T-Shirt Virgin - I need help starting my t-shirt line in the UK
Hi guys,
I am new to the t-shirt business am am looking for some helpful advice from some wise old heads like yourselves with setting up my own business. I am a graphic designer with 10 years+ experience and have been designing shirts (for fun) for even longer. I am now looking to get my designs printed up and hopefully sell them to the public, well thats the dream!
Firstly I am based in the UK and am looking for a good reliable T-shirt supplier and or printer. All my designs are illustrator vector eps files, and use about 4/5 colours. I could simplify the designs to 3 colours but some or most of them I would prefer to print as using the current design/colour pallet. If you could help me with find a good printer who does not mind short runs, as I dont have the cash for large runs to start off with (if they also relabel / bag great but not essential) it would be a massive help, if they are also based in the UK or europe that be a bonus but I would consider importing if it was financially better.
I am looking for a great product and finish so if any of you can recommend a good shirt brand/weight it would help also me, plus I would prefer to screen print, but have seen Plot Printing and digital printing is available - but am worried that these techniques might not be not as good a quality. Some of my designs currently bleed off the bottom of the shirts, or are not in the standard front panel position – is this a problem when trying to find a printer who can accommodate this?
When I finally come to sell my shirts i would prefer to sell them through my own site rather than through a site such as spreadshirt of cafepress, as I would like more flexibility over the site layout than they offer and also I want to sell it through my own url rather than having a /spredshirt prefix attached. I have good knowledge of website design so would like to design the look and layout of the site page – I am really looking for someone to build the site and help me with the ecommerce side of things, as I have little or know experience with that side of webdesign.
Any advice or help that you might like to give me really would be fantastic and very, very much appreciated.
Re: T-Shirt Virgin - I need help starting my t-shirt line in the UK
Quote:
If you could help me with find a good printer who does not mind short runs, as I dont have the cash for large runs to start off with (if they also relabel / bag great but not essential)
You didn't specify what your idea of a "small run" or a "large run" is, so it'll be hard to point you to somebody that can do that.
But if you search google or the forums for UK screen printer, you'll find a few sources listed. One often recommended is october.co.uk
Quote:
am looking for a great product and finish so if any of you can recommend a good shirt brand/weight it would help
Again, we're not sure what *you* mean by "great" product or "great" finish. If you can provide specifics on what you think is "quality", then it will help others give you better recommendations
I am really looking for someone to build the site and help me with the ecommerce side of things, as I have little or know experience with that side of webdesign.
You'll need to visit a freelance site like rentacoder.com, elance.com, guru.com, odesk.com, etc to find a web developer to help you with your site.
Sounds like you know all the things you need, you just need to take some time to find vendors in Google
Re: T-Shirt Virgin - I need help starting my t-shirt line in the UK
Sorry guys my mistake (I'm new to this so apologies), by short run I would like to get say 10 different designs printed, and say 10-20 shirts printed of each design to see, to initially see if people like my designs and also to see I can sell them.
In terms of quality product I would like to produce a product that is a good thick cotton shirt and the printing is of a high standard and will last and maintain colors and quality for a reasonable amount of time.
Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post it is massively appreciated.
Re: T-Shirt Virgin - I need help starting my t-shirt line in the UK
If I were you I would try and simplify the designs down to 3 colours. Printing prices can become quite costly with 4/5 colour prints as you have to factor in the set up costs to prepare the screens/films. I also wouldnt recommend launching 10 designs at first, start with 5/6 and play about with differant coloured prints/tees then you can launch one of the other designs monthly which would give you a reason to do a mailshot to people signed up to your mailing list.
Speak to Paul at October, a nice bloke always happy to help and give advice!
Re: T-Shirt Virgin - I need help starting my t-shirt line in the UK
I bought my heat press and paper from Transfer paper | heat press | iron-on, these guys are great and cheap. They also do have everything you need to get into the the color dogtags, give them a call ask for Alex they will help you you out. they are great for starters.
Hi there me and my best mate have just set up and we are now getting an workshop so we can get business contracts im just wondering where do you buy all business gifts e.g diary's,pens, and other stuff from to print on to im already with magictouch and elms elms and how do i print on to the pens world magic touch cpm paper work????? thanks
This is a discussion about T-Shirt Virgin - I need help starting my t-shirt line in the UK that was posted in the United Kingdom section of the forums.
T-Shirt Virgin - I need help starting my t-shirt line in the UK 
August is Member Appreciation Month at T-ShirtForums.com - 
