[giraffepolice87]

hi,

new to all of this. im wondering if there will be a problem screenprinting a design that takes up most of the shirt (ie i read that heat-transferred designs will be confined to the size of the printing equipment)?

and while on the subject, which sites are known for their quality? most of the search results appear geared towards family reunion or generic tees...

thanks!

 

[Rodney]

screen printing also has some size limitations because the design still must be confined to the size of the screen.

Some printers use screens that are larger than others, but going from seam to seam probably won't be possible. You also can't print across the seams.

The designs that you see that are "all over" prints are usually printed before the shirt is actually stitched together so that the design can cover the garment.

There are a lot of good screen printers online and offline. If you are really worried about quality, your best bet might be to pull out your local phone book and ask your local screen printer some questions.

That way you can have an open dialogue up front about what type of print you're looking for and you can be close by in case they allow you to proof the actual design on the shirt before the run starts.

Just because you see a site that markets towards family renunion tees doesn't mean they can't print different designs. I'm not exactly sure what "generic" tees are, but most screen printers have the capability of printing a wide variety of t-shirts and designs.

The majority quality comes from the customer (you) and the quality of the artwork you submit to them and how well you communicate what type of printing your looking for.

 

[jdr8271]

If you want to do that, you will need a really big screen, and a large format printer to make the transparency for the screen.

 

[giraffepolice87]

thanks for the replies. I guess I'll just have to call around to find out which places are able to do larger designs. It seems like the majority of ppl here print their graphics on purchased plain shirts. Does anyone create them from scratch? Like specifying the cut, thickness, torn-look, enzyme wash, etc.?

 

[Comin'OutSwingin]

That is very expensive! Especially if you want quality(I'm assuming so, since that would really be the only reason to do it this way). Getting patterns made, buying fabric, having them sewn to your specifications, getting labels made, then having the shirts screen printed once they are constructed. It's just not feasable if you want to make a profit. You need to produce 10's of thousands in order to see any kind of profit doing it that way. The best thing to do, is to find some shirts that you like and that will also fit your demographic. Get a resale license in your state so that you can purchase them wholesale. If you want, you can relabel them with your own label for your company.
Search on the forum for relabeling, you will find some good info on it. After you relabel, you can have them screen printed, and be on your way!

 

[Rodney]

It seems like the majority of ppl here print their graphics on purchased plain shirts. Does anyone create them from scratch? Like specifying the cut, thickness, torn-look, enzyme wash, etc.?

Not all t-shirts that can be purchased wholesale are "plain". There are manufacturers that offer some "different" type garment styles and cuts.

I haven't ventured into creating the garment from scratch though. For one, it seems really unnecessary for what I'm doing.

The one time I considered it was because I wanted make a "special" run of t-shirts, but the costs involved didn't make smart business sense for the return I'd get.

If you go this route (getting the shirts created from scratch), be sure to post here about how your experience was.

 

[Comin'OutSwingin]

Rodney,

Do you know the names of any of those manufacturers? I'd be interested in looking into something like that. I had tried to find somthing of that sort in the past, but couldn't come up with anything.

 

[Rodney]

Manufacturers that will do custom garments? Alternativeapparel will do some custom garment design for you. The other companies I looked at were nosweat apparel and Jerico Sportswear (one of my favorites for hoodies).

 

[Comin'OutSwingin]

Didn't know that about Alternative. Thanks!