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Post by dewryce on Mar 27, 2018 15:30:48 GMT
DH is doing his first Ironman race (half) and I'd like for us to have matching team shirts for him. Yes, I checked and he'd like it too and won't be embarrassed.  We'll be out there from around 6:30 am to 3:30 pm. Historical averages show Waco, Tx to be highs in low-60s to lows in low-40s on the last week-end in October. Issue #1: I was leaning towards long sleeved polo shirts or v-neck t-shirts (I can't wear round neck but might be able to have it modified), so we could layer if needed. But then, the shirts will almost definitely be covered some of the time. Boo. Though I dislike sweatshirts, I thought we might wear those and only be covered by the water at the crack of dawn. But this is Texas. What if it's in the 70s or 80s because Mother Nature wants to mess with me? Issue #2: We need a wide range of sizes. Woman's plus, regular, children (age 3-8), men, men's big & tall. Issue #3: The fabric needs to be able to be embroidered with names on the breast, but also either screen printed or vinyl decals on the back. So none of the cheaper, rougher pique type fabric, it needs to be smooth. And personally, I'd like soft and comfortable but I'm aware that may be asking too much. The goal is for a decent stand out color so he can spot us as he breathes in the water and as he's coming up to us for the bike and running legs. He doesn't want fluorescent green, pink or yellow, but likes blue. I'm super anal and would love for a color to look decent with his Tri suit which has multiple blues. So, have any of you done this for reunions or maybe Disney and have any ideas for where to buy, what to buy, how to go about this? Have it done professionally? Can we do the back with circuit or will it look cheap? My sister has a Yudu screen print machine, but the margins aren't usually very sharp and the black not very deep. There will be anywhere from 5 - 15 of us so price is a consideration but if we find perfect ones I'm willing to pay. No joy at Old Navy or The Gap. Found a fabulous shirt at Land's End for all of us woman, and the color is offered in multiple styles so people can choose their favorite. But they didn't have the same color or another color to coordinate in children's or men. The powder blue color in his tri suit is not an option as it's too similar to Tarheels' blue and my Duke fan wouldn't appreciate that  And we don't want it so dark you can't see black lettering on it. I'm also taking recommendations for signs. He, my man who absolutely does not like the spotlight or attention, has actually commented that he likes the fathead signs with faces so after recovering from the shock I knew I'd make that happen. I'm going to see if I can custom order actual Fathead brand signs for durability since this will be the first of many. He'll compete in 8 or 9 triathlons this year alone, ending with the Ironman 70.3 in October. He also does marathons and bike races so it'll be worth it. But if Fathead doesn't offer that, I was thinking the enlarged engineer prints from Kinko's. Any other suggestions? I also want lots of different motivational and funny signs. Wow, that's a lot of words to find a t-shirt  Attachments:
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moodyblue
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,178 
Location: Western Illinois
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 21:07:23 GMT
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Post by moodyblue on Mar 27, 2018 15:39:01 GMT
Do you have a local shop that makes custom items? We get t-shirts and sweatshirts done with custom designs for a crop my friends and I run. We also have a parent at school who owns or works at another custom shop. Teachers at school have had many items done there for teams or causes. They might have multiple options for you to look at - for example, we had t-shirts and sweatshirts of the same color.
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Post by jenjie on Mar 27, 2018 15:39:23 GMT
Well. That a tall order. I’ll bet someone can help you though, the peas are great at this stuff! I’m just here to say I think it’s awesome how much you want to support and cheer him on. 👍 awesome.
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Post by mikewozowski on Mar 27, 2018 16:03:41 GMT
with all those different sizes, i would think you would go with vinyl, you could do the names with vinyl, too. silk screen might not work since you may need different sizes of artwork for the array of sizes.
i would go with something short sleeved. you can layer a thermal under if you need to. long sleeved shirts don't get a whole lot of wear in texas. or while you are getting things made, get a long and a short sleeved option.
when you get shirts from a shirt distributor (whoever makes these should have access to one or more of these), they have many more colors than you will find at old navy.
bravo to you for arranging this ahead of time. most people like to wait until the last minute.
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Post by ktdoesntscrap on Mar 27, 2018 16:06:24 GMT
If you have a Big Frog t-shirt place near you they do all of that. A friend of mine owns two and I think they do a great job and the prices are reasonable... they will do one shirt or 500.
