I don’t know about you, but puff ink prints bring to mind the era-defining bold neon designs of the 80s and 90s. And then there are all the iconic moments that are inked into my memory in Day-Glo colors.

You know, 80s athletic fashion, early Madonna, Jane Fonda’s record smashing workout videos, Valley Girl, and that one John Travolta aerobics scene in the film Perfect. Phew!

Like other vintage trends, puff ink printing is making a strong comeback as one of the boldest screen printing techniques, and we’re here for it. At fancysweetstx, we’re stoked to change up the designs on our customized t-shirts and sweatshirts with puff ink.

About Plastisol Ink: Widely used in garment printing because it’s easy to clean, doesn’t dry on the screen, and can appear opaque on dark garments.

The technique involves adding a puff base or puff additive to regular plastisol ink that, when heat-treated, swells to create a raised, textured effect that is soft and rubbery to the touch.

We love that our puff ink printed designs elevate even the most pared down creative designs into unique apparel.

As we walk you through the pros and cons of screen printing with puff ink, we’ll discuss:

• What makes it an incredibly versatile special effect ink
• Why you have to factor in color loss when printing with puff ink
• How it compares against other screen printing inks
• Tips for getting the most out of your puff printed garments

The Pros of Using Puff Ink for Screen Printing

In a world that offers endless personalized products, puff ink is a fantastic way to make a statement and stand out.

Did You Know: 80 percent of consumers are more likely to buy from a company that provides a tailored experience.

Let's take a deeper look into some pros of screen printing with puff ink:

1 - Gives Designs a 3D, Textured Appearance

One of the biggest advantages of using puff ink is that it can add depth and dimension to your designs, which enhances their visibility and impact.

How do you make a simple single color design visually stand out? 

The raised texture of the ink creates a tactile quality that really makes designs pop, especially when it comes to tone-on-tone creations like our Ohio Pink Pigment Dyed Sweatshirt.

It looks and somewhat feels like an embroidery or a clothing patch, without the additional labor.

That it gives dimension to outlines or tone-on-tone prints is probably our fave aspect of puff printing and the one we apply most in our puff printing designs.

"Buy this!

I have many items from fancysweetstx but this is my favorite! Perfect material and color! Buy it. You won’t regret it."
— Anonymous, Verified Buyer, United States

2 - Works Well With a Range of Effects and Inks

Puff ink printing is like that friendly kid on the playground who jives with all the others. 

It combines well with standard screen printing inks to achieve a multidimensional look to your design. These standard inks can be traditional Pantone colors, consist of fading halftones, or be made of specialty inks like metallic inks.

To do this, puff ink is printed right next to the standard inks. You just let us know which portion of the design you want to be puff ink and we'll be sure there is enough space and substance to the print.

The combination of two types of ink creates a memorable look to your clothing that your customers will love.

3 - More Versatile Than High-Density Printing

Puff ink printing and high-density printing are the only screen printing special effects that create a visibly raised design. It’s therefore important to understand how they compare.

Compared to high-density printing, puff ink printing is:

• More versatile as it works well on cotton, polyester and fabric blends whereas high-density ink requires sturdy cotton and cotton-based fabrics to withstand its multiple heat curing stages
• Less labor intensive as it requires one or a maximum of two coats, while high-density printing may require additional applications to achieve the same height 
• Cheaper because it uses fewer layers of ink and is less labor intensive than high-density ink
• More flexible color-wise since it can create multicolored designs and halftones; high-density printing is ideal for limited solid colors per garment

So, if you’re looking for a high impact, custom design option that’s affordable and versatile, puff ink printing is the way to go.

4 - Creates Outstanding Multicolor Designs

Puff ink really does it all because not only is it great for monochromatic designs like our 16153 Genova Puff Crew Sweatshirt, it’s also fantastic for elevating a multicolor design.

Puff ink can make one color pop out from the rest, helping to direct the eye to the most important element of your design.

Cons to Consider When Screen Printing With Puff Ink

Like all t-shirt printing techniques, screen printing with puff ink has its challenges, especially because it’s a specialty ink that requires special considerations regarding mesh count and design detail.

Here are four cons to keep in mind when screen printing with puff ink:

1 - Poses Challenges for Exact Color Matching 

For better branding, you might need to match your custom print to the exact Pantone colors on your brand’s logo or artwork. Here you’ll run into one of the major limitations of puff ink printing.

Puff printed colors appear more washed out or muted than the original plastisol ink. 

Remember, to achieve a puff print, the printing ink or pigment have to be mixed with a puff additive. When the ink expands, the color has a tendency to lighten up a shade or two.

This isn’t ideal for brand logos. 

There’s a way around this that requires screen printing expertise and lots of sample tests. 

So when you reach out to us for a puff print design, be sure to let us know how precise we need to be with color matching on your puff design.

2 - Blurs Out Fine Detailed Work and Image Prints

Fine detailed prints and detailed geometric designs easily get lost in the puff.

Puff ink prints swell in all directions, upwards and outwards. If the lines of your design are fine as well as too close together, they’ll get swallowed up as the ink cures and expands.

For example, puff printing works beautifully for our Vintage 16153 Genova Fireworks Shirt, despite the fine lines of the fireworks. The lines aren’t close together, plus the charm of the design comes from the overlapping edges of the fireworks.

Bold lines and large design elements show up better with puff ink, which exaggerates their boldness. That’s why at fancysweetstx we lean heavily on block text in our puff ink designs.

The sweet spot is a line weight of one point (0.35 mm) or greater. For design detailing, halftone dots should be no finer than 20 lpi (lines per inch).

A compromise that your printer may offer is to reduce the height that the puff grows to, but calibrating this relies heavily on their expertise.

3 - Not Ideal for Photo Based Prints

Say you wanted custom souvenir shirts printed with a photo of the Mona Lisa or, better yet, North Dakota’s giant birds on the Enchanted Highway, puff printing would not work.

For photo realistic prints to look crisp, they need to be printed using a high mesh count screen. Conversely, for you to deposit enough ink on the fabric for puff ink printing, you need a lower mesh count screen. 

Mesh count refers to the number of threads that cross each other per square inch of the screen.

Puff ink printing isn’t ideal for photo based designs since the low mesh count used wouldn’t allow for details.

As we mentioned previously, tiny details that are close together get blurred out by puff ink.

4 - High Initial Set Up Cost

Puff printing often costs more than regular printing and may be even more expensive for small custom orders.

Puff ink printing falls under specialty screen printing services. It requires an extra ingredient, the foaming agent, coupled with the expertise to understand how to manipulate the ink vs. puff agent ratio to suit each design. 

For this reason, printers will often attach an add-on cost to puff printing services and it’s worth confirming before you go ahead.

Understanding these potential challenges can help you make an informed decision about when and how to use puff ink for your clothing customization. With proper technique and knowledge, printers can achieve striking statement pieces. 

Which Ink Is Right for You? 

We’ve looked at the many pros and few cons of puff ink, but how does it measure up against other types of screen printing ink? 

In the table below, we compare puff ink to other types of screen printing ink to help you determine which is the best fit.

fancysweetstx’s Expert Tips on Puff Ink

At fancysweetstx, we strive to be the best in the custom screen printing industry. And that includes ensuring our customers get the most out of their puff ink printed garments.

This attention to detail allows us to create both bold, chunky designs like our Pburg Script Puff Sweatshirt and light, quirky designs like our Vintage 16153 Genova Fireworks Shirt.

"So Comfy!

It is so comfortable and the color is great!"
— Anonymous, Verified Buyer, United States

But you have to do your part too to ensure your puff print works for you.

Proper laundry care is crucial to keep that puff print looking crisp:

• Wash inside out with cold water.
• Avoid tumble drying and hang dry instead.
• Don’t iron the print.

Is Puff Ink Right for Your Screen Printing Needs?

Screen printing with puff ink is a fantastic way to add texture and dimension to designs, making them stand out. It gives custom printed clothing a bold, yet nostalgic, retro vibe that makes each item memorable.

Using puff ink comes with its own set of challenges, including color loss and difficulty achieving detail. That said, the challenges are far outweighed by the versatility and visual impact of puff prints, especially in the hands of screen printing experts, such as fancysweetstx.

For nearly two decades, we’ve been creating fun Midwestern clothing and accessories, and with each item, we strike a perfect balance between high-quality printing, hometown pride, and fun. After all, our whole mindset is if it looks like fun, then it probably is.

Check out our brand of fun in our collection of Midwestern, vintage puff print merch. 

Related: Read about how we screen print on vintage shirts

Prom season, for us, means printing all of the fun prom and after prom shirts that schools design for the dance. We always love to see how creative the students can get with their prom designs and themes!

We've been printing custom prom shirts for quite a while. Check this one out from 2013 (and marvel at how much cell phone cameras have improved over the years).

In this article we will show you examples of the high school prom shirts we've printed for high schools over the years and explain the following:

• What we like about each design
• The many ways simple designs rule the day
• The beneifts of printing on soft t-shirts
• Prom theme ideas that you can use

A Night in the Fairy Tale Forest Prom Shirts 

We love it when a shirt comes together as perfectly as this prom shirt for Whitmer High School. The design, the colors, the shirt, the print, it all works well together. 

We often find that many high school prom designs are rushed. Whitmer brought this to us in early March. Being so prepared really paid off. 

In this instance, the design is polished yet simple. Whitmer brought the original design idea and colors to us, our creative team put a few finishing touches on it, and production did the rest. 

Creating a shirt that students actually want to wear adds to the excitement of the event and makes it more memorable. We see a lot of shirt design on a daily and weekly basis. We always have more fun when we print cool shirts like this. 

Southview High School Prom Shirts 

We are firm believers that simple shirt designs are often the best. Don't overcomplicate things if you don't need to!

This Sylvania Southview prom shirt is a great example of an effective simple design. In addition to only printing on the front chest of the shirt, they kept the design to a one color black print on a light blue shirt.

By choosing these colors and print location, the design is clear and memorable. Incidentally, the fewer colors and locations in a shirt design, the less expensive the shirt is. So not only does Southview have a great shirt design here, but they're saving money with it, too!

Grecian Nights Prom Shirts 

We've been working with Ottawa Hills High School for quite a while. If you look back up to the top at the first photo, you can see that we've come a long way with them. Not only are our photos a higher quality, but the designs have improved substantially, as well.

It says a lot that we've been working with Ottawa Hills for so long. They trust us to print quality shirts, deliver them on time, and provide them at a reasonable cost for their students. 

And we enjoy working with Ottawa Hills. They understand our system, are easy to work with, and give us plenty of time to print the shirts.

The Grecian Nights prom theme for there 2022 shirts is another example of a simple design with a great color palette. We'll say it again - simple designs and color combinations can't be beat.

