Neck tags and blank shirts

Ok, new t.shirt thread.

I've been thinking about getting some neck tags for my t-shirts and I finally did it. Problem is that most shirts (that I know of) that come without neck tags are really crappy quality.
Cutting off the neck tag of fruit of the or hanes shirts is ok, but it still shows...
So which do you guys think gives the best impression; leaving the old neck tag and just putting mine on the outside of the sleeve or att the bottom of the shirts so they are visible from the outside. OR cutting the old one off and sewing mine on in it's place? I don't have the energy to cut open the hem, so I just put them on them back hem.

Also, which is your favorite blank shirt?
I really want to try Oneita power shirts (just cause I can't quit my bape obsession :( ) did anyone try them lately? I don't know if bape still uses them and just orders without the neck tag, but the quality of bape shirts is waay down. So I'm curious about it.

[CaptainPajamaShark]

I don't see anything wrong with sewing your neck tags over the old ones, i've got a few Recon tees that have this. but the most common method seems to be sewing your tags on the sleeve.

Bape tees are absolute shit quality, especially considering how much they charge for them. they shrink down to nothing and you always have to buy a size bigger than what you would normally wear. I personally like organic tees or even Hanes/Fruit of the Loom, but it has to be 100% pre-shrunk cotton and heavyweight material. other people seem to rave about American Apparel but I don't really care for the quality of their garments---they seem cheap and liable to shrink and/or fall apart in the wash after a few cycles. I'm not sure if Hanes or Fruit of the Loom use sweatshop labor but I prefer non-sweatshop tees as well. the thought of some 9 year old making my clothes makes me cringe. I know the Aloré brand use sweatshop labor so I avoid them at all costs.

btw, where did you get your neck tags made?

[Robocon^^]

I've pretty much settled on Hanes Beefy T.

I like to cut my tags off and I hate it when they're sewn into the sleeves or bottom edge. I'll wear a shirt for a nice design, not for the label.

Thanks for the input, Mech 1.
I'm leaning towards putting the tags on the sleeve or something..
Yes, now bape is shit quality, but back in the day ( I think they were using the Oneita tags during 95-96 still, and then a few years after when they swithed to their own tags) they were really great quality.

I got the neck tags from a local (swedish) company for around $150/ 1000 pieces. I also ordered some dirt cheap color business cards from vistaprint that I'm going to use as tags to write the nr. of the Tee and also if I decide to cut the neck tag I will also write the size there.

Originally posted by Robocon^^
I've pretty much settled on Hanes Beefy T.

I like to cut my tags off and I hate it when they're sewn into the sleeves or bottom edge. I'll wear a shirt for a nice design, not for the label.

Hehe, a lot of people seem to be feeling that way.
But where is the fun in that? I like to put my name on people. It's like tagging.

[Robocon^^]

Isn't someone wearing your design enough?

It's enough.
But somehow I don't think it's so wrong to put the name on the shirt. I don't even think it's wrong when just the name of the brand is printed on the shirt.
Sure, it's like paying to advertise the brand name, but when I grew up that was what t-shirts was all about, big fat logos.
So I love it and that is what t-shirt culture is for me.

[Robocon^^]

Oh, we used to print on Oneita Power T's back in the 70's and 80's...I'm not sure if the cut is any different nowadays. They were fine. If I remember correctly the Hanes cut was longer, which I prefer.

It wasn't "T-shirt culture" though...it was just printing up AYSO soccer team T-shirts or shirts with business logos. Just a side money thing a friend's dad did in the garage.

Hmm.. Gildan.. I think I tried that but doesn't Gildan feel very smooth/soft even after washing? I don't like that too much.
I like the feel of hanes even after a few washes, I have to look out though if they shrink. Thanks slacker. I don't know if it happened lately, but hanes heavy weight cotton is REALLY heavy weight, and the neck is almost like a turtle neck. Not good!
I like the feel of the Fruit of the looms 165 g/m² shirts, I don't know how they will hold up in the wash since they aren't quite as thick as other brands.. And their white is even thinner, 150 g/m² which is NOT clever for white shirts. Bother, bother, bother.
But thanks for all the advice, everybody! Beer is on me next time you're in town.

I printed one t-shirt today:
http://betaphysics.com/images/bazooka02.jpg

With a tag on the left arm...
http://betaphysics.com/images/armtag.jpg

I don't know.... first of all, my skill with the sewing machine isn't what it used to be. Second of all, I don't know if it was such a smart ide to put stiches all the way around, maybe it's enough with just the top?

[CaptainPajamaShark]

Originally posted by Lars
I printed one t-shirt today:
http://betaphysics.com/images/bazooka02.jpg

With a tag on the left arm...
http://betaphysics.com/images/armtag.jpg

I don't know.... first of all, my skill with the sewing machine isn't what it used to be. Second of all, I don't know if it was such a smart ide to put stiches all the way around, maybe it's enough with just the top?

looks good. I've checked several of my tees that have sleeve tags and most of them just use stitching at the top, but I don't think it matters if you use stitching around the entire tag.

btw, what did you use to print your graphic?

Thanks for checking, Mech 1. Yes, I don't think it matters either, but if I just have to sew one side instead of four it saves time and I have a lot less to screw up with.
Btw,It's screen printed.

[CaptainPajamaShark]

Originally posted by Lars

Btw,It's screen printed.

I know it's screenprinted, I was asking whether or not you did it yourself or if you had a professional screenprinter do it. If so, what did you use--your own screenprint, print gocco?

