By creating custom T-shirts and other apparel, you have a blank canvas that’s yours to embellish and design. This open-ended quality can also be the most overwhelming task, however. Choosing between decorative methods for custom clothing just got a lot easier with our thorough guide at BlueCotton.
The easiest way to determine which is right for you is to consider the aesthetic you want and how much care and maintenance you expect your group to do. Printing designs tend to have a more casual air that can be dressed up with elegant fonts or refined imagery. Embroidery, on the other hand, always gives a sophisticated impression. It will also require more attention during washing and drying than a printed shirt. While that shirt would follow the instructions on the tag, an embroidered version would need special care for the threads in the tee. Expect to wash it in cold water or maybe even hand wash, then air dry it.
If you’re creating sports T-shirts as an example, you’ll want something that can be cleaned much more easily. This is especially true for clothes you expect your team to wear during practice or workouts.
At other times, your ideal garment will decide for you. The Hanes Cool Dri T-Shirt can only be printed on because the flexibility of performance fabric could stretch embroidered designs. Meanwhile, the Cutter & Buck Prospect Polo can only be embroidered because the textured material doesn’t make a good surface for printing.
For those who need the best decorative method for your brand rather than a specific kind of shirt for your group, our detailed guide is here to help you choose between printing and embroidery.
Different Types of T-Shirt Printing Methods
The main options for custom printing tees would be screen printing or vinyl printing. In nearly every case, our U.S.-based team at BlueCotton will screen print your design onto your chosen T-shirt. This process offers a lot of benefits for your group’s tees. It’s wash-resistant, consistently applied for a uniform look, comes in several colors and works on many fabrics. It’s well-suited to batches as small as six or as large as a nationwide business outfitting every staff member. That adaptability puts it at the forefront of shirt printing methods.
Vinyl printing does have its applications, but it’s not as versatile as screen printing. We typically only use it for our Names and Numbers feature in our online studio tool. This lets you place individual names and assigned numerals on the back of the garment for a sporty aesthetic. You can also check out our guide to screen and vinyl printing to understand these methods in greater detail.
You’ll never have to choose which one is best for the circumstances with our intuitive customization service. Our qualified professionals handle the application of your design and all other phases of production in-house, so we can guarantee quality for our printing or embroidery, shipping and packaging. Simply create your own custom style or find a template to get started with our Design Ideas. We’ll take care of exceptional printing for your shirts from there. Check our reviews for custom T-shirts to hear directly from customers about their experience with us.
Customizing Tees With Embroidery
Embroidered T-shirts are often offered with official organizations, artistic groups, personalization or understated designs that convey a classy style. Your event or team might fall outside of these common examples and still benefit from this stitched customization. Anyone from an indie band to a charity group can embroider their tees or other apparel to create that chic fashion sense that sets them apart. Upload your logo or artwork, then place it within the dotted lines in our Design Studio to envision your final product.
Adding names to every T-shirt is just as simple. Click Start Designing, then choose our Personalized Names tool to enter everyone’s name into our studio. This step fosters a sense of community and makes it easy for guests or newcomers to identify people at your event or in your group.
Get expert advice from our ultimate guide to embroidery to make sure your customization looks just how you imagined it once it’s been delivered. The threads that compose your design have somewhat different needs than ink in screen printing, so it pays to learn about the specifications before you begin designing. Tiny details won’t fare as well, but you can accommodate for that by increasing the size of your design until the threads can depict what you need them to. Just be certain it still fits inside the customizable area for your garment.
Lastly, you should learn how to care for embroidered T-shirts to make sure your event-goers and team members will be equipped to clean their stunning tees.
Why Order Custom Shirts at BlueCotton?
The equipment needed to make T-shirts is not necessarily user-friendly or affordable, and tools that make it so newcomers to the market could put you at risk of ordering apparel from someone who is still learning. Buying your custom clothing from BlueCotton gives you proven experience and personal customer service.
When you place your order, a real person from our team emails your order confirmation and design proof. That gives you someone to address by name and ask questions if you have any along the way. Enjoy our guaranteed delivery when you purchase your customized tees and other clothing from our team at BlueCotton.