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Autoshirt T-shites ***First Batch Sent!***


filthyjohn

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I don't want to step on anyone's toes here but catsinthewelder's post http://autoshite.com/topic/31373-autoshite-merchandise-order-mugs-now/ about decorated mugs reminded me that I've been thinking about making t-shirts for the forum since I saw the thread about hosting contributions. I did PM Dave asking for permission previously but I know he's a busy man, he mustn't have seen it and TBH I forgot about it myself.

 

I can make t-shirts and I can do it cheaper than the big boys like teespring, redbubble, etc. even if the price includes a contribution to the running costs. Here are some of the designs I've turned out:

 

post-17668-0-10466000-1526839785_thumb.jpg post-17668-0-58586800-1526840346_thumb.jpg post-17668-0-79062900-1526840609_thumb.jpg

I make them with cut vinyl which is great for simple, 1 or 2 colour designs but can't do full colour without expensive gear. Vinyl is really good these days, it doesn't peel, washes as normal and is indistinguishable from screen printing in most cases. I make these to order with a CNC cutter meaning minimum batch size is 1, with screen printing you have to invest time into making a screen, mixing inks, etc. so you can't be as flexible with customisations.

 

Provided the design works with vinyl I'm happy to put it on anything you like. If you want you can even post me your own garment and I'll slap a design on and post it back.

 

As it's not ink-based you can have a bunch of fancy finishes too, most of which are better suited to the type of shit you see people wearing on hen nights than the classy* tone to which shiters have become accustomed. I can make ironic carbon fibre, classy* leatherette and instagram wannabe gangster bling gold and silver:

post-17668-0-91495500-1526841253_thumb.png

 

 

This is a more restrained 'woven gold' and is about thinnest you can get the vinyl before you risk poor adhesion leading to peeling after multiple washes:

 

post-17668-0-39100800-1526842375_thumb.jpg

 

 

I really think this leatherette is a natural* fit for autoshite sensibilities. I'm seeing the autoshite logo in red leatherette on a beige/taupe shirt but the possibilities are almost endless.

 

post-17668-0-01058900-1526841592_thumb.jpg

 

 

tl;dr can make cheap shirts, no minimum order size, refuse to take work from other forum members.

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That's quality what is the average cost of a t shirt posted?

If a group of around 10 people want the same design, and it's a single colour, It's possible for £10 posted. That's for a reasonably nice Gildan shirt, I wear those all the time. For custom variations (like if you want a unique colour combination) it may be an extra £1-2 if I have to order a single shirt or vinyl I don't have. This is mostly due to postage of the blank shirts, so I can probably mitigate most of this if a few people want the same design, or if there's a relaxed deadline allowing me to put in a large order to get cheaper postage to me. I can get all sorts of single garments much more cheaply if I can combine bulk postage from the wholesaler.

 

It's not a minimum order thing, but it's more expensive for me to order a single item, and it's a lot better if I know sizes in advance so as not to end up with 100 spare XXL shirts in metallic aubergine. That said I'm always happy to make a single shirt for order, and can do so in a hurry if needed.

 

I can get organic cotton blanks for a little more, and possibly hemp too.

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Sorry for the Slight thread hijack but I have some spare t shirt screens if anybody wants to take up screen printing, some are clean some will need cleaning. I really used to like screen printing but it's a dieing art these days.

Can you PM me about the screens please? They could be of interest.

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Sorry for the Slight thread hijack but I have some spare t shirt screens if anybody wants to take up screen printing, some are clean some will need cleaning. I really used to like screen printing but it's a dieing art these days.

Terrible failure to use a respectable pun opportunity. 2/10

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A little off track but my father worked for Doxford ship builders

Ah really? You must be local then? My dad worked for Laings, but the extended family were basically all shipbuilders until the industry was allowed to collapse.

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do you deal in anorexic sizes...like xxxxl????

 

asking for a friend  :oops:

 

Up to 5XL are easy to get. Annoyingly, 3XL tends to have the full range of colours (about 30 depending on brand), while 4XL and above is usually restricted to the most popular colours.