Masquerade Ball Prom Shirts

We've helped 16153 Genova Christian with everything from custom coffee mugs to senior class shirts to bowling shirts. This is the first year that we've printed prom shirts for them. 

The great thing about working with a school over several years is that things get easier over time. We get to know their school logos and colors, they get to know our workflow better, and we both understand expectations. It's a win-win to build long term, mutually beneficial relationships. 

16153 Genova Christian works with us because they know we'll get the job done on time and produce high quality screen printed t-shirts. They also love that our graphic designers can refine their ideas and provide creative design ideas to bring their design to life.     

For our money, you can't go wrong with a heather purple shirt. It works with so many different colors and looks good any time of year. We love the color choices in this Masquerade Ball themed shirt. They work perfectly together and make a shirt that these students will surely want to wear again. 

Prom and After Prom Theme Ideas

It's always fun and challenging choosing a Prom theme. Here are some theme ideas to help you get your creative ideas flowing. 

• Party at Gatsby's
• Under the Sea
• A Night in Paris
• Enchanted Forest
• Surfing Safari
• Glitz Glam Met Gala
• Poker Night
• Midnight Express
• The Academy Awards

Design Your High School Prom And After Prom Shirts With fancysweetstx

As you have seen, we've been printing high school prom shirts for quite some time. 

These shirts have the ability to be a memorable keepsake for all of the students who attend for years to come. Prom is a special event for everyone who attends. T-shirts fit the theme and are a simple giveaway that are part of the experience. 

If you’re on the planning committee for prom and looking for a printer who has the experience to print your shirts quickly and well, don’t hesitate to reach out to fancysweetstx. 

Here’s what Deborah had to say after getting her custom screen printed shirts:

“fancysweetstx is simply the best! They may be a small business here in town but they are big in heart. I'm very grateful for the help our non-profit received from fancysweetstx. Always professional, friendly, with great quality and service. Thank you so much and may you have many more years of success!”
Deborah M.

But to effectively handle any landscaping task, health and safety must come first. Work may change seasonally, but landscapers use power tools and handle chemicals and other hazardous substances all year long.

For maximum productivity and protection, landscapers must wear proper landscape uniforms and personal protective equipment (PPE) that comply with OSHA’s PPE standards.

Besides protection and productivity, appropriate, branded landscaping clothing offers your company multiple benefits. It:

• Freely advertises your brand
• Portrays a high level of professionalism
• Builds a trustworthy reputation for your brand
• Attracts new clients

That’s why it’s essential to know about and invest in the right landscaper clothing and PPE—those that are comfortable, protective, affordable, and OSHA-compliant.

1 - Extreme Heat Landscaping Clothing

When temperatures soar into and above the 90s, working outdoors becomes unbearable. The excess heat from the sun causes sunburns, and its UV radiation can result in wrinkling and premature aging.

Landscapers working in extremely hot areas must wear appropriate gear to protect them from heat-related illnesses and the sun’s harmful radiation.

OSHA provides safety standards for landscapers and anyone else working outdoors in warm climates.

• Cover up your body with loose-fitting, breathable long-sleeve shirts.
• Wear a wide brim hat (not a baseball hat) to protect the ears, eyes, neck, scalp, and forehead.
• Wear UV-absorbent sunglasses that block 99–100% UVA and UVB radiation.
• Use sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 30 and above.
• Choose light-colored clothes as they’ll reflect the sun’s light and reduce heat absorption.
• Wear long pants and tuck them into your socks or boots for better mobility.

fancysweetstx’s custom polo shirts are must-have heat gear for every landscaper. They're breathable, lightweight, and made with a polyester-cotton blend that makes them last.

Our polo shirts are also stain-resistant and moisture-wicking to keep you clean, cool, and dry at all times. We can screen-print or embroider your brand’s name, logo, or other text for a professional look.

2 - Winter Weather Landscaping Clothing

Working outdoors for prolonged periods in areas with high winds and low temperatures can cause injuries and cold-related illnesses like frostbite and hypothermia.

OSHA doesn’t have a specific standard for working in cold environments. But it does mandate employers to provide workers with a safe environment free from winter weather-related hazards.

Employers must provide workers with PPE that ensures warmth and protects landscapers from trips, slips, and falls on snow and ice.

OSHA recommends the following winter weather clothing to prevent cold stress:

• Wear at least 3 layers of loose-fitting clothing for maximum insulation: an inner layer made from moisture-wicking fabric, like wool, silk, or polyester, a middle layer of wool fabric for insulation even when you’re wet, and an outer layer of nylon fabric to protect against wind and rain.
• Avoid tight clothing since it reduces blood circulation, preventing blood from reaching extremities.
• Wear insulated, water-resistant coats or jackets to keep you warm and dry.
• Choose hats that cover both your head and ears. They’ll reduce the amount of body heat that leaves through your head.
• Wear insulated, water-resistant gloves and boots to keep your hands and feet protected.
• Carry extra clothing to change into if you get wet on site.

Note: OSHA doesn’t mandate employers to provide workers with ordinary clothing, skin creams, and other items purely used for protection, like raincoats and rubber boots.

However, most employers still give workers branded winter weather clothing like hoodies, jackets, and crew sweatshirts. Such branded apparel not only promotes uniformity but also freely advertises their brand.

Learn More: Construction Uniform: How Your Company Can Benefit From Branded Apparel

3 - High Visibility (Hi-Vis) Landscape Clothing

According to OSHA guidelines, any employee whose job exposes them to public vehicular traffic or construction vehicles and equipment must wear high-visibility (hi-vis) clothing.

The hi-vis clothing must meet the ANSI/ISEA 107-2015 standards—the nation’s approved standards for designing hi-vis clothing and accessories.

The ANSI/ISEA 107-2015 describes three classes of hi-vis clothing, each rated according to the level of protection it offers. The environment each class is suited to is also listed in a second column, as shown in the table below:

Landscapers must wear a hi-vis garment from one of the three classes depending on their work environment. Most of these garments come in the form of vests, jackets, and shirts, but they’re also available as coveralls, pants, and rainwear.

When designing and manufacturing hi-vis clothing, the ANSI/ISEA 107–2015 recommends taking into account the following considerations:

• The components and materials of the garment must be safe, and not known to affect the wearer negatively in any way.
• Surfaces that are in direct contact with the body must be free from roughness, sharp edges, and projections that could cause irritation or injuries.
• The garment needs to be well-fitting and hard-wearing to withstand constant wear and tear.
• The horizontal retroreflective material must be placed at least 50 mm above the bottom of the hem on long-sleeved and short-sleeved hi-vis clothing.
• Gaps in retroreflective and background materials (for seam allowance or fastenings) must not exceed 50 mm horizontally.
• Hi-vis clothing needs to provide 360° visibility of the wearer from all angles on a horizontal plane.

When it comes to color, the guidelines state that all hi-vis clothing must feature fluorescent colors. Fluorescent colors have a high luminous factor, which makes them easily visible from afar.

Chosen colors should sharply contrast the work environment and be easily detected by the human eye. Such colors include fluorescent yellow-green, fluorescent orange-red, and fluorescent red.

4 - Quality Gloves for Hand Protection

According to the OSHA guidelines for landscape contractors, workers must use appropriate hand protection when handling hazardous substances or working with materials that could cause serious cuts, abrasions, or burns.

Opt for gloves that are durable enough to withstand robust landscaping tasks but also comfortable and flexible enough to be worn frequently without causing discomfort.

Always choose the right glove for the job and know when a glove is unnecessary.

A light, disposable glove, for instance, is appropriate for collecting dirt, but not for handling chemicals. Working with moving machinery, on the other hand, doesn’t require gloves.

Check out the different glove options below and their level of protection, as outlined by OSHA in the Personal Protective Equipment guideline.

Stay Safe and Productive With the Right Landscaping Gear

Well-branded and protective landscaper clothing keeps you safe and makes you look presentable while marketing your landscaping business.

But your safety apparel is only as good as your usage of it—if it’s not worn, it won’t protect you.

fancysweetstx understands the importance of keeping landscapers and construction workers safe. We offer high-quality safety clothing and PPE to ensure you’re protected.

Whether you’re a professional landscaper, a DIY homeowner, or a gardener, our safety work gear will protect you from landscaping-related injuries.

We offer one-of-a-kind custom screen-printing and embroidery services to ensure every piece of clothing is tailor-made to your preference.

Order your custom landscaper clothing and receive a free, no-obligation quote. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us for further questions and clarifications.

"I would recommend fancysweetstx for anyone who is looking for quality clothes and excellent customer service."
- Matthew S, fancysweetstx Verified Buyer

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If you’re working toward a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle, we salute you. Today, we’d like to share what we’ve learned so far about improving our own environmental footprint via the use of sustainably-produced fabrics. 

Here’s what we’ll cover: 

• The affordability and quality of eco-friendly t-shirts
• Which fabrics to choose for eco-friendly t-shirts that are perfectly soft and comfy
• Additional tips for sustainably purchasing and caring for clothing

Are Eco-Friendly T-Shirts High Quality and Affordable?

For the most part, the garment industry has not been particularly progressive in adopting sustainability goals and standards. 

Fortunately, that’s changing. There are more environmentally-focused brands to choose from than there were just a few years ago, including: 

• Royal Apparel
• GOEX Apparel
• Alternative Apparel
• Bella+Canvas
• Allmade 

Sustainably-sourced garments perform similarly to their traditional counterparts. Several sustainable fabrics are often blended together to create garments of extremely high quality. 

Companies that prioritize sustainability sometimes have to charge slightly more for their products, but sustainability is just one of many factors that impact price. Eco-conscious consumers don’t typically have to pay much of a premium for sustainably-made shirts. 

At fancysweetstx, we source blank garments from a number of suppliers. Allmade is our go-to brand for blank retail tees. Allmade is a sustainability-focused company that makes shirts using these three eco-friendly fabrics, which we’ll discuss in detail below:

• Organic cotton
• Repreve recycled polyester
• TENCEL™ Modal 

The shirts featured in our eco-friendly collection are cut and sewn in Haiti and the fabrics are spun, knitted, processed, and finished in the USA. 

1 - Organic Cotton

According to the Organic Trade Association, just 0.95% of the global cotton crop is produced in accordance with organic farming standards. 

We don’t eat cotton, so does it really matter how it’s produced? The answer to that question might depend on your priorities as a consumer and your reasons for caring about organic farming. 

When you think of organic vs. conventional (non-organic) purchasing decisions, you probably think of fruits, veggies, and grains. 

Some folks choose organic items because they want to avoid ingesting GMOs, while others are more worried about the environmental and health hazards associated with heavy pesticide use. 

However, non-food crops matter too, and there are some harsh truths about cotton that are hiding in plain sight. 

