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[BrilliantEraser]

I have a couple t-shirt designs, and I was wondering what shirt design/printing companies you guys recommend.

[K. Blam]

I use Brunetto T-shirts for my website, Kblam Shirts. They have great service and the best prices I've found online.

Actually, I discovered them through QC!

[Emaline]

It's not that hard to design and print your own.....just saying....

[tuna ketchup x]

It's not that hard to design and print your own.....just saying....

Yeah, but it might be cheaper to use a company. Silkscreening materials are expensive and every time I've silkscreened I always wind up screwing it up at least a little. Plus you are limited to very simple designs, if you use cut and stick stencils. Unless you were talking about the iron-on transfers that you can make on your printer.

Thanks for the link! I have some ideas for zine-themed shirts that I could sell on my site and at zine fairs, when I get in the black I'll check that out again.

[K. Blam]

Yeah, Tuna Ketchup is right. (I liked typing that sentence.)

It's more cost effective and it's also more time effective. Not to mention that by using a professional printer, you lessen the risk of novice screw-ups. That is, unless you have a silk-screening studio in your garage and connections to t-shirt wholesalers and are just being really lazy.

[Emaline]

But you actually get a hands on feel for it and you should do it at least once in your life. It's hard to explain. I guess the printmaker's love in me tells me that having companies make your t-shirts is just wrong.

Also, if you silkscreen every individual t-shirt, than chances are each will be a bit different thus one of a kind, thus worth more.


Plus you are only limited with "simple designs" with stenciling if you can't use an exacto knife properly. I suggest that skill is something everyone should know as well. But you don't have to stencil! Photo emulsion! There you can get as complex as you like. And reuse the screen as often as you like. Just clean it out with bleach when you are finished with the design.


Really guys, honestly, it is probably cheaper to make them on your own. But yeah. Have your machines do all your work for you. Call yourself an artist. That is fine. I will just be siting in my corner, covered in ink, putting sweat and love and hard work into my t-shirts. And you guys can have your cold, heartless machines do it all do you.

[Allybee]

I think K.Blam's arguments are mostly valid. I like doing it myself, however, because there really is something about it. Maybe its the way the ridges of paint feel uneven when you run your hand over it? I consider myself to be process rather than product oriented, and I do think you should try it at some point.

I got lucky because someone gave me their press, but they are also really easy to make (just a board and some hinges). I am having trouble buying shirts though! I think that at some point I might just sign up for an AA wholesale account if I can get the paperwork straightened out. I've probably printed about 10 different designs (I am still a novice basically) but almost always on cheap tshirts from the thrift store. If anyone knows a good wholesale website, please share.

I think doing it yourself is more expensive when you start up (all those screens, even if you stretch em yourself, plus emulsion, plus paint, plus squeegees...) but yeah, I generally find it to be worth the extra effort.

Printed concert posters always look so cool, too.

[Emaline]

You don't even have to use a press. Just use a friend. One person holds down the screen, and then other pulls the squeegee. If you ink is uneven, chances are you are putting too much on, or your screen in not tight enough. I have never had uneven ink. And my methods are pretty ...primal when it comes to silkscreening.

[Allybee]

Er, if you are printing two color shirts, or a lot of shirts, having a press really helps. It is also good for centering designs.

I like to be able to feel the ink rise off the shirt a bit. Usually after a lot of washing it wears down, anyways.

[Emaline]

Yeah it helps, but it is not required.

What the hell kind of cheap ink are you using? No ink I have ever used wore down after washing it. I have been printmaking 5 years now. I have taught a number of people how to do it as well. I have made money selling, t-shirts, and prints that I have made. I think I know what I am talking about, guys.

You are all making printmaking seem like its some big expensive process. It's not. You can get by on absolute basics and still make awesome t-shirts. You can use old window screens, if tight enough. You can use really thin, tight, fabric. Making screens themselves is half the fun! You can even use the sun for photo emulsion! It is cheap and fun and beautiful, if you know what you are doing. Honestly, the most expensive thing you will have to by is ink, or t-shirts, but even then you can still get good ones at decent prices.


I happen to love the art of printmaking. It is a craft. It is my craft, my art. If I had the balls, I would quit my shitty minimum wage paying job I have now, and go back into the art of printmaking. It something that makes me incredibly happy. People have even commented on how different I am when I am printmaking, because I am so happy. I know what the hell I am talking about with printmaking, guys. I'm not a dumbass. Maybe I'm a little bit of an elitist when it comes to this, but I am speaking from experience. I love printmaking.

[Edith]

Huh. I think printmaking is pretty cool, too, but I'd never call someone a dumbass for not doing it exactly like I do.

Especially not in a thread that isn't really about that question at all. Brilliant Eraser just has some cool ideas and wants someone else to print them for him and is asking for advice on who prints good shirts.

[Emaline]

By saying "I'm not a dumbass," I meant, "I am not just pulling idea out of my ass. I do know what I am talking about."

I'm not saying anyone is wrong, really. I am just saying "Hey, you should totally give silkscreening a shot!" and then I felt a little attacked by my ideas of not using a company. My second post in this thread I tried to end in a teasing joking manner. In general, I don't have much of a problem with using a company, but man guys seriously. Try doing it by hand.




Also, please not I bolded little for a reason. I didn't feel like everyone was all "SAHFLKDHFLKJADSHF WHAT THE FUCK YOU FUCKING IDIOT WITH YOUR CRAZY IDEAS FOR MAKING SHIRTS DSLFJDLFJADJFA;D" I just kinda felt like everyone was just brushing off my ideas as silly and pointless.

[Emaline]

Oh man. Jeans, I agree, and it is completely accidental. Will fix.

And I am not angry! Just trying to make sense. It is difficult. I fail at words.

I guess. Because I have spent so much of my time making shirts the way I make them, is in unethical for me to do it any other way. Like making a vegan eat a rare steak.

[Hljómalind]

Emaline, I agree about the fun, and the craft, of making your own T-shirts. I've only made a few, but they're my favourite ones now, and I don't think I'd feel that way if they hadn't been "Hand made". (I admit I actually left the stitching of the material to some Indonesian kid.)

As for the OP, my sports team used T-Machine (UK based) and they were ok. One of my friends had a bad experience with Indigo, and a good experience with National Sportswear. (I'm not sure if the latter was a custom print, though.) One of my US friends has used BrokenArrow, but they have a minimum order requirement, so if it's just for a couple they're not suitable.

[allison]

Try Me to We Style. From their website:

Our product line is domestically produced, sweatshop-free and made using certified organic cotton and bamboo.

My highschool uses Me To We for our cast/crew shirts during productions. They're reasonably priced, really well-made, and maaaad comfortable. The Gobi Bamboo tee for ladies is really comfortable and durable. I think the mens' counterpart is the Caspian Bamboo tee.

http://www.metowestyle.com/