Custom printed t-shirt experience?

[Alex Franke]

We thought it would be fun to start wearing fan gear to my 6-year-old's soccer games, so we worked up some cool artwork and now we want to get some t-shirts made on the cheap. I don't like the feel of the iron-on transfers that you can print at home, so I thought I'd try out something that was produced with the direct-to-garment approach.

My first thought was cafepress.com because I'd heard of them before. Shirts there are about $15 at best. Then I ran across vistaprint.com where the basic printed t-shirt can be had for about $5.

Does anyone have any experience with vistaprint or have any other recommendations?

[RAFlorida]

Alex, I think

the T-shirts are 9.99 at that site.
(at Vistaprint)

they just dropped the price to 7.59 now

[sailor55330]

What brand of transfer are you using that you didn't like the feel of?

[cwsmith]

Alex,

Have you tried any of your local printers? I would think that would be a possibility in Chapel Hill or one of the surrounding communities. I know that at my home in Painted Post, NY (Corning area) there are two local printers that do "promotionals" and offer T-shirt screening. I haven't purchased from them in a few years, but know they still offer the service.

Likewise, here in the Binghamton area, there are also a few printers that do this kind of thing. With all the local clubs, organizations, and causes, its a business with some fair demand.

I hope this helps,

CWS

[Alex Franke]

the T-shirts are 9.99 at that site. . . .they just dropped the price to 7.59 now

They have a bunch of promo links, and the prices change depending on which one you use. Here's one I used that changed the prices to "starting at $4.74": http://www.vistaprint.com/custom-tshirts.aspx

What brand of transfer are you using that you didn't like the feel of?

I used Canon t-shirt transfers before. The problem is that it's very difficult to cut all the white parts out of the design so you end up with a thick, heavy-feeling "patch" covering most of the design area. I'm not exactly sure, but I think the direct-to-garment process avoids this.

[Alex Franke]

Have you tried any of your local printers?

There are a lot of screen printers here, but I ruled that out because I believe it would be cost prohibitive to create a set of color screens for a very short run. (We basically only want a few shirts... maybe more if other parents and kids end up liking them, but we're not counting on it.)

I hadn't through to ask if any of the local shops to the direct-to-garment printing, though... that's a good idea.

[sailor55330]

Alex Franke,
Check your PM's

[jaywood]

Does anyone have any experience with vistaprint or have any other recommendations?

I had some t-shirts printed for a Christmas lighting seminar at my place in 2009. I used VistaPrint and was very happy with the t-shirts. Everyone else seemed to be pleased as well. Easy to use and, from what I can remember, quick in getting the order sent out.

[Alex Franke]

We ended up pressed for time and the online printing services might not get them here by the weekend, so I decided to give the latest in t-shirt transfer technology a try. I picked up a pack of Avery 8938 transfers, and so far, so good. T-shirt transfers have gotten a lot better in recent years! They ironed well, peeled well, the colors look fantastic, and there's no discoloration in the "blank" part that got transferred -- all problems I've had before with other brands and older transfers.

I'll post another update once they've been through the wash; they're supposed to soften up after that. So far I'm pretty impressed, though.