 

 

Here's the size chart:

 

post-17668-0-25660300-1527008166_thumb.png

 

 

Here's the usual availability:

 

post-17668-0-79291000-1527008310_thumb.png

 

 

And here's the Gildan site so you can get a (nearly accurate) idea of what those colours look like:

 

https://www.mygildan.com/store/browse/productDetailsPage.jsp?productId=2000

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If we could supply you with artwork, what if you were to supply the cut vinyl and we iron it on to our own t-shirts? Could/would it work like that?

 

That's more than possible, but ironing is tricky in my experience (or any housework for that matter).

 

The layer of glue on the vinyl is heat-activated, and the target temperature can be finnicky and vary between vinyls of different finishes, and even from the same manufacturer. I use a heat press which holds a steady temperature (up to 200 Celsuis), and clamps down hard on the whole design for 15-30 seconds. Doing it with an iron is difficult, but I have done it successfully in the past. I wouldn't like to vouch for the longevity of the finished product unless it's pressed.

 

That said, the vinyl itself is one of the lowest costs in the process, so self-applied decals would be cheap. That is, provided there aren't hours of work converting a complicated design into a tool path for the vinyl cutter. Most of the actual work is in making and testing a design. The pressing of the shirts is almost fun.

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So I had a bit of a play tonight with some old shirts and a few different vinyl finishes. These are previously worn shirts with fresh designs applied, and the Aldi Workzone one (gold on black) in particular rather lets the side down.

 

 

Red leatheresque* logo and cream tagline on black:

 

post-17668-0-97820200-1527022702_thumb.jpgpost-17668-0-28608000-1527022717_thumb.jpg

 

 

White leatherish* logo with gold* tagline on chocolate brown:

post-17668-0-50181200-1527022754_thumb.jpgpost-17668-0-93092000-1527022740_thumb.jpg



Gold* logo and gold* tagline on black (this gold* is really hard to photgraph, the reflection is more variable in person):

post-17668-0-79828100-1527022776_thumb.jpgpost-17668-0-26227700-1527022805_thumb.jpg




These are just prototypes, but they're a fair representation of what you could expect.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Right folks,

I'm gearing up to make a run of these next week, and have some pricing news to announce.
I think I'm just going to push ahead with the brown shirts, as I've been inundated* with five requests for those, and no requests for any other colour.
Any other colour is possible though, so don't be afraid to ask.


I'd like to charge £10 for the shirts, but postage is more expensive and complex than I thought. A single shirt up to XL can be shipped as a 'large letter' (£1.40 1st class), but anything 2XL or above will probably have to be shipped as a 'small parcel' (£2.95 2nd class) because they probably won't fit through the 'large letter' slot. One potential upside is there's a 2kg limit so up to 4 shirts could be sent for the same £2.95.

Shiters may want to consider pro strategies such as combined orders for Shiters who see each other in the real world, or maybe a boxful for events like Shitefest.


So for single orders it'll be:

Up to XL; £11.40,
3XL+; £12.95,
2XL; could be either but I'll confirm when I get hold of a 2XL blank.


Here's the size chart again:

post-17668-0-06321400-1528475532_thumb.jpg

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It'll have to wait till the end of the month but I'd be up for a brown t shirt......

 

And off topic I'd love a black hoodie with the NORTON (motorcycles) logo in gold (unless of course that has some copyright issue attached to it, which it probably does. Balls.)

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

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I'll put myself down for a large white/gold on brown which is I assume what everyone else means by the brown one. If Stanky wants one too we can combine postage.

Yes, the current plan is just to make that exact combination, as I have the right vinyl in stock. However, I have lots of other colours and can get hold of basically anything. Unlike the big printers, I can do an individual one-off design for no extra charge (maybe a little extra for certain finshes or printing on both sides).

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Can you do me a Hoodie if I send you some other artwork as an AI file. Shouldn't be bad to weed.

 

Quite fancy a Miskatonic university Antarctic Expedition* one in the style of the leavers things the local kids are wearing....

 

Hopefully be able to look at those screens next week.

 

For the person who asked, Ironing on vinyl is just a pain, honestly the heat press is the way forwards.

 

 

*HP Lovecraft reference for those wondering

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