Ah, sorry. I used my own screenprint.

[CaptainPajamaShark]

so, are you starting your own t-shirt company or do you just do it for fun?

I just do it for fun and sometimes I sell to my friends if they ask me.

[emilie]

do you have more images online?

Not yet, but I may post it in this thread if I make something else.

[whoop]

Nice looking shirt Lars!

I don't mind the original tag on the shirt. There are enough people putting out shirts that you get use to it. The order of importance when buying a shirt for me is 1) the design, 2) the quality, 3) the cost. Putting your own label on is cool but as a consumer I could not see paying an extra $5-$10 for it (on top of a $18-$25 shirt) as being justified.

My friends and I have printed some shirts on the side and we like to the American Apparel shirts. They don't feel as heavy as some of the other brands but they are soft and surprisingly durable. We did inquire once about buying shirts from them without their labels with the intent of slapping our own on, but I think their response was they either didn't do it or wanted some ridiculous amount/quantity in order to do it.

Yay! Today I noticed that all of the 20 shirts I put up in the shop were sold!
Thanks for the input whoop. Yes, I also checked with some places about no necktag deals but got the same response as you.

[ironmonqui]

ehh

Post PICS, LARS.

Still making them?

Heh, yes, on and off. I`m planning to print some in a week or two, so I`ll try to remember to post some pics then.

Printed a new shirt today:

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6892/tshirt5wj.jpg

[noeruna]

Good-looking shirts!

Thank you :)

2 new T`s and a sweatshirt:

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/9817/flag6pl.jpg

[GORILLA ROBOT]

Do you sell any shirts in color? Love the designs BTW.

I`m glad you like them, gorilla robot! I`m not selling any shirts though. Maybe if I make a website one day..

[Super]

Are you printing on regular cotton tees? Or a special blend? Great designs. Tres originale. I really was wondering if you might know where I could get blank über soft t-shirts from. Because a lot of my prints don't look great on the cotton ones cause the fabric is to stiff. Ya dig?

I`m printing on Fruit of the looms super premium shirts, which are really heavy 100% cotton, but I`ve never had any problems with them. Some people think they are too thick though...
I think the "no problem" shirts are supposed to be really soft and good quality. You might want to check those out.
About shirts with cotton/blended something, I don`t know.

[Super]

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check them out. ...You really ought to consider selling your shirts... at least selling one... to me...

[YelloKitty]

here's a tutorial (http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=40044.0)

[YelloKitty]

(got this on craigslist)
get one of these:
http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/420658-AA.shtml
or
http://www.dharmatrading.com/html/eng/1267632-AA.shtml

After you've printed the fabric, immediately remove the paper backing and let the ink dry for 24 hours. Place the fabric sheet in cold water for a few seconds to remove any excess ink, place it between 2 towels and pat out the excess water, then iron it dry.

After you cut the labels, you can put some "Fray Check" (available at fabric stores) around the edges so that they don't ravel.

[Yumyumcha]

If you cut the tags off the shirt, how do you know what size the shirt is...unless you put sizes on the home made/bought labels.

[Lars2.0]

Didn´t mean to bring up my own thread again.
A while ago I started to want to play around with more than one color, and also I want to print with plastiosl inks. So I needed an owen for the t-shirts, and a 4 station screen printing set up with micro-registration.
Anyway, these are things I can´t afford because I´m poor.
So I went to a few screen printers and asked if they would trade t-shirts and use of thier equipment if I preassure washed thier screens.
The third place I went to took me up on the offer. So I washed screens for about 2 hours one evening every week and got 15 Gildan t-shirts every week + free use of frames and ink.

I did this for 7 weeks and got 100 t-shirts and a few sweats. Made close to $2000 dollars selling them.

It might be a good tip for anyone interested in doing some printing with a nicer set up. But are dead broke like me.

[Dr Jesus]

Hmm, do you by anychance live in LA?

[Lars2.0]

I do not. I live in sweden.

[tardo]

Originally posted by Yumyumcha
If you cut the tags off the shirt, how do you know what size the shirt is...unless you put sizes on the home made/bought labels.
You must have three friends of three different sizes (small, medium, large.) and you must make them try on said shirts until one is the right size and that is the size that it is.

[kamenriderv3]

Originally posted by Lars2.0
Didn´t mean to bring up my own thread again.
A while ago I started to want to play around with more than one color, and also I want to print with plastiosl inks.

any pictures of the design?

[Lars2.0]

I´ve decided not to post pics on the net anymore. I don´t want people buying the shirts finding out who I am. It´s embarresing if I write stupid stuff while drunk/stupid.

[ja.net]

Originally posted by Lars2.0
Didn´t mean to bring up my own thread again.
A while ago I started to want to play around with more than one color, and also I want to print with plastiosl inks. So I needed an owen for the t-shirts, and a 4 station screen printing set up with micro-registration.
Anyway, these are things I can´t afford because I´m poor.
So I went to a few screen printers and asked if they would trade t-shirts and use of thier equipment if I preassure washed thier screens.
The third place I went to took me up on the offer. So I washed screens for about 2 hours one evening every week and got 15 Gildan t-shirts every week + free use of frames and ink.

I did this for 7 weeks and got 100 t-shirts and a few sweats. Made close to $2000 dollars selling them.

It might be a good tip for anyone interested in doing some printing with a nicer set up. But are dead broke like me.

Lars2.0, I just want to tell you that you are a resourceful and awesome person.