[TenaciousTees]

When I was at a store this weekend, my other half noticed a 100% cotton material by the yard. It was pretty cheap, cheaper than ruining shirts when practicing heat press techniques. Has anyone ever tried heat pressing on 100% cotton material by the yard??. I thought that it would be a cheaper alternative than ruining tees for practicing purposes.

 

[Rodney]

Did it have the same jersey knit feel as a t-shirt? Or was it like a bedsheet feel?

 

[Comin'OutSwingin]

I think that's a great idea for the heat press folks!

You can get t-shirt fabric (100% cotton jersey) from local fabric places really cheap. Lots of times they have it on sale for about $1/yard. You could spend 20 bucks and do lots of practicing!

 

[TenaciousTees]

Hey Rodney,
It had the same feel as a hanes heavy tee. I was surprised to see that.

 

[Solmu]

I would have assumed that's what everybody does, but I've never heard anyone mention it (but for the opposite side I've heard plenty of people complain about burning through shirts). It's certainly how I test my screenprints.

If you like the results you can put them in a catalogue to show retailers, or mount them for market displays, or etc.

 

[medesign]

You can often get T-Shirts at Micheals for anywhere from $1-$2 each to practice on.

MED

 

[Comin'OutSwingin]

That's a lot more than buying fabric at $1/yard!

With a 1 yard of fabric (remember, that's 3 feet!) you could probably get 4 or 5 designs on it, depending upon how big your designs are.

 

[identityburn]

never thought of that. I just have the normal practice squares which don't emulate t-shirt fabric very well.

 

[Cornellious]

Hey Solmu, where abouts do you get yours from?
Spotlight? or just anywhere that they have it on special?

 

[larrya1049]

When ever I need T-shirts to practice on I go to our local good will. They often run sales and I can get a wide variety of colors, brands, and materials. I even pick up sports jerseys.

 

[jberte]

i buy yard goods all the time to use for test material - it's cheaper and easier to run tests on - especially when i want a control sample and one to wash. i usually have several yards of 100% jersey knit, 50/50 knit and 100% poly (for dye sub) on hand. a local fabric store closed last year and i stocked up at huge discounts!