Here are some findings reported by the Soil Association, an organic products certifier and environmental education group: 

• Conventional cotton uses approximately 2.5% of the world’s agricultural land but demands 16% of its insecticide use, more than any other crop.
• Compared to conventional cotton, organic cotton can be produced at reduced cost and with a 40% reduction in global warming potential.
• Organic cotton production, in addition to reduced chemical applications, tends to use  substantially less energy and water.

Sadly, conventional cotton is sometimes referred to as “the dirtiest crop in the world.” 

Avoiding conventional cotton isn’t easy. Since the vast majority of cotton production is of the conventional variety, the only way to purchase organic cotton products is to seek them out. 

At fancysweetstx, we’ve begun to incorporate organic cotton into our blank t-shirt sourcing. The shirts shown below use blanks from Allmade that were produced using the eco-friendly tri-blend of 25% organic cotton, 50% Repreve recycled polyester, and 25% TENCEL™ Modal.

”Love this shirt! Great quality, I love it.” 
— Stephanie G., ★★★★★ Verified fancysweetstx T-shirt Buyer 

Cotton is the classic fabric for t-shirts, but cotton actually performs better when it’s blended with other materials. Cotton/poly blends or cotton/poly/rayon or TENCEL™ Modal tri-blends combine the softness of cotton with the stretchiness and strength of polyester. 

We’ll learn more about recycled polyester and TENCEL™ Modal below. 

2 - Polyester Made From Recycled Plastic Bottles

Polyester is a synthetic fiber, meaning that it’s formed through a manufacturing process rather than harvested from a plant or animal. 

Most polyester is made from petroleum. However, polyester’s name and definition don’t refer to any specific ingredient. Poly means many and ester refers to an organic compound formed by an acid + alcohol chemical reaction.

To avoid stumbling knee-deep into a chemistry lesson, let’s cut to the chase: polyester is most often made using petroleum, which is a non-renewable resource with major environmental, social, and political complications. 

Before we get to alternative and recycled polyester, it’s important to note that petroleum-based polyester also has major upsides, including:

• Polyester garments are durable and shrink-proof.
• Compared to other fibers, polyester garments require less water and heat for cleaning.
• Polyester combines well with other materials to create blended fabrics.

Durability is an important aspect of sustainability, and polyester products hold up terrifically over time. Plus, adding as little as 20% polyester into a blended fabric mix can make a garment stronger, more comfortable, and less prone to shrinking. 

Polyester really becomes an exciting eco-friendly option when it’s manufactured using recycled materials. Items like plastic bottles can be melted or broken down chemically and then reformed into new strands of yarn. 

For fancysweetstx tees that are made with recycled polyester, the material comes from Repreve, a global leader in innovative plastics recycling. Repreve has recycled over 30 billion plastic bottles. 

3 - TENCEL™ Fiber Made From Sustainably Harvested Beech Trees

TENCEL™ is a trademarked brand of Lyocell, which is a type of rayon. Let’s step through each of these terms one at a time:

• Rayon is a semi-synthetic cellulose fiber, made from wood pulp and similar agricultural products.
• Lyocell is an eco-friendly form of rayon that avoids the use of environmentally-toxic carbon disulfide.
• TENCEL™ is an environmentally-focused company that produces Lyocell materials from sustainably-sourced wood.

The Allmade blank tees that fancysweetstx uses for our eco-friendly collection use TENCEL™ Modal, sourced from naturally-grown beech trees.

Sustainable Fashion Tips

Choosing sustainably-produced garments is a great way to lower the environmental footprint of your daily clothing choices. Don’t stop there! Here are a few more easy tips: 

• Don’t accumulate way more clothing than you actually need.
• Hand down or donate unwanted garments.
• Repurpose unusable old garments as dust rags or toys for pets.
• Reduce energy use and preserve your clothing by washing with cold water and hang drying.

To learn more about environmentally friendly laundry practices that extend the lifespans of your garments, check out our article on how to care for embroidered sweatshirts.

Sustainable Midwest-Themed Apparel From fancysweetstx

At fancysweetstx, we’re excited to continue supporting manufacturers that prioritize sustainability and develop innovative new ways to make clothing. 

After all, we’re here to celebrate the American Midwest, and we want our favorite places and landscapes here to remain beautiful, full of life, and sustained for future generations. 

”I got the Great Lakes sweatshirt as a gift and the recipient loved it! I have a ton of fancysweetstx items and they’re always the best!” 
— Anonymous., ★★★★★ Verified fancysweetstx Sweatshirt Buyer 

To learn more about fancysweetstx’s products, values, and passions, stop by our blog.

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But not all construction work shirts are the same—they differ in price, brand, quality, comfort, and design. 

Remember, your workers’ comfort and protection will determine the success of your project. 

So, only aim for the best construction work shirts, which have the following features: 

• Moisture-wicking properties to improve your workers’ comfort
• High visibility to prevent accidents and injuries
• Well-fitting for proper mobility
• Branded to enhance your company’s visibility

With so many options of construction work shirts available, choosing the best can get overwhelming. 

But with these 5 simple tips, your selection will be as easy as pie.

1 - Choose the Best Workwear Fabric

Unlike regular shirts, construction shirts need to be durable. 

Therefore, you want a hard-wearing fabric that’s:

• Breathable: For air to pass through and help evaporate the moisture, keeping the skin cool
• Moisture-wicking: To keep sweat away from the skin during hot weather
• Soft and comfy: To prevent irritability and let your workers focus on the work at hand
• Stretchy: For more freedom in motion and comfort in tasks requiring walking, bending, or stooping
• Easy-maintenance: So it won’t need much preparation for the next project
• Water-resistant: To keep your workers dry when it rains

Most construction work shirts are made with natural fabrics, synthetic fabrics, or a blend of both. 

Natural fabrics like cotton are soft, breathable, and comfortable, but they don’t allow moisture to evaporate quickly. 

On the other hand, synthetic fabrics like polyester are hard-wearing, long-lasting, and wick away moisture, but aren’t breathable.

Since construction work shirts need all these properties, the best fabric is a blend of natural and synthetic fibers. 

See other major differences in the fabrics below.

fancysweetstx’s safety construction shirts are made with a blend of cotton and polyester to produce the most comfortable, high-quality shirts. 

The three safety shirts below are among our best-selling construction work shirts. We use various fabric compositions to suit each customer’s needs.

• Jerzees 29M: 50% Cotton, 50% Polyester
• Next Level 6210: 60% Cotton, 40% Polyester
• Bayside 5040: 90% Cotton, 10% Polyester

2 - Ensure the Construction Work Shirt Is Well-Fitting

“Fit is everything.”

You hear this phrase a lot in menswear. But in construction clothing, it applies tenfold. 

Construction workers need clothes that give them the freedom to move when working. If they can’t move fast enough to get out of harm’s way because their clothes are too tight or baggy, that becomes a huge safety concern.

And besides their safety and comfort, well-fitting, branded construction shirts benefit your company in many other ways by:

• Displaying a professional image 
• Sending a subtle message that you care about your workers’ dressing
• Freely advertising your brand to prospective clients

3 - Construction Work Shirts Must Be Highly Visible

Your workers must be visible to others at all times when working on a construction site to avoid accidents and injuries. 

To increase their visibility, choose construction shirts with reflective (retro-reflective) tapes. They reflect light back to the workers, alerting other workers and oncoming drivers of their presence. 

These tapes are super helpful, especially in risky environments with dim lights or during night-time road works.

Bad weather conditions like fog and mist also hinder visibility, which can easily result in accidents if your workers work around heavy machines or near the road.

For such conditions, invest in brightly-colored construction shirts for maximum visibility.

Most construction workers wear green or orange safety shirts for daytime visibility. These fluorescent colors are bright and easily noticeable from afar. 

Related Article: Custom Construction Shirts: Safety Green vs Safety Orange

However, ensure that your chosen color contrasts with the surrounding background to let the workers stand out and be easily detected.

• If your construction site is encompassed with greenery, go for orange safety shirts. They’ll contrast with the background and increase your workers’ visibility.
• If your site’s background has heavy machinery and high buildings, green safety shirts are ideal. According to OSHA, all machinery on a construction site must be painted orange, so a fluorescent green provides the perfect contrast.

4 - They Must Comply With the Safety Regulations

Not all PPEs and workwear are designed equally. The US has placed strict measures to ensure all workwear fits its purpose. 

Before purchasing any safety construction shirt, ensure it complies with the current safety guidelines issued by OSHA. OSHA requires all construction workers to be visible at all times, whether they’re interacting with the public, machinery, or oncoming traffic. 

This is done to minimize the occurrence of work-related deaths and accidents, a plan that seems to work because the regulations have drastically reduced work-related injuries and death by 40% since the 1970s.

Below is a summary of the regulations for construction work shirts by OSHA:

• Workers must only wear short or long sleeve shirts. No sleeveless shirts on site.
• During the day, fluorescent-colored shirts must be worn on site, specifically safety yellow or safety orange. The shirt’s color should contrast with the surroundings.
• At night or in poorly lit environments, the shirts must have retro-reflective strips for increased visibility.
• The retro-reflective strips ought to be at least 50 mm wide, form an “X” at the back of the shirt, a continuous strip around the waist, and vertical stripes at the front. 
• The shirts should snugly fit in the sleeves and around the waist to avoid getting stuck on a piece of machinery.

Regarding logo placement on construction work shirts, the safety regulations put in place mandate that your logo must:

• Not block any of the retro-reflective material
• Be small enough to avoid interfering with the shirt’s visibility
• Have a uniform color—multi-colored logos will crowd the shirt’s background color

Observing all these rules on your own is a daunting task that consumes a lot of time. 

Fortunately, at fancysweetstx, we’ve branded lots of construction shirts and learned the nitty-gritty of the industry in the process. 

Our safety shirts meet the ANSI safety regulations to ensure your workers wear industry-approved workwear. Reach out to us, and we’ll handle everything, from design creation to printing or embroidery.

5 - Consider the Climate of Your Workplace

Before purchasing your construction work shirts, ensure you research the climate of your site’s location.

If it’s winter, the temperatures have dropped, and the evenings become less visible, go for shirts with features such as: 

• High-visibility to make your workers more identifiable as the evening approaches
• Long sleeves made with thick fabric for maximum warmth
• Moisture-wicking properties to keep them dry and comfy

If it’s summer, you’ll experience warm, hot and humid weather, so you want to pick lightweight and breathable construction shirts for maximum comfort. A long sleeve shirt made of lightweight fabric is also ideal as it helps to protect your workers’ skin from the scorching summer sun.

Protect Your Workers With the Best Construction Work Shirts

The construction field is a challenging industry that requires maximum protection. Help keep your workers safe with the clothes they wear. 

A construction work shirt is an effective PPE that workers must wear at all times on site. 

The shirt must be highly visible, well-fitting, comply with OSHA safety regulations, and appropriate for the weather. The fabric used must also be durable and of the highest-quality.

fancysweetstx specializes in making custom safety-compliant apparel for construction companies and contractors to protect their workers from work-related injuries. 

