If you asked me to digitize a design and said it was 100% cotton material, I would then ask is it knit or woven. If you answer it is going onto a knit I would digitize the design different to one going onto a woven. Also the texture of the fabric is important. Texture affects how the design will stitch out.
A 100% cotton jersey t-shirt, a 100% cotton pique polo and 100% cotton cap - I would not digitize the design the same just because they are all 100% cotton.
While the material is 100% cotton, this extra info, in this case a pique knit, would then allow me to tweak the comp settings, adjust underlay, stitch length and density etc for the garment.
That's how I would do it.