We purchased a Brother GTX machine and it is awesome. It is a DTG machine, what is called “Direct to Garment.” For those of you not in the industry, it prints a shirt with a special textile ink in full color. The Brother GTX is one of the first DTG machines that really can handle…
We printed this shirt at Mirror Image nearly 25 years ago. It had to be approved by Robert (pronounced RO BEAR) Doisneau in France. In order to print it we separated it and set it up and printed it almost 16 times to get it right, at a time when film was really expensive and…
Following last week’s post on using organic embroidery thread, we received a lot of questions about where to find organic embroidery thread. Here is a great supplier, Fiberactive Organics. For years, company CEO Julie Moore has offered genuine certified organic thread and in dozens of colors! It is all GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified,…
We recently produced a 100% organic cotton cap. Not only was the fabric made of organic cotton, but the embroidery thread was also certified organic! A few thoughts… Like many “green” alternatives, you can’t just substitute organic thread for conventional embroidery thread made from rayon or conventional cotton and embroider away. On the other hand,…
Q: Is the ink dry on the shirt you printed? A: It doesn’t matter. Ink can be dry on a shirt and it will not last through a wash. Unless you are unethical and plan to leave the country after selling a shirt, you want the print to stay on the shirt beyond the first…
July 19th would have been Barry Chouinard’s 68th birthday. We mourn his passing and most of us remember him pretty damn fondly. He lived a full life, touched lots of people, and nobody would say he got cheated. So I pose the question, “Did you ever meet Barry Chouinard?” The only possible answers would be…
Customer comes to you with a huge order and makes disparaging remarks about the prior print shop they were using. Celebrate? No, BEWARE! Most of the screen printing of t-shirts is not rocket science and unless someone comes to you for what you very specifically are good at, be careful with new customers. This customer…
Dead Man’s Curve by Jan and Dean recorded in 1963 It only has a little bit to do with today’s post. Its a brain trick I use to remember to check any type that is written on a curve. There is something about type in an arch that makes it harder to see errors, so…
Herbert Mayrhofer died this weekend in Kufstein, Austria after battling kidney disease for some time. Mr. Mayrhofer was arguably the most brilliant engineer our industry has ever seen. He designed the MHM press which is the gold standard for automatic screenprinting machines. Herbert was also a fun guy and a friend and he surely will…
This week there is a very interesting NY Times article on “bundling.” “Bundling” in the music industry is putting items together for sale, such as a CD and a t-shirt. Taylor Swift is one of the key artists offering a whole bunch of shirts, sweatshirts and tote bags “+ digital download” on her website. Other…