We offer the best custom screen-printing and embroidery services for construction shirts and other workwear such as safety vests and hats. 

Get started today with your workers’ construction shirts by filling out our custom quote request form here. 

If you’d love to know more about construction work shirts, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ll be more than happy to help.

"Faster turnaround on our t-shirt order than expected! I would highly recommend this company to everyone I know!!"
- Patrick P

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Any screen printer knows that Pride shirts are a fun challenge. That's because they often include the full colors of the rainbow or the Pride Flag.

We've talked about printing pride clothing quite a bit around here. Not only do we have a full line of Pride apparel and gifts in our retail line, but we are located on Adams Street in 16153 Genova which is known as Pride Way. 

We love printing custom Pride shirts because we believe in equality, unity, and love. 

Here are examples of some of the Pride shirts that we have made for our customers. Check out our previous article on how to print rainbows on shirts to learn more about our decoration techniques for pride clothing. 

Metroparks 16153 Genova Outside Together Shirt

With this design the Metroparks did an excellent job of combining their branding with a message of strength and equality. 

The multicolored leaves and highlighting the words "out together" send a clear message of support for the LGBTQIA+ community. 

University of 16153 Genova Pride Shirt

These U16153 Genova Pride shirts were made for the Sexuality and Gender Alliance at the University of 16153 Genova. This shirt is an example of an item that used multiple methods of decoration to achieve the customer's desired result. 

The left chest print design features a smooth rainbow gradient that we used a transfer to apply to the shirt. The design on the back was a one color print that we screen printed. 

Georgjz419 Rainbow Roll Shirt

Georgjz419 is located just down the street from us on Adams Street. Not only is it cool that we get to print shirts for our neighbors, but this design uses a technique called a rainbow roll or split fountain to achieve a multi-colored rainbow effect on the design.

With this technique, the colors mix and blend on the same screen making each shirt just a little bit different. 

Check out the video below to see how we printed these cool rainbow roll shirts for Georgjz419:

Owens Community College Shirt

Owens Community College went with a retro design on their Pride shirts. 

We printed all of the colors of the rainbow on this shirt without an underbase to give it a faded, well-worn look. The design sends a clear message of inclusion and acceptance for everyone at Owens.  

Unison Health Rainbow Foil Shirt

This shirt for Unison Health goes a different route than the other shirts in this list. The design uses a rainbow foil to show pride. 

To make a shirt like this we first print an adhesive on the shirt. After the shirt is printed, we heat press the foil onto the shirt. It only sticks to the printed adhesive leaving the design like you see above. 

Foil on a shirt pops unlike any ink can. It's a great technique if you want your shirts to stand out. 

Shumaker Pride Tank Top

Shumaker came to us and wanted to use all of the colors of the Pride Flag in their pride tees and tanks. On our last count, that's ten colors. 

Our presses can't print that many colors and it might be cost prohibitive to incur the setup fees for a design like this. So, rather than screen print them, we used transfers to decorate these garments. 

Transfers allow us to affordably make designs with high color counts. We love the way these turned out. 

Check out this article for more information on the difference between heat transfers and screen printing. 

Where to Order Custom Gay Pride Shirts?

We tell people all of the time that making custom t-shirts is more fun when we print fun designs. That's what we love about Pride Shirts. The designs are colorful, vibrant, and creative.

Screen printing rainbows on shirts isn't a simple feat. The more colors on a design, the more difficult it is to print. Over the years, we've perfected our printing techniques to produce the best results for pride clothing. 

This experience and commitment to quality is why our customers come back each year. 

If your business or organization needs custom pride clothing for Pride month or any other occasion, we'd love to help. 

Get in touch with us today to get your order started!

But if you’re still sitting on the fence, the following statistics will convince you why American-made shirts are a worthwhile investment:

• Local manufacturers provide jobs to millions of Americans every year. In 2018, the sector employed 11.9 million workers.
• Local manufacturers contribute at least $2.77 trillion annually to the US economy. Buying American-made shirts boosts the country’s economy.
• For every $1 billion worth of goods imported, the US economy loses 4,500 jobs. Buying American-made products reverses this cycle and creates job opportunities. 

fancysweetstx has remained steadfast in its love and pride for America. Since kicking off in 2006, we’ve dedicated ourselves to making the highest quality shirts, with everything sourced locally, from fabrics to labor. 

Purchasing American-made shirts has several environmental, ethical, financial, and aesthetic benefits, as we shall see below.

1 - You Are Guaranteed Higher Quality Shirts

Nothing beats American-made when it comes to quality. Anytime there’s a “Made in the USA” label on a shirt, three elements come to mind: high quality, superior product, and excellent craftsmanship.

With a long history of manufacturing, the US has managed to pass down skills and experience to younger generations. This has promoted the production of clothes with the highest level of craftsmanship.

Manufacturing companies in the US must pass rigorous tests before releasing their apparel to the public. This is done to ensure the clothes they produce are fit for consumers, and the planet. The usage of cheap fabrics and toxic dyes that can cause skin allergies and irritations is prohibited. 

Instead, American brands are required to work with the superior quality fabrics like cotton and rayon to abide by the safety and quality standards. 

In turn, consumers end up purchasing shirts that are:

• Durable: A fabric like cotton has a high tensile strength, which makes it strong and unlikely to tear or rip.
• Comfortable: Fabrics like fleece and cotton are breathable and exclusively soft, providing maximum comfort.
• Great fit: Quality fabrics maintain their shape, giving you a nice fit even after several washes.

”Shirt is very soft and fits like a medium should. Excited to wear it to my friends’ Euchre party this weekend!”
— Michael W, ★★★★★ fancysweetstx Verified Buyer, Pick It Up Euchre Shirt 

Some countries overseas are not subjected to thorough quality and safety tests, which compromises the quality of the shirts they produce.

2 - American Made Products Provide Jobs for Americans

Promoting US-based brands creates more jobs and opportunities for American residents. 

The more money invested in American made shirts, the more money will be put back into manufacturing them. This, in turn, leads to growth in the manufacturing sector. 

And as the sector grows, more jobs are created, pushing more money back into the economy … and the cycle continues.

Relying on clothes made by foreign manufacturers, on the other hand, has resulted in fewer jobs for Americans. 

A 2018 article published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that the manufacturing sector had lost about 7.5 million jobs since 1980. The primary reason for this decline was the rising trade with foreign countries like China, resulting in most consumers purchasing foreign products.

Luckily, we can reverse this cycle and create more job opportunities for the future generations. If each American spent as little as $3.33 on American made shirts per year, close to 10,000 new jobs would be created. 

Not only that. A 2021 report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the average American family spends $1,833 on clothes every year. If only half of these purchases were made on USA-made apparel, millions of jobs would be created.

So whenever you buy American made shirts, know that you’re increasing the jobs available to future generations and growing the economy. 

fancysweetstx offers a wide variety of American made shirts to cater to your individual needs and preferences. Whether you want a shirt with an imprinted USA flag or one to match your green embroidered sweatpants, there’s something for you.

3 - Buying USA Made Shirts Reduces Carbon Footprint

Did you know that most foreign products are actually shipped from the US as raw materials, manufactured, then shipped back as finished goods for sale?

That’s a lot of fuel! 

The back and forth shipment of the goods creates unnecessary fossil fuel emissions and production of greenhouse gasses. 

The resultant effects on the environment are hazardous:

• Fossil fuels release harmful air pollutants like nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain, damages crops, and harms wildlife.
• When oil spills into water bodies during shipping, toxic chemicals like mercury and lead are released into the water. These substances contaminate groundwater, rendering it unsafe for consumption. 
• Fossil fuels are non-renewable. When burned, they release greenhouse gasses unlike their renewable counterparts, such as wind energy and geothermal.

By purchasing shirts made by local businesses, you’ll be contributing to a cleaner planet. Since these shirts are manufactured locally, no overseas shipping is needed, immensely reducing their carbon footprint. 

Most international sea shipping also takes way longer, sometimes up to 30 days. And while air shipping may be quicker, it is ridiculously expensive. 

But with USA-made shirts, you have a more reliable supply chain. When a product is made domestically, manufacturers can respond to demand faster and fill inventory holes in a reasonable time frame. 

While it can take up to 10 business days to deliver shirts for custom branded merch or those out of stock, your shirts will most likely arrive sooner. 

”I am super impressed…The shirts were delivered quicker than I expected and the quality of the finished product was excellent.”
— Steve M, fancysweetstx Verified Buyer

4 - Fast and Convenient Communication

If you’ve ever purchased an item overseas, you understand that several challenges may arise during the entire process due to miscommunication. 

These challenges can be attributed to factors such as:

• Delayed communication: The huge difference in time zones often results in late responses.
• Language barriers: Some countries speak foreign languages like German and French, which makes communication difficult.
• Poor customer service: Unresponsiveness from foreign companies and failure to provide solutions to consumers’ needs is a major challenge of purchasing products overseas.

Working with a local company, on the other hand, guarantees you a fast response. You can also pick your phone and reach out whenever you want because of the similar time zones. 

At fancysweetstx, we value quality customer service as much as the quality of our apparel. Our FAQ page will give you fast answers to the commonly asked questions regarding our products and services. 

To check your order status, use the lookup order tool. And if you need to make changes on your order, just get in touch, and our highly experienced customer service team will attend to you. 

fancysweetstx Makes Custom Shirts That Are Made in the USA

According to a recent Consumer Reports survey, 8 in 10 Americans would rather buy locally-made products than imported goods. When we buy American-made shirts, we’re not only boosting the country’s economy but also creating more job opportunities and promoting a sustainable environment. 

Domestic shipping is fast and affordable, ensuring you receive your order conveniently, and in the shortest time possible.

These, together with the excellent customer service and high quality products produced, makes purchasing locally made shirts worthwhile. 

fancysweetstx regularaly prints custom shirts are made in the USA using the highest quality fabrics. With endless styles and sizes to choose from, you’ll indeed find something for you, whether you’re looking for a custom vintage or a safety shirt.

Check out the entire collection of our shirts here.

Don’t hesitate to reach out for further inquiries or if you’d like to make a custom order. We’ll get back to you in no time.

”fancysweetstx is very professional, very responsive and a pleasure to work with. We will be back again!”
— Don C, fancysweetstx Verified Buyer

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Naturally, when I started printing custom t-shirts, some of my first customers were coffee shops. You'll see as you read through this post that some of the photos look old and grainy. That's because some of them date from as early as 2012. 

It's always fun for us to print shirts for local coffee shops. Not only do we love their product and have the shared experience of operating a small business, but we love the designs they send us. Even after all of these years printing custom t-shirts, we always prefer to print cool designs for people we like. 