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Post by dewryce on Mar 27, 2018 16:23:15 GMT
Do you have a local shop that makes custom items? We get t-shirts and sweatshirts done with custom designs for a crop my friends and I run. We also have a parent at school who owns or works at another custom shop. Teachers at school have had many items done there for teams or causes. They might have multiple options for you to look at - for example, we had t-shirts and sweatshirts of the same color. Not that I know of, I live in a small town. We don't even have a Target  But we are close to San Antonio and heck, we travel a lot so could get them made in Austin, Houston or the DFW area too if anyone has a shop they highly recommend. What kind of shop would I even search for? Are they part of a larger store of some kind? Well. That a tall order. I’ll bet someone can help you though, the peas are great at this stuff! I’m just here to say I think it’s awesome how much you want to support and cheer him on. 👍 awesome. Thats what I'm hoping, there's always a pea that knows something about everything! Thanks, I'm so very proud of him! He's a big guy @ 6'5" and when he was training for his first marathon (New York City on his 30th birthday) he kept getting injuries though he was a long time runner and following a good training plan. His doctor, the doctor for the San Anotonio Spurs at the time so he knew a little something about sports medicine, he told him that his body just wasn't made for it. That was 70 pounds and 16 years ago. Since then he's done many marathons, half-marathons, smaller triathlons, Lance Armstrong's Ride for the Roses (100 mile bike race), a bike race from San Antonio to Corpus Christie and tons of other running and biking events. He's battled through injuries, weight gain, health issues and the loss of our son who we fought through infertility for, and who was born too soon. That was a huge set-back for him mentally; and one of the biggest things that's helping him climb out of that hole and want to participate in life again is his goal of completing an Ironman. He has seriously started training for it the past 3 years, but leg injuries that wouldn't heal stopped him in 2016 and 2017, and that felt like huge punches in the gut to him. He was so dedicated and fought so hard but his body said no. This is the farthest he's made it into the season without serious injury and he's doing great! Has done a couple of shorter distance triathlons and last week-end did a half-marathon. It's been wonderful for him and I just know this is his year. |
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Post by jenjie on Mar 27, 2018 16:34:11 GMT
Oh my. Yes! He has earned his moment. Thank you for sharing.
I’m so sorry about your little one. 😔 I’m glad the Ironman training is helping him.
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dawnnikol
Prolific Pea
'A life without books is a life not lived.' Jay Kristoff
Posts: 7,889
Sept 21, 2015 18:39:25 GMT
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Post by dawnnikol on Mar 27, 2018 19:03:36 GMT
I did shirts for my crew of 15 when we went to DW last year. We didn't all want the same color, so we actually each had a different color and lots of different shirt styles. I ended up buying the shirts from Ali Express (kids), Old Navy, Amazon, Target and Michael's. I bought screen print paint from Michael's and made a stencil for the kids in one size and another for the adults using the stencil plastic stuff sold for the electronic cutting machines. I was able to basically just paint the paint on and get it smoothed out with a gift card (instead of all the other equipment I researched). I also used some vinyl for mine and another, because we knew we would keep ours and wear them for years and years, unlike the rest of the group. It's been almost a year and they're all still holding up after all the washing, etc. Good luck, it's not an easy task to take on, but the results are well worth it.  |
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Post by newscrapper05 on Mar 27, 2018 19:13:00 GMT
In case you don't stay local we have a great company here in Pryor, Oklahoma that might be able to help. It's called Tack Designs and they do great work! I believe it will come up on google.
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Post by mom2jnk on Mar 27, 2018 20:56:59 GMT
I have successfully used Custom Ink in the past to make shirts for groups. They have quite a lot of stock graphics and you can design your own too. The selection of different products that you can customize is one of the best that I have found. They are not cheap, but they are relatively fast and good quality. |
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River
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,514
Location: Alabama
Jun 26, 2014 15:26:04 GMT
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Post by River on Mar 27, 2018 21:30:10 GMT
I have successfully used Custom Ink in the past to make shirts for groups. They have quite a lot of stock graphics and you can design your own too. The selection of different products that you can customize is one of the best that I have found. They are not cheap, but they are relatively fast and good quality. We've used Custom Ink also and had lots of different sizes and colors, including kid sizes for our last family reunion. We used a stock photo they had for the breast pocket which was perfect for us, we just added "our name" above the image and "2017 family reunion" below it. On the back was completely custom with all the famous "sayings" my family has. The shirts were a hoot! |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Mar 27, 2018 21:40:35 GMT
One year DH and I bought custom sweatshirts for everybody in our family from Inkpixi.com and we were very pleased. They have a wide range of styles, sizes and designs. |
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Post by Marina on Mar 27, 2018 21:48:32 GMT
Lands End carries all sizes especially with polos. I would get a tall size for my husband and a toddler size for father's day.
