Intarsia allows large-area colour blocking and graphic work within a flat-knit garment without floats on the reverse. Here is what it is, how it works, and what to specify when you want it.
Intarsia is a colour knitting technique that allows distinct coloured areas to be knitted into a flat-knit garment without the floats that appear on the reverse in fairisle. Each colour in an intarsia motif is knitted from a separate yarn carrier that moves with the knitting zone — meaning the reverse of an intarsia garment is as clean as the face, with no visible float strands crossing between colour blocks. This makes intarsia the technique for large-scale colour work, bold graphics and clean colour blocking in flat-knit knitwear. This guide explains the technique, when to use it versus alternatives, and what your tech pack needs to include.
| Technique | How it works | Reverse | Best for | Relative cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intarsia | Separate carrier per colour zone; no floats | Clean — matches face | Large colour blocks, bold graphics, panel-level motifs | Higher — operator-intensive |
| Fairisle / jacquard | Floats carried across back of fabric | Float strands visible | Small repeating patterns, traditional geometric motifs | Lower — machine-programmable |
| Stripe | Single yarn per row, colour changed by row | Colour changes at edges only | Horizontal stripes, colour blocks by row | Lowest |
| Solid | Single yarn throughout | Same as face | Plain, tonal, solid colour | Baseline |
The key decision point: if your design has a motif or graphic that covers a significant area of the garment panel (e.g. a large colour-blocked front panel, an animal or abstract graphic in the body), intarsia is the technique. If your design is a small repeating geometric pattern (diamonds, snowflakes, traditional fairisle motifs), jacquard/fairisle is more appropriate and lower cost.
Intarsia's primary application in contemporary knitwear is clean colour blocking — a garment with a distinct colour section across the front panel, a shoulder colour block, or a body-width colour change that would be impossible to achieve cleanly in fairisle (where floats would be impractically long). Colour blocking in intarsia gives sharp, defined colour transitions with no visible join on either face or reverse of the fabric. This is the technique behind the designer colour-block knit aesthetic.
Intarsia allows large-scale graphic work — a face, an animal silhouette, a brand logo, an abstract organic shape — to be knitted into the garment without the float limitations that constrain fairisle to small, repeating patterns. The maximum size of an intarsia motif is essentially the full width of the garment panel. This opens up a different range of graphic design possibilities than traditional knitwear colour techniques.
Fairisle with floats is acceptable where the reverse is never visible — in a lined garment, or where the inside of the jumper is always against the body. In a cardigan where the front facing is visible, or a garment with a visible inner band, floats are aesthetically unacceptable. Intarsia's clean reverse is the correct technique for any design where the inside of the colour-work section may be seen.
Jacquard/fairisle with many colours adds weight to a garment because the floated yarns contribute to the total garment weight even where they are not visible. An intarsia garment can use many distinct colour areas without adding the float weight — each colour only appears where it is visible. For a multi-colour design, intarsia produces a lighter garment than jacquard at the same visual complexity.
Provide the intarsia motif as a vector file (Adobe Illustrator AI or EPS, or high-resolution PDF) with each colour area clearly separated. Include Pantone references for each colour in the motif — or physical colour swatches if you need a colour that cannot be matched from Pantone. The factory's programmer will convert your artwork into a machine programme; the cleaner and more specific the artwork, the more accurate the first sample will be.
Specify where the motif sits on the garment: distance from the hem, distance from the side seams, width and height of the motif in centimetres. The placement on the tech pack flat sketch should match these dimensions — visual indication is not sufficient for a factory technician to programme placement accurately. If the motif is on the front panel only, specify whether it is centred horizontally and at what height from the hem.
Each colour in an intarsia motif requires its own yarn carrier — a separate yarn in that colour. All yarns in an intarsia piece must be of the same Nm count and fibre type (otherwise tension and weight differences will cause the fabric to pucker or mis-shape at colour boundaries). Specify: fibre type, Nm count, and colour reference for each distinct colour in the motif. If background and motif yarns are different (different Nm), the factory will need to adjust tension and gauge settings — not straightforward.
When reviewing an intarsia sample, check: the sharpness of colour boundaries (do colours bleed into each other by a stitch or two, or is the boundary sharp?); the evenness of tension across the colour-change line (does the fabric pucker at the boundary?); the consistency of the motif shape compared to your artwork (has the factory reproduced the artwork accurately?); and the reverse (is the reverse clean with no visible floats?). These are the specific review points for intarsia — standard garment review criteria (fit, measurements) apply in addition.
Intarsia production is slower than solid or fairisle production because each colour carrier must be manually managed by the operator as the knitting progresses. A simple 2-colour intarsia adds approximately 20–30% to the production time per piece compared to a solid garment at the same gauge. Complex intarsia with many colours or irregular motifs can double production time. This labour cost is reflected in the FOB price — expect intarsia to be priced at a premium of 25–50% above a comparable solid garment.
The first time a factory produces an intarsia design, a machine programmer must convert your artwork into the machine control file. This is typically charged as a one-time setup fee — somewhere between £50–£200 depending on complexity. This fee is paid once per design; reorders of the same design do not require re-programming. Include this in your landed cost calculation for first orders.
The fixed programme setup cost amortises over the production run. At 250 units, a £150 programme fee adds £0.60 per unit — negligible. At 50 units, it adds £3 per unit — more significant but still small relative to the garment cost. The real cost driver is the per-unit labour premium, not the setup. At higher volumes, intarsia FOB pricing relative to solid becomes more favourable as the factory optimises operator technique for the specific design.
An intarsia garment is visibly more complex than a solid or striped garment — the design work and the technical skill of production are evident in the finished product. UK consumers at the premium end of the market recognise and value this complexity. Intarsia knitwear typically supports retail prices 30–50% above a comparable solid in the same yarn and gauge — the design complexity justifies the price, and the price signals the design value. Price it accordingly rather than treating it as the same price as your solids.
Our machines include Shima Seiki intarsia capability across our gauge range. Send us your motif artwork with Pantone references and your garment specification — we'll review the design for knitting feasibility and give you an accurate FOB quotation including the programme fee. Intarsia samples typically take 14–21 days for first sample due to the programming stage.
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