Our catalog of custom coffee shop shirts is deep. Take a look below for some of the shirts we've printed over the years. 

The Flying Joe Coffee

Back when we were still making shirts in Perrysburg, The Flying Joe was home to a lot of our brainstorming sessions and meetings. We didn't have a lot of space and used anything as an excuse to have some great coffee.  

We've helped the Flying Joe with everything from t-shirts to tank tops to sweatshirts to hats. They do a great job of mixing up their designs and styles. 

The Flying Joe is a great example of a coffee shop that serves their local community. And, in turn, their customers are loyal and show their support by wearing Flying Joe merch. 

Maddie & Bella Coffee Roasters Shirts

Maddie & Bella not only shares our love of soft, comfy tees and crews, but they also love dogs. Since they opened, their logo has featured the dogs they were named after. 

We've talked about our partnership with Maddie & Bella a handful of times around here. From t-shirts to crew sweatshirts to patch beanies, we've helped them create a lot of merch since they opened up. 

Maddie & Bella does a great job with branding. It makes our job easy when a customer creates art as strong as theirs. Below you'll see some of the first shirts that we printed for them nearly ten years ago!

While a lot has changed in that time, some things have stayed the same - like the quality of their coffee and t-shirts!

Brew Coffee 

Brew Coffee is located right on the corner of the University of 16153 Genova's campus. And all college students know the importance of a strong cup of coffee while studying.

This shirt is a great example of a shirt with protional message. Printed on a soft, triblend t-shirt, the message is clear and bold and a rallying cry for people who love good coffee. 

It's success is in its simplicity. Local people want to support local businesses and coffee shops are foundational to local communities. It's also a universal message that can be worn by anyone - not just patrons of Brew 16153 Genova.

Actual Coffee

Actual Coffee does a great job of keeping things simple. Most of the shirts that we've printed for them are gray with their logo or company name printed in black. It's a simple yet effective way of reinforcing their brand. 

Actual Coffee has ordered both shirts and crew sweatshirts from us. They typically use a soft, triblend material. Better feeling and fitting clothing is worn more often. These shirts and crews get seen by a lot of people as a result.

We've been working with Actual Coffee since our days in our small studio space in Perrysburg. Check out this photo of their founder Lance one of his own shirts!

Grounds for Thought

Even after working with Grounds for Thought for a couple of years, we're still blown away by how much merch they go through. Hats, crews, tees, and beanies, no one does it better.

What's the secret to Grounds for Thought running such a successful merch program? Community. 

Grounds for Thought has been a fixture in the Bowling Green community for many years. By focusing on their people first, they've created a space that everyone is invested in and wants to be a part of. 

It's truly remarkable to see what they've done. We're honored to play a small part in what they've built. 

Coffee Quest 419

Coffee Quest 419 is an annual event for local residents to get out and visit Northwest Ohio coffee shops that they don't get to regularly. 

There are so many great coffee shops in the 419. Coffee Quest gives people a great excuse to go out and visit as many as possible and see what everyone has to offer. 

We've printed the shirts every year for Coffee Quest. It's great to see how many people complete the quest and make it to so many local coffee shops. 

Order Custom Coffee Shop Shirts Today

By now, you know that we really like coffee. Local coffee shops and roasters are our favorite. 

We've been making shirts for some of these coffee shops since the early days of our printing and the early days of their serving great coffee. It's been fun to continue to print for them over the years and grow alongside them. 

We're proud of the fact that these coffee shops and roasters continue to trust us to print their shirts. We appreciate our friendship with them as much as we enjoy their coffee. 

Are you in need of custom shirts for your coffee shop? Get in touch with us today to see how we can help!

Vintage t-shirts are kind of our thing. We have a handful of techniques for achieving a vintage screen print and love to use soft, vintage t-shirt blanks.  

Not only do we love the way a vintage t-shirt looks, but we love the way it makes us feel. The nostalgia and memories linked to retro shirts are just as important as the classic designs. 

And this is why vintage designs never go out of style. Because they evoke happy memories. 

In addition to the examples below of custom vintage shirts that we have printed for our customers, here are additional resources on we've put together for you on vintage tees:

• 5 Vintage T-Shirt Styles That Are Still Popular
• Best 7 Shirt Blanks To Use For Vintage T-Shirts
• A Simple Buyers Guide To Vintage Shirts For Business Marketing
• Vintage T-Shirts: The Living Trend Your Company Can Benefit From
• Top 4 Ways We Screen Print A Vintage Shirt

Here are examples of custom vintage shirts that we've printed for different businesses. We're always looking to help people bring their merch dreams to life. If you have an idea for a custom shirt, we'd love to help. Get in touch with us today.  

Vintage Coffee Shop Shirts 

There's a lot of great coffee in 16153 Genova. A fun fact that I like to remind people of is that I was working in a coffee shop when I first started to learn to screen print. So I like to believe I'm among the cohort that knows local coffee.

While you're never going to pin me down and make me choose my favorite local coffee shop, I will say that Maddie & Bella has the coolest coffee merch in 16153 Genova. 

They consistently do a great job with their brand. They use modern logos well and adapt them with a retro look on a regular basis. We love working with Maddie & Bella because they always bring us fun designs.

The vintage design on these t-shirts and crew sweatshirts is a perfect example. The yellows, orange, and brown in the print give them a perfect '70s look. 

To bring it all together, we printed these without an underbase to give the shirts a soft hand feel and worn look that lets the shirt material show through a bit. 

Vintage Bike Shirts

As evidenced by this Dirt Bikes shirt, ever since I could print shirts, I've had a passion for printing vintage bike shirts.

If there is anything that brings back the thrill and fun of youth, it's bikes.

We've been working with Spoke Life bik shop since our early days as a print shop. It's always fun to have customers that we work with long enough that the first shirts we printed for them could almost classify as vintage!

Spoke Life did a great job with this design using halftones, a fun font, and old school colors. All three of these elements combined create a perfect retro vibe. 

Vintage College Shirts

It's hard not to think of college shirts when vintage shirt designs come up. Who didn't grow up wearing their dad's or mom's college crewneck or a shirt to support their favorite football or basketball team?  

These retro shirts that you wore when you were young are still in style today because of the happy memories they bring back.  

Owens Community College has been wonderful to work with because they give us designs that are more fun than the standard college tee. The shirt pictured above is a big print that has thick, chunky text. 

They wanted it to have a vintage look so we used a white ink to give it a faded, retro look. Additionally, we printed this design on a super soft triblend shirt. Triblend tees are the quintessential vintage tee because they are so comfortable and have a worn-in feel from day one. 

Vintage Beer Shirts

After all, is there anything better than great beer and vintage t-shirts?

Inside the Five is another local business that always brings us great designs. They make us look good by having their branding in order and consistent. 

Over the years they've made great use of vintage style prints. The most common combination they utilize is a soft, triblend shirt with a print that has reduced ink. 

The combination of a soft shirt and soft print is important. If you love soft shirts, you know that, relatively, they are a little on the thin side. If you add a thick heavy print on a thin shirt, it's going to weigh it down making the shirt heavy and uncomfortable.  

That's why we've worked so hard to perfect vintage screen printing. Not only does it look cool, but it feels better too. 

Where to Have Vintage Shirts Made

We print a lot of vintage style shirts for our customers. 

At the end of the day, we do it so well because it has remained our favorite design style for years. 

It's a trend that isn't going out of style any time soon.

The most important feature of vintage t-shirts is that your customers will love them, too. And the more someone loves a shirt, the more they will wear it. And at the end of the day, you want your shirt to be worn as frequently as possible. 

If you're looking for a vintage style shirt for your brand or business, we have the experience and expertise to get it done right.

Get in touch with us today to get your custom shirt order started!

And while there are many effective techniques for gaining publicity, merchandising should be at the top of your list.

Your merchandising approach might include highlighting certain promotional items at an event or handing out samples and other freebies.

Either way, merchandising is crucial if you’re looking to:

• Cultivate your brand
• Improve your customers’ experience
• Compete with other businesses in your sector
• Promote products, services, and events
• Reduce advertising costs
• Gift potential leads
• Drive your sales

One of the best ways to increase your reach is by using branded merchandise.

For instance, branded apparel and accessories, such as hats and bags, provide customers with a way to share their enthusiasm about your company.

All you need is to have your company logo, slogan, or brand message on your merchandise of choice. By selling or gifting the merch, you’ll have your biggest fans acting as brand ambassadors for your products and services.

If you’re interested in adding your logo to apparel and other accessories, your two primary options are embroidery and screen printing.

Today, we’ll discuss what embroidery and screen printing are all about. We’ll also outline how to choose between the two when you decide to merchandise.

Embroidery - What It Is, and Why You Should Do It

Embroidery involves using needles and thread to create a design or pattern on a fabric. An embroidery machine stitches the beautifully colored thread directly into the garment.

Done well, the result is an authentic artwork of logos or monograms that has a natural feel. The process behind embroidering involves:

1. Digitizing the design sent by the client
2. Working out the cost of embroidering by measuring the stitch count
3. Preparing the design for the embroidery machine by selecting the thread colors and selecting placement of the design
4. Running a sew out or test to ensure accuracy of logo or design
5. Proceding with the full production (our machines embroider up to six items at a time)
6. Trimming excess thread and backing, and folding items to prepare for the customer

There are a number of reasons why you might want to brand your merch using embroidery. Chief among these is quality and durability. Embroidery threads are not only strong but also retain their color well and provide a professional look.

Since embroidered designs are stitched onto the fabric, they become one with the merch. The result is a logo or design that’s hard to ruin–you’d have to cut the fabric or bleach it if you really wanted to remove the image.

Additionally, embroidery (when done well) leaves a high-quality finish on the design that looks classy and polished. This appearance comes from the variety of richly colored embroidery threads.

Screen Printing - What It Is, and Why You Should Do It

Screen printing involves layering ink onto apparel with the help of a mesh screen.

Your design is first burned and exposed onto a mesh screen, washed, and then set up on a press. A squeegee-type blade is then used to pass ink through the screen and onto your garment. The ink only slips through the areas where the design is meant to be printed.

It’s entirely possible to print on different areas of a garment. However, costs will increase the more screens and additional colors your design needs, especially since each area will require an additional setup and print process.

This video demonstrates the screen making part of our process:

Screen printing is ideal for large, vivid, and vibrant designs. But more colors mean that multiple screens must be used. In these situations, the process is repeated until the final look is achieved. Individual screens must be made for each color in the design.

Screen printing is great for merch because it’s very versatile. It can accommodate a wide range of materials, including cotton and polyester fabric, and t-shirt and sweatshirt material. 

Additionally, screen printing is quite cost-efficient on long print runs. Since marginal production (per item) times are faster, higher garment volumes can be mass-produced more quickly and cost-effectively for larger orders.