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Post by dewryce on Mar 27, 2018 22:11:14 GMT
with all those different sizes, i would think you would go with vinyl, you could do the names with vinyl, too. silk screen might not work since you may need different sizes of artwork for the array of sizes. i would go with something short sleeved. you can layer a thermal under if you need to. long sleeved shirts don't get a whole lot of wear in texas. or while you are getting things made, get a long and a short sleeved option. when you get shirts from a shirt distributor (whoever makes these should have access to one or more of these), they have many more colors than you will find at old navy. bravo to you for arranging this ahead of time. most people like to wait until the last minute. Didn't think about how the size would impact silk screening, thanks! And the thermal under is absolutely perfect. That is a signature style for DH  We all live in Texas, but some of us (read: the in-laws) are bigger wusses with the "cold" LOL. I knew I needed to start now with the way they do merchandise winter clothes will be out soon. Yeesh. I did shirts for my crew of 15 when we went to DW last year. We didn't all want the same color, so we actually each had a different color and lots of different shirt styles. I ended up buying the shirts from Ali Express (kids), Old Navy, Amazon, Target and Michael's. I bought screen print paint from Michael's and made a stencil for the kids in one size and another for the adults using the stencil plastic stuff sold for the electronic cutting machines. I was able to basically just paint the paint on and get it smoothed out with a gift card (instead of all the other equipment I researched). I also used some vinyl for mine and another, because we knew we would keep ours and wear them for years and years, unlike the rest of the group. It's been almost a year and they're all still holding up after all the washing, etc. Good luck, it's not an easy task to take on, but the results are well worth it. The paint would show up better than the screen print I think. I will keep that in mind, thanks! He's in this sport for the long haul so I think we will want them to stand up for more than one use. Well, maybe not the kids' shirts the way they grow. Lands End carries all sizes especially with polos. I would get a tall size for my husband and a toddler size for father's day. See? That's what I was thinking! But they only have the color I want in woman's clothing. Several good places to check out, thank you ladies! |
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Post by elaine on Mar 27, 2018 22:14:39 GMT
Custom Ink even has a brick-and-mortar store by me. I have used them in the past.
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Post by pierkiss on Mar 27, 2018 22:19:12 GMT
Custom ink. They have all different kinds of shirts with all different kinds of printing options.
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Post by Basket1lady on Mar 27, 2018 23:46:23 GMT
I’d vote for Custom Ink as well. As another said, it won’t be cheap, but several popular styles have LOTS of colors available.
If you can’t find the color that you want on Custom Ink, I used a local guy for tees for our HS theatre. He works out of his house and does a fabulous, custom job. We had character names put on tees for a competition last week and he charged $2 extra per tee for tha, with $1 more for each additional colort. He will use your art, create the art for you, or a combination of each. Silk screening can be sized for kids and adults.
Another option is someone with a Cricut or Cameo. I’ve had really good luck with multiple washings. dd has a tee that I made her 2-3 years ago that still looks like new. I’ve used iron on and made a stencil for fabric paint. I’d really recommend the iron on material, as it’s wuicker, easier, and crisper than fabric paint. Some will say that you need a heat press, but I just use a good iron that gets hot enough and work on the floor to get good pressure to adhere the decal. I’ve never had any that peel up on the edges.
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Post by dewryce on Mar 28, 2018 0:31:30 GMT
I’d vote for Custom Ink as well. As another said, it won’t be cheap, but several popular styles have LOTS of colors available. If you can’t find the color that you want on Custom Ink, I used a local guy for tees for our HS theatre. He works out of his house and does a fabulous, custom job. We had character names put on tees for a competition last week and he charged $2 extra per tee for tha, with $1 more for each additional colort. He will use your art, create the art for you, or a combination of each. Silk screening can be sized for kids and adults. Another option is someone with a Cricut or Cameo. I’ve had really good luck with multiple washings. dd has a tee that I made her 2-3 years ago that still looks like new. I’ve used iron on and made a stencil for fabric paint. I’d really recommend the iron on material, as it’s wuicker, easier, and crisper than fabric paint. Some will say that you need a heat press, but I just use a good iron that gets hot enough and work on the floor to get good pressure to adhere the decal. I’ve never had any that peel up on the edges. I checked out Custom Ink and they meet all the criteria except a v-neck for me in the color I want. I'm wondering if I purchased an extra shirt, could that neckband be removed to make a v-neck out of my t-shirt. I think I'll order a couple of plain ones and see if it can be done first. The shirts are super cheap though, can't find the pricing on custom graphics so will have to dig farther. SIL has a cricut and we could go that route, but I run into the problem of not finding shirts in the rights sizes and styles in the right color for everyone. I will definitely be using it for the signs! |
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Post by kels99 on Mar 28, 2018 0:53:49 GMT
We have several small local places that do custom screen-printing, embroidering, etc. They are the places that everyone goes to get their sports jersey customized (with last name). Is there somewhere like that in your town?
