If you thought that t-shirt you spent $100 on was pretty cool you’ll be surprised to know you could probably make one yourself for a lot cheaper. As technology improves there’s always new ways to make your own clothes. Even some of the older technology is going strong. Do you want to start your own t-shirt company? How about just make your own and save yourself lots of money? Let’s have a look at some cool ways it’s possible for anyone with a little touch of creativity can produce some great clothing.
Silk screen printing
If you want to set up a small t-shirt design business from your garage then this is the perfect way to do it. If you’re a hard worker you could come up with hundreds of t-shirts every day. You’d actually need to find someone to buy them, but bulk orders could definitely be achieved. To print a t-shirt this way you will need a design built into a silk screen frame. You then just lay the silk screen frame over the t-shirt and use a squeegee to apply paint over it. That’s an over simplified explanation and if you plan on using more than one color it will be a lot harder, but it’s really as simple as that.
Hand painting
This technique is for all the budding artists out there. Unless you want the t-shirt to look terrible you will obviously have to be a good painter, but it will look a lot better and more unique than you could ever imagine. There’s no way you will be able to complete a lot of these each day, but because they are custom designs you can charge a lot more money for them. If it’s just for yourself then you know it’s one of a kind and no-one else will have anything like it.
Tie and dye
This one is the same because no two t-shirts will ever look the same, but what they look like will be left entirely up to chance. If you have a little hippy in you then you’ll probably love tie and dye t-shirts. Just wrap up a plain t-shirt and apply rubber bands to it. Once you apply the dye there will be parts it won’t reach because of the parts that are bound together. If you fold each t-shirt in a different way the pattern will be different on all of them.
Stenciling
This one is a little like the silk screen printing, but let’s call it the poor man’s version. You have to make stencils with the desired design etched into them. You’ll then tape them to the t-shirt to make sure they don’t move and you can apply the paint. This way is pretty simple to do, but there’s no way you will be able to produce as much t-shirts each day. If you plan on running a business you should definitely go with the silk screen printing. Doing it for yourself? Then stick to stenciling.
Bleaching
And finally you have bleaching, which is the exact reverse of the tie and dye method. Instead of putting color into the t-shirt you are using the bleach to take it out. This method is definitely a lot stronger on your nose, so make sure there’s plenty of fresh air handy. The most sensible thing to do is make a stencil so you know exactly where on the t-shirt the bleach is to be applied. You can do it without a stencil, but remember the finished product will definitely not be as good. Just like all the other methods you really have to be careful and take your time so everything turns out great.
About the Author: Jayden Corris is a business blogger and often writes guest post related to starting your own business. He also writes for On Time Screen which provides affordable screen printing in CT.