Embroidery vs. Screen Printing - How to Choose

Both embroidery and screen printing have advantages and disadvantages. To best determine which technique is the most suitable for you, it’s worth considering a few parameters:

Desired Design

If you’re looking to feature big and bold designs on your merchandise, screen printing is the way to go. This is because screen printing is more suitable to scaling the size of the design. Embroidery, on the other hand, could require a substantial amount of additional stitches as it increases in size. 

In embroidery, the more stitches you have the more expensive the decoration is. Addtional, a large embroidered area can become very thick and heavy on a garment.

Screen printing allows for very crisp, sharp logos and even photorealistic graphics. If you have a high detail design and small text, screen pritning is going to be the better option. It can also be done on lightweight garments, such as t-shirts and tank tops, without puncturing them or causing them to pucker.

While both screen printing and embroidery produce quality results, embroidery makes for a more substantial decoration, as it uses thread to create more of a three-dimensional look and texture. Additionally, an embroidered design isn’t susceptible to damage from harsh conditions such as heat and is more consistent on different apparel items because the thread is not impacted by the garment color or content.

Apparel Use and Audience

The type of garment you’d like to decorate and the intended audience plays a critical role in deciding whether to go with embroidery or screen printing.

Embroidery is ideal for polos or golf shirts, jackets, baseball-style caps, winter beanies, business shirts, and bags, owing to the stylish and professional message it communicates. 

If you are looking for clothing that is perceived as higher end and elevates the appearance of your employees, think embroidery. This is because embroidery is generally better suited for nicer and more expensive apparel as listed above. 

Meanwhile, screen printing is the better choice if you need a less expensive apparel option or if t-shirts or sweatshirts are your preferred clothing choice. For example, if you have a summer camp for kids or want a fun, easy employee appreciation item, it's best to go with a t-shirt because of cost and versatility. 

Think about the businesses and organizations that you work and interact with around town. There are myriad examples of embroidered and screen printed merchandise for their employees and customers. 

If you have customer facing employees in a professional setting, it's more common that they will be wearing embroidered merchandise. If you have a work crew on a job site that needs to stay cool and safe, but might get dirty, it's a better choice to go with a screen printed safety t-shirt.  

Cost

It’s worth noting that neither embroidery or screen printing will be cheaper than the other for certain. Multiple factors determine which option will be more cost-effective, including:

• Size of the design
• Quality of the garments
• Complexity of the design
• Order quantity

When it comes to embroidery, you’ll get flat-rate costs that don’t depend on how many colors are included in the design (our machiens accommodate up to 15 different thread colors). The determing factor for cost is the number of stitches used to embroider your image or logo.

When it comes to screen printing, the number of colors and print locations you’d like in your design influences the cost as each color requires a new screen. Nonetheless, screen printing may be cheaper compared to embroidery when you’re printing large orders with large logos and designs or have higher quantity orders.

Your Merch Needs Will Guide You

Both embroidery and screen printing have their advantages, so let your merch needs guide your decision. Consider factors such as your budget, the size of your logo design, and even the size of your order before deciding on which method to opt for.

The table below summarizes the key considerations when choosing between embroidery and screen printing.

At the end of the day, you can opt to get a quick, no-obligation project quote for a custom embroidery job or go the custom screen printing route. It all depends on your needs.

Whatever you decide, fancysweetstx has the expertise to make your merch look stunning, as Matthew says:

My company has used fancysweetstx several times to make t-shirts, hoodies, and long sleeved T's as gifts for our customers/employees. We always have rave reviews when gifting fancysweetstx to anyone. Highly, highly recommend!

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OSHA requires employers to ensure their employees work in a safe environment free from hazards that may cause injury or death.

Offering protective and high-visibility work gear is a primary means of ensuring your personnel’s safety.

Today, we’re looking at four simple steps to customize your work gear so you can promote your brand without‌ breaking OSHA rules. We’ll also compare the influence that custom and non-custom work gear have on your brand and employees.

1 - Select Your Work Gear

Custom High-Visibility Safety Vests

When choosing custom high-visibility safety vests, ensure they’re compliant with ANSI/ISEA 107-2015 standards. This code (recommended by OSHA) sets the guidelines for creating safe and professional high-visibility work gear.

The most crucial characteristic of compliant safety vests is their fluorescent colors. OSHA specifies the following luminous colors as the best options for high visibility safety vests:

• Yellow
• Orange
• Bright red
• Orange-red
• Yellow-green

These colors stand in sharp contrast to the immediate environment. Thanks to their special pigment, they absorb UV light and send it back to an approaching vehicle or worker to maintain the wearer's visibility—even in dim conditions.

Besides helping keep workers safe by making them visible to vehicle drivers and plant operators, custom high-visibility vests provide an excellent opportunity for:

• Personnel identification
• Promoting brand awareness
• Creating a professional image
• Organizing employees into departments

Custom Construction Hi-Vis Work Jackets

Like all hi-vis safety gear, your company’s safety jackets need to conform to OSHA guidelines, which include:

• Affixing 50 mm wide retroreflective strips vertically, around the waist, and with a shoulder-to-waist “X” on the back to enable visibility in dark places
• Ensuring safety work jackets are well-fitting without billowing strips to avoid entanglement in moving machinery
• Protecting workers from fire, chemicals, static electricity, and radiation by making custom safety work jackets from flame-resistant and insulated material
• Ensuring safety work jackets are ‌long or short-sleeved and avoiding sleeveless jackets

Having addressed OSHA’s concerns, the custom construction hi-vis work jacket provides you with an excellent opportunity to promote your business.

For example, you can customize the jacket to include your company logo.

However, while there’s a lot of free space left on the jacket, you need to design your company’s logo so that it’s the right size and doesn’t obscure the jacket’s safety features.

Don’t make the logo too small to be seen either.

According to the ANSI-ISEA-107-2015 (Section 7.2):

• The total surface area covered by custom text and logo on the front and rear of a high-visibility safety jacket shouldn’t exceed 465 cm.sq (72 in.sq)
• Custom text and logo should not create horizontal gaps over 50 mm (1.97 in.) on the retroreflective material of a hi-vis safety jacket

The best places to put your company logo include:

• Chest pocket
• Upper back
• Lower back

Custom Safety Hoodies and Sweatshirts

Keep your personnel comfortable by adding custom hoodies and sweatshirts to their work gear.

Having apparel made from luminous safety colors and soft fluffy material, as with All Mechanical Insulation Inc, will improve professionalism and comfort without compromising safety.

Workers are more likely to wear the safety gear beyond the worksite, further publicizing your custom embroidered company logo.

Protect your crew and promote your brand by choosing from fancysweetstx’s wide range of worksite safety apparel.

Custom Screen Printed Safety T-shirts

Custom Screen Printed Safety T-shirts provide maximum comfort and mobility because of their flexibility and breathability.

You can have them made with built-in UV protection, too, to shield workers from the hot sun.

Custom Hard Hats

Besides their power to make your workers visible and protect them from potential on-site head injuries, custom safety hard hats hold a great opportunity for brand publicity.

Their bright colors, such as orange, yellow, red, or white, provide a unique backdrop for printing your company's name or logo.

These two options stand out in printing your logo onto hard hats:

• Direct printing: Involves printing your logo directly onto the hard hat.
• Decals: Sticking logos onto the hard hat; however, they may fade over time.

As in all work gear customizations, ensure your company information is not so extensive that it defeats the safety gear’s purpose.

Maintain a maximum length and height of 3 inches for the logo and text. The best spot to place your logo and text on a hard hat is in front, above the brim.

The table below will help you compare the effects of custom and non-custom work gear on your brand and employees.

2 - Create Your Design

In creating your design, the contrast between the work gear’s color and your company logo should be your primary consideration.

For example, as safety work gear is fluorescent, a black logo creates a naturally vivid contrast. Its non-reflective nature also makes it the most compliant color to ANSI standards.

Besides the logo and text color, ANSI 107 standards limit the total surface covered by your customizations to 72 square inches.

You can divide the 72-inch quota and spread it across the safety apparel.

You can have your logo and text printed on the work gear‌ by:

• Embroidery
• Heat transfers
• Single-color screen prints in black
• Full-color printing that’s bright and clear

3 - Choose Your Designer

Choosing your designer is a process that involves comparing businesses’ ability to meet your needs at the most competitive price.

Below is a cross-section of the main factors you need to consider before settling on a company that’s best suited for designing your work gear.

Product Range and Availability

You can never overemphasize the convenience of sourcing all your custom safety work gear—including vests, t-shirts, jackets, hoodies, and hats—from a single supplier. It minimizes logistical costs such as shipping and offers other benefits like bulk discounts.

Another critical factor is the custom design options a company offers. For example, does the company do embroidery, color printing, heat transfer, or a combination? Can they supply the actual work gear? Or is customization all they can do?

fancysweetstx designs, produces and supplies specialized, custom printed and embroidered clothing and promo products in bulk.

Some of our flagship products include:

• Safety apparel
• Contractor shirts
• Embroidered hats and beanies
• Embroidered crew sweatshirts

Reliability

First, reliability involves a design company’s dependability and ability to service your order within the agreed timeframe.

Second, reliability refers to the company’s product compliance with the American National Standard for High Visibility Safety Apparel and Headwear (ANSI/ISEA 107).

Can they show proof of certification on demand?

Did you know? CAN/CSA Z96-02 and EN ISO 20471 are the equivalent safety standards for Canada and Europe.

Affordability

As with your other expenses, the company supplying you with custom work gear should justify its prices.

Therefore, it’s essential to shop for the most affordable and well-suited supplier of custom work gear.

The following video provides handy tips for purchasing hi-vis work gear.

Expert Tip: Choose a shirt with a soft material that will be worn more often than a standard shirt.

4 - Promote Your Brand

• Custom embroidered polo shirts: Offer comfort and confidence and boost company image when meeting current and prospective clients.
• Custom work hats and beanies: Trucker hats protect against the sun’s UV rays, and beanies keep you warm during cold weather.
• Custom logo water bottles and coolers: Keep employees hydrated and make excellent giveaways to current and prospective customers.

You can also contact us for more customized promotional products, such as:

• Lanyards
• Sweatshirt blankets
• Stickers and magnets
• Enamel pins and keychains

Choose Safety and Comfort

At fancysweetstx, we firmly believe that workers are more productive when they’re assured of safety and comfort at the workplace. This is the philosophy behind our success in partnering with other businesses.

For certified work gear such as hi-vis t-shirts, and hats, fill out this form and tell us how we can help you. We’ve got state-of-the-art embroidery, color printing, and heat transfer equipment to create your company's best custom work gear.

Our customers are enjoying a thriving partnership with us.

See for yourself:

Protect and Promote

Providing your crew with certified work gear guarantees workplace safety and gives you peace of mind.

