Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
I'm VERY new to all of this: I kinda' 'fell into' a plan to learn to do my own plasticol transfers for a business I'm developing. I originally planned to have shirts, sweats, etc...made by a wholesaler with my custom design, but decided I would have much more flexibility with clothing colors, sizes, etc...if I learned to do this myself. I could then offer these options to my (potential) customers. And heck, I need to learn a new skill, anyway!
I've been reading & reading here and trying to learn as much as I can before I do that first heat transfer.
A friend wants me to make a polo shirt with my design over the chest/pocket area. I'm not quite sure how to make sure I have the design in the right place. Is there a pattern or some guideline I can use to insure I'm putting the transfer in the right spot? Every size shirt will be a bit different....how do you adjust for this?
My original design was the full-front of a hoodie. Now I realize that a small one over a chest/pocket area on a polo might be a nice option as well. Any advice y'all could offer me, I'd really appreciate it!
Hi jwildeman,
It is nice to be a part of your curosity...
Well, If you are to print on tshirts of different sizes, my advice would be to use proportional sizez of your designs too....you can use the same design in different sizes according to medium,large,xl etc on the polo tshirt... or else if the variation of tshirt size is not too large...and the design is smaller in size the best option is to print around the pocket...well it should fit the look and doesnt spoil the taste of the customer....
Its quite simple actually for a left chest print. Lay your shirt flat. Take an imaginary line from the edge of the collar line down the shirt, and a horizontal line from the under arm seam to the other side. Where they intersect is where the print should go making sure that the print is about 3-4 fingers in from the arm seam. Different shirts may vary but that's where practice and trial and error comes in. Everyone's body's are different so the slight differences won't be noticed very well.
Thanks so much! Those are the exact kind of ideas & landmarks that I need!
Is there any kind of a "T-Shirt Guru's Manual" somewhere? I've sewn for many, many years, studied photography & painting, computer graphics, embroidery designs (manual) ...so I'm not entirely clueless when it comes to working with cloth & designs...but this still -IS- a whole new ball of wax!
I've learned so much just by reading through the posts here, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed & wonder if I'm getting all the info I need. I guess I'm looking for some kind of a 'map' or 'outline' of steps to take to learn the basics.
I've learned so much just by reading through the posts here, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed & wonder if I'm getting all the info I need.
A great way to learn is whenever you have a new topic you want to learn about, you just start at the search and see if there are any answers about that topic.
After you get your placement set on a large run to keep tem uniformed and for the ease of doing them. I suggest a www.teesquareit.com to help speed up your output. ..... JB
Can I suggest actually embroidering for polo tees? That's usually what's done in those shirts.
However that's coming from someone who's just purchased her dream embroidery machine. <333 And I have some sewing ability, although NONE is needed for embroidery with a machine like mine (Singer Futura), it's all from your own computer! You need some money. You can get my same sewing machine for roughly $400 on eBay, then you need software to design your own embroidery/fonts (mm I'll say give it $200 more, but you can get a better deal I'm sure, and probably pay more, but you'd get newer and higher end). I don't have the software yet, so I'm not sure. You don't need the software technically, you can buy patterns or embroidery designs, but that depends on what you do with them. For logos on polo shirts, I really think you need to design your own, so they're unique and your original creation.
But if you were to do just words or letters, you can use the basic included fonts and you can even buy alphabets singularly.
Now embroidery will make that area of the shirt thicker, do note. Worse than a printed shirt in any way.
Then actually if you didn't get a thread kit included those can be $200 more too! I know - insane.
Then you need a couple different kinds of stabilizers, it all depends on what you're working with. Tees you definitely need a sturdy under and a topper. It can get really complicated, if you want more info I can help you out.
:-)
This sounds like something I'd like to do eventually, but I want to create a desire for my brand first.
Thank you for the idea! I have a fair amount of sewing ability, but right now for my start-up, heat transfers really seem the best way for me to start, especially due to the the fact my original design is about 11" x 13".
In time I hope to add an inkjet printer, and while I hadn't really thought of embroidery, that is certainly something worth considering.
Believe I am about to order the tsquare myself because I have been measuring with a ruler for a year and it gets tiring. You would think you could eyeball it after a while, but 1 inch off from the center is noticeable so I always second guess myself. Glad I joined this site, lots of useful information. I have a friend in the business for a long time and he recommended that I use embroidery for polo shirts so I havent gotten into that since I am a terrible at sewing.
Rodney- thanks for the link, I just orderded the book myself.
__________________ Script Tees "Just making conversation"
I'm about half-way through the book & it has been a great help! My husband is reading it too, and, as he gets a bit overwhelmed with online forums, it has been a great way to introduce him to the industry.
where to place transfers on shirts? 
Re: where to place transfers on shirts? 
Re: where to place transfers on shirts? 
