Three-Quarter Sleeve

Short sleeves end above the elbow, long sleeves end at the wrist, and a three-quarter sleeve splits the difference, stopping roughly mid-forearm — usually 3 to 4 inches short of the wrist bone. It's most often cut raglan-style or set in, and it needs a slightly higher armhole than a short sleeve to keep the extra fabric from bunching when the arm bends.

The baseball tee is the style most buyers associate with a three-quarter sleeve, but the length shows up plenty of other places — henleys, some athletic warm-ups, and fall-weight fashion tees all use it for a bit more coverage without committing to a full long sleeve. We get requests for it every fall from customers who want their event tee to still look right in cooler evening weather.

Practically, a three-quarter sleeve gives a printer a real second imprint location — there's enough length between the shoulder and the cuff for a small chest-height sleeve design or a wrapped print, something a standard short sleeve can't support. Buyers ordering multi-location jobs should measure that usable length before finalizing sleeve art, since it varies noticeably between raglan and set-in versions of the cut.

The mistake buyers make most is treating three-quarter sleeve and raglan sleeve as synonyms — sleeve length and shoulder construction are two separate specs, and plenty of three-quarter-sleeve shirts use a standard set-in shoulder instead of a raglan seam.