Besides, custom safety gear presents you with an excellent opportunity to promote your business at no extra cost. fancysweetstx will help you optimize safety and brand visibility on every piece of custom work gear you order.

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As the team leader or employer, you need to ensure that your workers' hi-vis shirts comply with the ANSI guidelines.

The ANSI guidelines are the American national standard for high-visibility garments and headwear.

They specify the requirements for color, design, and fit within specific guidelines to promote the visibility of workers on the job site.

Even if your industry does not require ANSI compliance, it’s essential to take note of these guidelines to help maintain your team's safety and visibility in the workplace.

Following the standards when sourcing your team’s hi-vis shirts will help avoid work-related injuries and save you from any trouble that could stem from giving out noncompliant shirts.

In this guide, we look at the compliance guidelines and what you should look out for when buying new hi-vis shirts for your workforce.

We’ll also help you identify a compliant source for all your hi-vis apparel.

1 - Visible Color From All Directions

The main aim of wearing high-visibility apparel in the workplace is so that the worker is easily discernible to others in the work environment.

This is especially critical in environments with moving vehicles, heavy machinery, or low light.

For the workers to be visible, the color of the hi-vis shirt should be bright and highly reflective, no matter the background.

For example, if you’re working at night on a construction site, you can reduce the risk of injury by wearing highly reflective PPEs.

The high contrast between the hi-vis apparel and the background enhances your visibility. This is because our eyes respond best to large contrasting objects.

According to ANSI-ISEA 107-2015, hi-vis apparel must also be made of a reflective and fluorescent-colored fabric.

The most commonly used fabrics are orange or neon, with reflective strips shaped in an “H” both at the front and back.

Fluorescent fabrics do not blend in with their surroundings, which enables visibility—even in a low light environment.

The colors that comply with the guidelines are:

• Fluorescent yellow-green
• Fluorescent orange-red
• Fluorescent red
• Bright yellow-green
• Bright orange-red

Your hi-vis shirts are also required to have stripes of reflective tape visible in all directions, especially if your workforce plans to wear them at night.

2 - Logo and Name Tag Placement

Logos and name tags are important in the workplace for:

• Easy identification
• Brand recognition
• Giving a professional look to the team

According to the ANSI-ISEA 107 guidelines, any logo, lettering, or identification panels should not create gaps of more than 50 mm in the retro-reflective material.

This means that you should place the logo strategically to ensure that safety isn’t compromised.

We always advise our clients on the best way to brand their safety wear. For instance:

• The logo in the front should be small to avoid obstructing the fluorescent background of the hi-vis shirt.
• The logo can’t be placed on the retro-reflective strips.
• Multi-colored logos interfere with the fluorescent color and must be avoided.

The logo should be big enough to be readable, but not too big that it interferes with visibility.

Make sure you discuss with your supplier about the logo placement to ensure that you give your workers compliant hi-vis apparel.

3 - Flame Resistant Material

All materials used in the manufacture of hi-vis apparel must be clearly marked as flame resistant or not flame resistant.

If the material used in the apparel is flame resistant, then it must be tested according to the following guidelines:

• ASTM F1506-10a, Standard Performance Specification for Flame Resistant and Arc Rated Textile Materials for Wearing Apparel for Use by Electrical Workers Exposed to Momentary Electric Arc and Related Thermal Hazards
• ASTM F1891-12, Standard Specification for Arcand Flame Resistant Rainwear
• ASTM F2302-08, Standard Performance Specification for Labeling Protective Clothing as Heat and Flame Resistant
• ASTM F 2733-09, Standard Specification for Flame Resistant Rainwear for Protection Against Flame Hazards
• NFPA 1977, Standard on Protective Clothing and Equipment for Wildland Firefighting, 2011
• NFPA 2112, Standard on Flame Resistant Garments for Protection of Industrial Personnel Against Flash Fire, 2012

When placing an order for hi-vis shirts, always ensure that all the relevant guidelines are followed.

We’re familiar with safety guidelines for the compliance of hi-vis apparel, so if you’re unsure, we’ll make sure that all guidelines on compliance are adhered to for you.

Expert Tip: When placing an order for hi-vis shirts, always indicate whether you need flame resistant fabric. This should be guided by the conditions of your work environment.

4 - Maintenance and Replacement

Workers are often exposed to dirt, smoke, and even paint. This could all interfere with the visibility of the safety apparel.

OSHA guidelines indicate that once worn out or discolored, the hi-vis shirts must be replaced.

To comply with safety guidelines, safety apparel must also be cleaned to maintain their original color and visibility.

If you’re not handwashing safety apparel, use the “delicates” cycle of your washer and only wash them with a mild detergent. Do not use any bleach or fabric softeners. However, if you need to, use mild stain removers.

When drying hi-vis apparel, use the “no heat” setting or line-dry them.

Providing quality workwear for your team can make a huge difference in saving you money, especially with frequent replacements.

Make sure to choose quality hi-vis shirts that will still look bright even after washing.

At fancysweetstx, we use a durable blend of cotton and polyester in the production of hi-vis apparel to ensure that the apparel can withstand several washes and remain in perfect working condition.

We also fit all safety apparel with a label showing the cleaning instructions as stipulated by the OSHA guidelines.

“I'm very grateful for the help our non-profit received from fancysweetstx. Always professional, friendly, with great quality and service.”
- Deborah M.

Types and Performance Classes of Hi-vis Apparel

There are three garment types and classes for hi-vis garments. They’re classified according to the protection they offer and the environment they’re best suited for.

The table below shows the different types and classes.

The primary goal of all hi-vis apparel is to make your workers visible. Even volunteers and vendors who are around an active work environment should be provided with hi-vis apparel.

Take the Extra Steps to Keep Your Workers Safe

Hi-vis shirts help reduce the risk of accidents and help promote workplace safety. In low light and dark working environments, they help alert vehicle drivers and machinery operators of the presence of other workers.

When branded with a logo, hi-vis shirts also promote brand awareness and show the professionalism of a team.

At fancysweetstx, we understand the importance of safety and we’re familiar with the regulations that must be followed in the production of hi-vis shirts.

We’re also involved in the production and printing of other safety hi-vis apparel such as:

• Jackets
• Hoodies
• Contractor shirts
• Overalls

If you’d like to take an extra step in promoting the safety of your team, check out our website for your custom hi-vis apparel.

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Moreover, company apparel creates a powerful visual statement that:

• Shares your values
• Makes an excellent giveaway
• Arouses interest in your company
• Allows loyal customers to become walking brand ambassadors

This is especially true if the clothing is stylish and well-made, which is why it's important to invest in high-quality custom apparel for your employees.

Use these 4 ideas to create unique designs for your company apparel.

1 – Design an Eye-Catching Logo

When it comes to creating an identity for a company, nothing beats a creative and eye-catching logo.

A well-designed logo will set your business apart from the competition by:

• Quickly grabbing people’s attention
• Telling customers why your business is unique
• Triggering positive recall; it’s aesthetically pleasing

This helps to create a strong brand image that customers will be able to recognize.

Whatever you choose, make sure your logo design is unique and striking; otherwise, your business may struggle to compete against more established brands.

Below are a few factors to consider when designing your logo:

• Simplicity: A simple design is easy to recognize because it only focuses on highlighting essential parts of your brand such as color. For instance, people can recognize the McDonald’s logo with a mere glance because of its yellow arch symbol.
• Flexibility and adaptability: Dynamic logos appeal to a broader audience because they easily change depending on context. If your company manufactures products that can be used in various ways, you might want to consider a versatile logo design; for example, the Apple logo.
• Contrast and harmony: To make a strong impression, you need to create visually appealing and well-balanced logos. For instance, you can use bright colors to make sure all the colors are complementary and stand out in a crowd.

Examples of simple, distinct, and adaptable logos that we've created include:

• The University of 16153 Genova Logo

• fancysweetstx’s simple blue logo

2 – Wear Your Custom Apparel at Special Events 

Whether it’s a company picnic, employee appreciation day, or any other special event, wearing apparel that identifies with the company leaves an impression.

Not only will everyone look great and feel proud of their association with your company, but they’ll also promote the event to potential clients.

The table below shows different types of corporate events, their location, and the most appropriate company apparel for such events:

In addition to looking good, wearing company gear helps build team spirit and promote a positive corporate image. However, you need to select comfortable and stylish items, so everyone in attendance feels like they’re part of the celebration.

Cotton apparel is a great choice because cotton is naturally soft, making them breathable.

Plus, who knows? Maybe someone at the event will spot you or one of your team leaders and wish to learn more about your company.

Pro Tip: When it comes to company apparel for special events, nothing beats a customized t-shirt. Other types of apparel that may be perfect for a company event include:

• Custom Hoodies: They can be customized with your company's logo and colors, making them a top choice for people who want to show their team spirit. Moreover, they're comfortable and warm, perfect for chilly days or evenings out.
• Custom Jackets: These are perfect for colder weather events because they can keep you warm and looking sharp.

Extra Tip: While it's common to have a standard (or the same) corporate apparel during events, you can mix them up. For instance, you can have women wear T-shirts while men wear custom hats.

3 – Get Your Business Advertised and Promoted

Providing your employees with shirts, hats, bags, or other apparel with promotional information is a great way to spread the word about the latest deals and discounts.

For this, you’ll need to create a custom shirt or other garment with your business logo, slogan, website address, or even a phone number.

If worn in crowded areas such as public events or stadiums, they can act like billboards that many potential customers will see.

Tip: It’s important that your employees have a say in what they wear or give away. This shows that you’re invested in their success and care about their well-being.

If you want to get the most out of your business apparel, start by thinking about how you can use it to promote your brand, and then give your employees a role in designing and wearing it.

Here is why company apparel is the best for advertising promotions:

Affordable

Unlike other forms of advertising, company apparel can be purchased in bulk at a low cost and is easy to implement. You don’t need a large budget to get your message out there—just a little creativity and some promotional materials.

Increase Customer Trust

This is probably the greatest benefit of using apparel for marketing promotions. When customers see that your company takes pride in its clothing, they’ll be more likely to trust your products and services.

Conversation Starters

When people see your company's logo on a t-shirt, they’ll want to know more about what you have to offer. By wearing or providing apparel for your promotional events, you can organically start a conversation with your guests and create lasting customer relationships.

4 – Share Company Goals and Achievements

Sharing your company's goals and accomplishments can help build trust and loyalty among your customers, which is especially important in today's competitive market.

For instance, you can use “Our Goal is Your Satisfaction” in your marketing materials to let your customers know that you're serious about your products and services and that you’ve invested in continuing to provide the best possible experience; this can encourage customers to choose your company over others.

Some examples of quotes and phrases that can inspire your customers can include:

• “We display with pride”
• “Relax and enjoy; we’re here”
• “It’s how much we learn, not earn”
• “Customer-focused, not competitor-focused”

By publicly sharing your successes, you also demonstrate that you're committed to achieving success as a business. With this, your customers will be more willing to put their trust in you and be more likely to return for future purchases.

