10 Best Printed Sweatshirts

Best Printed Sweatshirts in 2023

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Screen Printing T-Shirts, the Do-It-Yourself Method

Screen printing may sound intimidating at first, but nothing could be easier than screen printing t-shirts in your own craft room.

Screen printing may sound intimidating at first, but nothing could be easier than screen printing t-shirts in your own craft room. First you will need some supplies. You probably already have some of them.

Supplies

Screen printing requires a frame work with stretched cloth. A quilting frame or embroidery hoop is perfect for this task. You also need a fine, filmy fabric. You can use anything from that length of sparkle sheer that you bought on impulse to an old curtain.

Add to that one can of latex paint. This can be any color. It can be a cheap mistint. Anything is good. You are going to use this to block the parts of the fabric that you don't want use for printing.

Finally, you need fabric paint or printer's ink, a brush and some kind of design.

Designs

Designs can be as simple as purchased stencils, but for truly unique t shirts, it is a good idea to use vector art. You can design your own tee shirt vector art in Adobe Illustrator or other software, but this can be costly and somewhat difficult to learn for a beginner. If you want to make your tee shirt now, you can download Vector art from various websites.

If you choose to use tee shirt vector art, make sure you have a good, heavy card stock to print it on.

Preparing the Frame and Stencils

Stretch your sheer fabric over the frame you chose and secure it.

Make sure the fabric is taut on the frame, then trim off the excess.

Resize the design you want to use on your computer or arrange your stencils. Make sure that your design fits on the quilting frame or embroidery hoop.

Print your design onto the card stock. Cut out your design elements. If you plan to print a solid picture of an elephant, you should have an elephant shaped piece of card stock.

Place your design on the stretched fabric. It is easier to do this if you are working with the inside of your frame, because the flat fabric can rest against the table.

Remember to protect your table with newspaper.

It might be necessary to stick the design down with small rolled pieces of tape.

Paint the fabric around the card stock design with the latex paint. It does not matter if you accidentally paint onto your card stock, but you want to avoid painting under it.

When your latex is dry, remove the card stock design.

Printing At Last!

Lay your tee shirt out on a flat surface. Place a piece of cardboard inside the shirt to protect the back.

Lay your frame on top of the shirt. Make sure the design is where you want it to appear on the shirt.

Carefully paint the stretched fabric with your fabric paint. The paint should flow through the sheer onto the front of your tee shirt.

When you have the design completely covered, remove the frame. Pull it directly up to avoid smearing your shirt.

Let the paint or ink dry overnight. Your shirt should be ready to wear or wash after that.