, and the two methods are often combined on one kit. Nylon-elastane knits do not sublimate, so a printed nylon legging needs a printed stock fabric or a larger run. Every print is approved on the bulk fabric and garment colour before production, and our sublimation method page has the briefing list for all-over artwork.
Guides on this topic
Planning a small run of activewear? Send the brief.
Send a tech pack, a sketch or a photo of a garment you like. We reply within one working day with questions or a first costing.
- A reply within one working day
- An enquiry, not an order: you are committed to an order only when you sign the written order confirmation
- Certificates and audit reports shared before production
- AQL final inspection report before you approve shipment
- Your patterns and artwork never shown to or reused for other buyers