Where to buy, what type of printing and many more ???
Hello, First off I would like to say in advance for all the help an replies to my thread. My wife and I are wanting to design and sell t-shirts with a theme around africa and adoption. I just started doing some research as for where to start with something I know nothing about. I know I want to sell vintage type perhaps distressed t's that are soft. I'm describing this in terms of shirts that I have owned. The shirt is typically thin. Where is a good place to buy with competitive pricing and will sell in smaller quantities (just starting out and don't want a ton of inventory)? Do most of these suppliers sell sample shirts? How do I decifer the numbers and desciptions that go with these blank shirts that I've seen on some websites?
Also, I'm not sure of the printing method I should use or where to go for this service. I'm wanting, what I would think, is just a stardard print on a shirt you would get say at an American Eagle store or something like that.
Any help or ideas would be greatly greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
You can buy just a few but you will pay a higher price, and you also pay the shipping. Once you start buying, say 12 shirts or more at a time, the prices start coming down significantly.
Now for the figures you see in the descriptions of the shirts, numbers like 4.6 oz. or 6.1 oz for example, that is the weight of the fabric in ounces per square yard. The higher the number the heavier and thicker the fabric.
Then there is numbers that can pertain to the gauge of the thread; like 30 single or 30’s. Usually a higher gauge (smaller diameter thread) makes for a softer weave.
Then you also have the different ways they make the threads; like combed ring spun cotton as an example.
Even then there are the ways they weave or knit the threads together. All that stuff adds up to how the fabric looks, how thick and heavy, and how soft it is.
Re: Where to buy, what type of printing and many more ???
Thanks Mark. I checked out the company's you listed and bareapparel seems to be a good start for what I'm looking for. alternativeapparel's prices seem a bit high.
Do you know what like a Hanes white under shirts weight is and thread gauges? Are the higher the gauge actually a lower number?
Printing- do you know anything about this to steer me in a direction?
Also, in designing the t-shirts, is there any free software out there that can assist in this?
This is a discussion about Where to buy, what type of printing and many more ??? that was posted in the General T-Shirt Selling Discussion section of the forums.
Where to buy, what type of printing and many more ??? 
