[vix027]

Hi,

I make a lot of rhinestone t-shirts and i would like to know how people find the middle of the t-shirt when applying rhinestone transfers.

As at times i do miss aligne or the transfer comes out a little tilted.
I am wondering if there is a tool which will straighten the design or a method which you use.

Hope this makes sense and someone can help.

Regards

 

[Silver Star DC]

Hi Vix.

I have 2 methods, and i'm not 100% positive that its the right way to do it. But it has worked well for me so far. 1. I take a large ruled straight edge and measure from seam to seam under the arms of the shirt, then divide by 2 to find the center. 2. i bought the T-Square It tool and use the alignment marks on it. its a very handy tool, but is a little time consuming for me use.

 

[dhearn]

Fold your shirt in half from top to bottom and then stick in your press for a couple of seconds to press a crease right down the middle. Works every time and very easy to see.

 

[vix027]

Thanks guys for your help.
I really like the folding the t-shirt in half to get a crease idea. That is perfect.
I cant believe something so simple as that will save me so much time.

Thanks a lot any other tips you have feel free to share them .

Regards
Vix

 

[MotoskinGraphix]

Next step is fold your design and pinch the top and bottom. Now line up the pinch marks on the crease in the tee and you are square.

 

[wormil]

I've taken to centering on the neck because sometimes the neck isn't centered on the shirt. If you center on the shirt and the neck is off-center, it will still look wrong.

 

[jean518]

Centering is something that can drive you crazy. I have used all the methods above. Seems different methods work for different shirts. My go to method is underarm seam to underarm seam and center the design on the center mark. If the design in 8 in wide, I make sure the left edge is 4 in to the left of the center mark. Seems to work the best for me.

 

[leebea]

I have found that folding the shirt in half and closing and opening the press immediately gives me enough of a centerline crease to center the transfer without putting a permanent crease in the shirt.

 

[idonaldson]

What you are seeing is that after a while it is a feel that has several solutions. Depending on the brand the better the more likely the label is to be in the center. That is not a given though so I do fold but do not have time to press especially if doing a lot of shirts. I like my 16x20 because more of the shirt and easier to center. I do notch the graphic or mask sheet and that gives me the center to line up. It is a feel you will get comfortable with.

 

[skip77]

Yeah this is the age old problem. I have been using the t-square with mixed results as well. As some have mentioned results are inconsistent because the shirts are inconsistent. If you use one parameter on the shirt as a frame of reference, another parameter may not be true to the one used to measure center and the print ends up costing time and money because its a reject. I've been using a Suni press for several years - the machine is very well made and working perfectly for me. However, my best centered tshirts were back decades ago when I was doing hand draw downs with no frame etc. The only thing I used then was a cardboard shirt insert to make the shirt take the 2D shape with arms and neck in place.This seemed to negate any inconsistencies from shirt to shirt or make to make and presented a naturally centered shirt that was easy to place the design onto. Does anyone else use a shirt insert this way and what results?

 

[Jittor]

Often you're told to press the shirt to remove moisture before you transfer - how would you keep the center fold crease if you did this?

 

[wormil]

Often you're told to press the shirt to remove moisture before you transfer - how would you keep the center fold crease if you did this?

Press to remove moisture first.

Really it's not difficult to line them up by eye. If I had to press creases or use t-squares before every shirt I'd go into another business.

 

[Jittor]

Press to remove moisture first.

Really it's not difficult to line them up by eye. If I had to press creases or use t-squares before every shirt I'd go into another business.

HAHA - I hear you! As a graphic designer I feel like I'm very good at eyeballing alignment but reading some of these post, and being a newbie at this it seemed like a huge issue.

 

[Tourino]

I wish I had read this before I did this job 2 days ago. It took me a long time to do 7 shirts. Just when I thought I had it right each time. Plus it was even more of a nightmare because my unit is only 11 x15.

MY ADVICE: For any newbie out here reading this, do NOT get any heat press smaller than a 15 x 15 and make sure you purchase a T Square unit as well as do the press in the middle technique at the very least. Will save you loads of time by taking my advice here.

 

[Skinbus]

The 1st issue is to be certain the shirt is centered on the press. If that's off, everything's off. I don't have an issue centering; I'm more concerned with being certain it's level from top to bottom. [ ] not / /

 

[MadeByM.E.313]

Hi Vix.

I have 2 methods, and i'm not 100% positive that its the right way to do it. But it has worked well for me so far. 1. I take a large ruled straight edge and measure from seam to seam under the arms of the shirt, then divide by 2 to find the center. 2. i bought the T-Square It tool and use the alignment marks on it. its a very handy tool, but is a little time consuming for me use.

This method has worked for us so far.
The only draw back is that sometimes the shirts, although, they are brand new sometimes they aren't perfectly accurate.

But STILL, this is the best way.

 

[j4k]

The 1st issue is to be certain the shirt is centered on the press. If that's off, everything's off. I don't have an issue centering; I'm more concerned with being certain it's level from top to bottom. [ ] not / /

After I find my center, and transfer is in place, before I press I make sure that the shirt is lined up square on the platen. To do this I make sure that there is the same amount of tee hanging off each side of the platen, and the bottom of the tee should also be square hanging off the platen. Next I adjust my image to be square with the bottom of the platen. All of this only take a few extra seconds to check.

No matter how inconsistent the shirts are this method usually works for me.

 

[mailman]

I have a 16x20 press, what I did was notch the bottom platen with a file,centered on both ends I can feel when I center my shirt, you can also tape a toothpick on each end. I find that 99 percent of my labels are centered. Once I get my label centered on the notch I eyeball the bonttom. I always make my designs an even dimension, say my transfer 10", my platen is 16" wide, 16--10 =6, now devide 6 by 2 =3, so 3" is your distance from the side of your platen to the edge of your design. I use the T-square it for this measurement and square my design at the same time. I do transfers not sure if this will help with your rhinestones. Hope this made sense. Mark

 

[jerryesteen]

it really nice design to make it.thank for sharing that

 

[MissHaps]

I have found that folding the shirt in half and closing and opening the press immediately gives me enough of a centerline crease to center the transfer without putting a permanent crease in the shirt.

Unfortunately, I wasn't blessed with the ability to lay down a straight transfer by eye each and every time, regardless of how careful I am.

I needed a method that I could use consistently and methodically. This process adds an extra step or two, but it's well worth the additional effort for peace of mind of knowing you've got a system you can duplicate from job to job.

This board has been invaluable to me because that's been my biggest issue. I just completed a job using the above method and every shirt came out straight! If you don't have "the gift" I would recommend trying this.

It works!