Heya all.

I couldnt really figure out where to put this, so i decided here would be good.

Im wondering if there is any easy way to print on t-shirts and other fabric media. I know you can get those sheets which you put in a printer, but they are ick when you only want to do stuff like lineart.

Does anyone know how to do it without having to take it somewhere.

Cheers

Well Serigraphy or silkscreening would be what you want to do then, but it can be a fairly compliated mess to set up. You do need a minimal amount of equipment (though not as much as Litho). It really is a fine art, but I am sure that freakyclean can expand on this better than I.

We have companies in town that specifically print on t-shirts using screen printing and they charge an arm and a leg for set up, and for one t-shirt its not even worth it IMO.

Sorry not up on Silk-screening that much but it would be expensive for just a few shirts. Your other options would be embroidery (which depending on what you want may or may not be expensive) or fabric paint either freehand or with a stencil. I know you can get different types of fabric paint now but I haven't used them in years. I think your best bet would be to do the t-shirt transfer thing but before the transfer is applied get a x-acto knife and cutting mat and cut around the design as close as you can even in the middle of the design. This will prevent the discolouration of the fabric where there is no image. Also if you wash inside out then it will last a lot longer. Use a laser printer not inkjet process and have it applied by a heat press too (not an iron). This process usually cost around $8-12 Canadian not including shirt. If you do the layout well you could get multiple images on one transfer cutting your costs.

If you got someone with a good sewing machine who knows how to use it then you could embroider the design as long as it's not complex and mainly lines (which would be lineart :) ).

If you want to do a lot of shirts cheap yourself you could take the design and transfer it to a lino block carve it then use that to stamp.

Sorry for the delay in answering I was hoping someone would have a better answer. What you choose sorta depends on your budget and the quality/look you want.

Yeah, im not sure yet. I found out today that a friend of mine owns an old 1950s silk screening press.

So i may see if i can use that :)

You will need a darkroom as well to do (photographic) images, but I suppose if its a drawing that should be okay.

What's up takai.

Another way you can get your printed onto a shirt is with vinyl stickers. There is a guy at my local mall who prints out graphics on vinyl stickers. Even your own and what he does is he gets the design u made or chose, places it onto a black t-shirt and uses a heat pad, like the ones used in iron ons, and presses the vinyl sticker onto the shirt. It doesn't look bad one bit. It's been washed over a dozed times and the only thing faded is the shirt. Which is black. If you go on google and type in silk screening tutorials or something like that, there is a company that sells personal silk screening machines for home use.

If you're not working with halftone images or tight traps you might consider having your design output on film from a local prepress shop, then transfer the film to a screen with light sensitive photo emulsion transfer solution (you can get this at some art supply stores and BHPhoto). You can then silk screen the shirts yourself. It would require some setup cost for screen(s), ink, roller, etc... but you'd be able to do small runs cheaper than outsourcing would cost. The do-it-yourself all-in-one silk screen kits are pretty pricy, but you can pick up single frames and supplies at a reasonable price.

Mike
www.independentcolor.com

yeah that might work but just so you know even though the ink may be dry it may not have cured properly...screenprinting textiles is a very involved process. Paper is a bit easier.

Sorry not up on Silk-screening that much but it would be expensive for just a few shirts. Your other options would be embroidery (which depending on what you want may or may not be expensive) or fabric paint either freehand or with a stencil. I know you can get different types of fabric paint now but I haven't used them in years. I think your best bet would be to do the t-shirt transfer thing but before the transfer is applied get a x-acto knife and cutting mat and cut around the design as close as you can even in the middle of the design. This will prevent the discolouration of the fabric where there is no image. Also if you wash inside out then it will last a lot longer. Use a laser printer not inkjet process and have it applied by a heat press too (not an iron). This process usually cost around $8-12 Canadian not including shirt. If you do the layout well you could get multiple images on one transfer cutting your costs.

If you got someone with a good sewing machine who knows how to use it then you could embroider the design as long as it's not complex and mainly lines (which would be lineart :) ).

If you want to do a lot of shirts cheap yourself you could take the design and transfer it to a lino block carve it then use that to stamp.

Sorry for the delay in answering I was hoping someone would have a better answer. What you choose sorta depends on your budget and the quality/look you want.

building up on the stencil part for t-shirt printing a low cost way for making shirts by stencil (from set up to what types of ink to use) can be found on www.stencilrevolution.com. I make t-shirts by stencil myself, i've been doing it for about 5 months so believe when i tell you this:
your going to need very long and sharp x-acto knife and a cheap product to cut your stencils out on are those 40-85 cent poster boards you find at wal mart;however, they do require a great deal of care and tending lovin to keep. Or you can get thick plastic sheets you can find at Hobby Lobby (or any other arts and crafts store) and those range from 3$ to as much as 50$ depending of the size of the screen. I think its call "acetate paper" but you'll have to be 18 years of age or older to purchase anything with acetate or acetone (or any other toxic material) in the united states (god bless america...lol). I must warn you: not just anyone can cut a perfect stencil on the first time you really need patience. And surface is a key when cutting a stencil. Stencilrevolution says you need a hard surface to cut a stencil out on; however, I find soft surfaces like a carpet easier for cutting stencils.


HOPE YA GOTTA STEADY WRIST, CAUSE YOU GON NEED IT!!!

actually www.cafepress.com can print your design on a shirt for like 15$