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Post by Basket1lady on Mar 28, 2018 1:22:27 GMT
I’d vote for Custom Ink as well. As another said, it won’t be cheap, but several popular styles have LOTS of colors available. If you can’t find the color that you want on Custom Ink, I used a local guy for tees for our HS theatre. He works out of his house and does a fabulous, custom job. We had character names put on tees for a competition last week and he charged $2 extra per tee for tha, with $1 more for each additional colort. He will use your art, create the art for you, or a combination of each. Silk screening can be sized for kids and adults. Another option is someone with a Cricut or Cameo. I’ve had really good luck with multiple washings. dd has a tee that I made her 2-3 years ago that still looks like new. I’ve used iron on and made a stencil for fabric paint. I’d really recommend the iron on material, as it’s wuicker, easier, and crisper than fabric paint. Some will say that you need a heat press, but I just use a good iron that gets hot enough and work on the floor to get good pressure to adhere the decal. I’ve never had any that peel up on the edges. I checked out Custom Ink and they meet all the criteria except a v-neck for me in the color I want. I'm wondering if I purchased an extra shirt, could that neckband be removed to make a v-neck out of my t-shirt. I think I'll order a couple of plain ones and see if it can be done first. The shirts are super cheap though, can't find the pricing on custom graphics so will have to dig farther. SIL has a cricut and we could go that route, but I run into the problem of not finding shirts in the rights sizes and styles in the right color for everyone. I will definitely be using it for the signs! You need to make a mock up shirt to get pricing. Prices are dependent on the number ordered. Some colors/styles have a minimum order, so look for that. It’s right when you pick the color. Just add any art to get a pricing-it will be dependent on the numbers of colors used and placement (front and back vs just front.) As for your tee, you can find that separately and use the Cricut to make yours. I recommend Siser heat transfer vinyl-it’s really soft and supple and wears well. If you are worried about the quality, buy 2 tees and then you will have a backup. If you are really making a lot, you can buy a heat press for about $200 and buy the blank tees from Custom Ink. Pricing that out will give you an idea of how expensive that would be. |
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Post by dewryce on Mar 28, 2018 11:45:01 GMT
I checked out Custom Ink and they meet all the criteria except a v-neck for me in the color I want. I'm wondering if I purchased an extra shirt, could that neckband be removed to make a v-neck out of my t-shirt. I think I'll order a couple of plain ones and see if it can be done first. The shirts are super cheap though, can't find the pricing on custom graphics so will have to dig farther. SIL has a cricut and we could go that route, but I run into the problem of not finding shirts in the rights sizes and styles in the right color for everyone. I will definitely be using it for the signs! You need to make a mock up shirt to get pricing. Prices are dependent on the number ordered. Some colors/styles have a minimum order, so look for that. It’s right when you pick the color. Just add any art to get a pricing-it will be dependent on the numbers of colors used and placement (front and back vs just front.) As for your tee, you can find that separately and use the Cricut to make yours. I recommend Siser heat transfer vinyl-it’s really soft and supple and wears well. If you are worried about the quality, buy 2 tees and then you will have a backup. If you are really making a lot, you can buy a heat press for about $200 and buy the blank tees from Custom Ink. Pricing that out will give you an idea of how expensive that would be. Lots of good information, thank you! He hasn't decided on his graphics so I thought I couldn't even get an estimate. There are some similar to what he wants so I can easily figure it out. Yay. Boo on minimum orders of same top though, I was excited about everyone getting to pick out their own style. I'm not making a lot this time, maximum of 15 I think, but seeing as this is an ongoing thing that might be a good investment. I didn't realize they were available for regular consumers and not commercially. And who can't use a new craft tool? Thanks for enabling! We have several small local places that do custom screen-printing, embroidering, etc. They are the places that everyone goes to get their sports jersey customized (with last name). Is there somewhere like that in your town? Not that I have been able to find in my small town but I bet San Antonio does. |
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We'll be out there from around 6:30 am to 3:30 pm. Historical averages show Waco, Tx to be highs in low-60s to lows in low-40s on the last week-end in October. 
And we don't want it so dark you can't see black lettering on it.
But we are close to San Antonio and heck, we travel a lot so could get them made in Austin, Houston or the DFW area too if anyone has a shop they highly recommend. What kind of shop would I even search for? Are they part of a larger store of some kind?
We all live in Texas, but some of us (read: the in-laws) are bigger wusses with the "cold" LOL. I knew I needed to start now with the way they do merchandise winter clothes will be out soon. Yeesh.
