Show Your Personali-"T": Shirts That Help You Express Yourself And How To Make Them

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T-shirts can be fun, colorful, comfortable, fashionable and/or provide wearable advertising for just about anything. Some of the sayings printed on T-shirts express your personal interests, your particular thoughts on a subject such as politics or just let other people know how annoying you find them. These wearable attitudes are as much a statement about you as they are a statement about those who read your shirts. If you would like to know where or how to make your own T-shirts in Canada, the following tips will help you on your T-shirt adventure.

Choosing a "Printing" Technique

You can make your own t-shirts, or you can have a company make them. In many parts of Canada, you should have no problem at all finding a silkscreen company, an embroidery company and/or a company that uses heat applications to create wearable advertising and wearable art. Before you have a T-shirt made, or attempt to make one yourself, you should choose your "printing" technique. 

  • Embroidery allows you to create lots of different fonts in dozens of colors, as well as using embroidery thread for a three-dimensional effect.
  • Heat Transfers use pre-printed letters, numbers and words on special paper that transfer and stick to your shirt with the application of a hot iron or steam press.
  • Silkscreening utilizes permanent dyes, a wire mesh screen and stencils if you want less of a free-hand appearance for your T-shirt sayings.
  • Craft Painting uses craft fabric paint, brushes and stencils (optional) to apply your personal expressions to blank T-shirts.

All of these techniques you can attempt at home, although embroidery requires a little more skill and patience than heat transfers or silkscreening because you have to know how to embroider by hand or use advanced sewing techniques on a sewing machine. Words in embroidery are especially tricky if you have never done any sort of sewing before, so if you choose this technique, you may want to hire a printing service company.

Creating Sayings You Like or Borrowing Them from Something/Someone Else

If you have a saying that is particular only to you, you can put that on your shirt with no legal concerns. If you borrow a saying, quote or phrase from another source, be sure it is not copyrighted or trademarked so you do not run into some legal issues over its use. Once you have what you want to say and you have cleared the sayings for creation and application to your T-shirts, you can print them up with your previously chosen "printing" technique. Just be careful of putting anything on your shirts that you would not want a little kid to read (e.g., profanity, sexual slang, etc.). Some printing services will not "print" these shirts for you, so if you want something expressive along these lines, you will have to make it at home.

For professional help, contact a company such as The Edge Screen Studio.

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4 August 2015

Focusing On Graphic Design and Printing

When you first started your business, you might have been more concerned about getting the word out there than you were about how the word looked. Unfortunately, unattractive fliers and signs can make your company look unprofessional, which can cause customer problems down the road. However, if you work with the right graphic design team and you pay to have your materials printed professionally, you might be able to enjoy a healthier business. On my website, you will find articles about everything from graphic design to printing, so that you know what to look for in a team and how to choose printing materials.