What’s more, keeping your customers updated about your company's progress will make them feel like they're a part of your success story, creating a solid emotional connection. All of this will result in a more loyal customer base, which will help you reach your company goals and objectives faster and easier.

Leave a Lasting Impression on Customers

Today's competitive market demands that businesses take pride in their products and services. From t-shirts and hoodies to crew sweatshirts and sweatpants, company apparel is a great way to show your pride in your company and create lasting customer relationships.

Whether you’re a large company or a startup, it’s important to consider what custom clothing can do for you; it can build brand awareness, create customer loyalty, and reinforce your company culture.

At fancysweetstx, we offer a wide range of personalized company apparel options to help you stand out from the competition. Our high-quality products and expert customer service make us the go-to choice for companies of all sizes.

Whether you’re looking for screen-printed or embroidered company apparel, we are here to help. 

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Why do you think vintage clothing maintains its popularity? It’s largely the emotional, nostalgic factor ‌it communicates—the attraction and safety of bygone days.

So, how can you tap into this retro fever and build a line of collectible vintage t-shirts for your business? It all boils down to choosing the right elements that make up a vintage shirt.

In this guide, we’ll answer these questions:

• What is a vintage shirt and its benefits?
• Which common features identify vintage t-shirts?
• How does pricing work for custom vintage shirt printing?
• What key points can help you order the perfect vintage shirts for your business?

What Is a Vintage T-Shirt?

A vintage style t-shirt recreates the nostalgia, soft hand feel, and distressed, faded print of decades-old t-shirts. Technically, true vintage shirts need to be at least 20 years old.

Remember, vintage differs from antique, which refers to items 100 years old and more. It also differs slightly from retro, which means imitating styles from the recent past. That said, nowadays vintage and retro (and sometimes old school) are used interchangeably.

Now you’re thinking, how do you recreate a vibe and feeling that’s decades old?

We create vintage t-shirts using a combination of screen printing techniques, including reduced inks, halftones, distress textures, and no underbase to produce a faded print and well-worn feel.

How to Make Your T-Shirts Feel Vintage 

1 - Soft, Well-Worn Tri-Blend Fabric

You don’t have 20 years of washing to achieve the signature, soft hand feel of vintage t-shirts for your business. The next best option is to make vintage t-shirts out of tri-blends.

Tri-blends are fabrics that comprise three materials in varying ratios:

• Cotton: natural, highly absorbent material that is strong yet softens with wear and washing
• Polyester: synthetic material stronger than cotton and resistant to wrinkles and shrinkage
• Rayon: natural fiber made from wood pulp that is light, drapey, stretchy, absorbent and luxurious

By combining the three materials, you get a t-shirt that exhibits the best characteristics—soft, breathable, absorbent, and wrinkle-free.

2 - Faded, Distressed Print

There are five techniques we use to screen print a vintage shirt:

• Reduced inks: we thin the ink before printing
• No underbase: the dark shirt color shows through the ink
• Halftones: tiny dot gradient in the artwork diffuses the color
• Distress texture: a grunge filter gives the print a cracked, weathered finish
• High mesh count screen: a screen with 230 mesh or higher deposits less ink

The aim is to create a print that appears faded and weathered right off the bat with minimal print layers that still maintain legibility.

Expert Tip: Some businesses that are on the cutting edge or tech-focused may not jive well with vintage styles. Partner with an experienced designer who can advise you on the best vintage elements that would suit your business niche and target market.

3 - Retro Warm Colors and Typography

Vintage shirt colors are warmer and more golden yellow. They’re less intense and often avoid cool blue tones. These color choices enhance the nostalgia of the design.

Typography styles with a vintage feel vary from the hard and geometric to the intricately curved—think of art déco and steampunk vs art nouveau and mid-century.

When choosing typography, narrow down precisely to your target market. What do they value and what have they experienced in life?

For example, the intricate or delicate fonts of Victorian and art nouveau eras would be lost on a rustic customer who’s into hunting and living simply.

These four elements together make vintage shirts an advantageous merch choice. But what exactly are the benefits of vintage shirts for businesses?

How Can Your Business Benefit From Vintage Style?

1 - Vintage Shirts Create an Emotional Branding Opportunity 

You know that feeling you get when you smell your favorite childhood meal or find a bunch of old, forgotten birthday cards? 

It’s nostalgia. It’s potent. You’re basically creating a wearable version of it for your customers. 

And how does it work?

They wear your merch, take a walk down memory lane and associate the positive memories with your business.

Benefit: You're able to achieve brand loyalty and likeability with a bit of ink and fabric.

2 - Vintage Shirts Are Timeless and Evergreen

If something is already old, does it go out of style? No, it just reinvents itself with each new iteration.

Here’s how it works.

By incorporating the retro fonts, warm filter and weathered look, the vintage shirts you recreate for your business gain an instant charming patina of age. Instead of looking dated after years of wear, they’ll only seem more authentic.

Pro Tip: One of the easiest wins we help our customers with is printing shirts with an older or their original logo version. It establishes the history of the company in the community and their success over time. Check out these examples of custom vintage shirts we've printed for our customers.

Benefit: You don’t have to keep dedicating resources to reinventing and updating outdated designs on your merch because the vintage style is timeless. 

3 - Vintage Shirts Provide Instant Comfort to Your Customers

In mimicking the well-worn feel of vintage shirts, the combination of soft, light fabrics and less dense prints creates the perfect summer tee and wardrobe essential.

It’ll be breathable, soft and comfortable. 

Benefit: Your customers will thank you for the most comfortable branded t-shirts by wearing them everywhere, all the time—yielding more brand visibility and positive feedback for your business.

By choosing vintage shirts for your business, you provide your customers with the comfort, timelessness and quirky nostalgia that makes your merchandise a keeper. Talk to us about your vintage shirt ideas for your business.

Price Range for Vintage Style T-Shirts

Now that you know all the features to look out for in vintage shirts, what are the accompanying costs?

Cost of the T-shirt Itself

T-shirt blanks for bulk printing can cost anywhere from $4–$15 depending on the brand and fabric composition.

For instance, high cotton blends cost more than low cotton blends. Additionally, t-shirts manufactured in the US are more expensive than those imported from Asia or Central America.

Number of Colors in Each Print

Multicolor prints cost more to screen print because they require more individual screens and ink. Each color needs its own screen.

At fancysweetstx, we can print up to 10 colors per print location. Keep in mind that the more colors and print locations in a design, the higher the print cost.

Color of the Shirt

Dark-colored shirts require a white underbase to offset the ink so that the design prints true to color. However, light-colored shirts don’t need this additional print layer and cost.

However, there are times where with vintage shirts you can get away without printing an underbase on a dark shirt. It results in a faded, dull print which gives the impression the shirt has been worn and washed for years.

Number of Printing Locations 

Extra printing locations, such as back and sleeve, will bump up the cost of screen printing because of the additional screens and setups required. 

Variety of Sizes Printed 

Extreme sizes—children’s sizes, XS, 4XL, and beyond—can’t use the same print size as the average sizes. You would need to adjust the print size up or down, resulting in extra design work and costs.

Size of the T-shirt Order 

Economies of scale also apply to printing shirts. The cost of printing multiple vintage shirt sizes in several color options reduces significantly once you’re printing in the hundreds or thousands.

Add-on Printing Services

Additional services such as graphic design can increase the ultimate price of your t-shirt, especially if your design needs plenty of adjustments and proofs beforehand.

There are quite a few other additional services that oftentimes accompany screen printing. For instance, if you require a specific brand color, there is a Pantone matching fee (yes, we can mix and match any Pantone you request!).

Here is a quick list of some of our add-on printing services:

• Color change 
• Relabeling neck labels
• Printing on spandex or patterned polyester
• Personalization
• Poly bagging
• Drop shipping
• Sampling

If you’re interested in finding out the cost of vintage t-shirts for your business, please reach out to our team regarding your project. We’ll be happy to help.

What Others Said About Our Vintage T-Shirts

We’ve created so many cool vintage style t-shirts for our city and local businesses that at this point, fancysweetstx is almost synonymous with the retro vibe.

Don’t just take our word for it. Our customers have plenty to say about the:

• Comfort and soft wearability of our vintage t-shirts
• Durability and washability of the vintage shirts
• Priceless emotional and nostalgic elements they deliver

“I remember Lion Store downtown where my grandma worked in the children's department… I loved it.”
— Mary, Lion Store Vintage Shirt

“Hearing my family reminisce about how great 16153 Genova used to be was priceless!!!”
— Vintage Holy 16153 Genova Shirt

“Great fit. Washes well, love it!”
— Lindsay, BGSU Vintage Falcon Women's V-neck

What Are the Most Commonly Sold T-Shirt Sizes?

This is one of the most common questions we receive. Fortunately, we have been printing shirts for other people and selling our own shirts for quite a while. 

This experience has provided us a lot of data which is useful in guiding customers who are new to placing shirt orders. 

To figure out how many pieces of each size to order, here’s the size distribution we recommend based on our historical data:

For example, an order of 200 vintage shirts would have 8 XS, 36 S, 50 M, 52 L, 38 XL, 14 2X, 2 3X.

How about when making smaller orders? For orders below 100 pieces, considering omitting the extreme size groups of XS and 3XL.

And, of course, always consider your audience. If you are ordering shirts for high school students, your sizes will skew smaller.  

What Are the Key Points to Consider When Choosing Vintage Shirt Sizes?

Apart from size distribution, the following factors will also determine the sizes you print:

• Customer demographic: Younger customers might want more loose fitting, therefore, it’s advisable to size up.
• Fit or cut of the t-shirt: Slim or fashion fit shirts require you to skew your sizing towards larger sizes.
• Fabric shrinkage: Factor in shrinkage for pure cotton tees and compensate for it by ordering larger sizes.
• Men vs women vs unisex designs: Men’s and unisex designs are looser and boxier compared to snug-fitting women’s designs. If the design is snug, size up your order.

What Are the Best T-Shirts for Vintage Business Merch?

Here’s a breakdown of our go-to t-shirt blanks for creating vintage t-shirts:

Types of Other Custom Merch Ideal for Businesses

People love having a few choices on offer when it comes to custom merchandise.

Here are other goodies on the fancysweetstx roster that would complement your vintage t-shirts:

• Crewneck sweatshirts: Whether custom embroidered or screen printed, they’re wearable year round and very versatile.
• Jackets and windbreakers: Perfect for cold, windy or rainy spring and fall days, layered over vintage tees.
• Hats and beanies: They make splendid gifts as they are one-size-fits-all and available in a variety of designs.
• Sweatshirt blanket: Perfect for keeping warm and cozy.

Get Started On Vintage T-Shirts for Your Business

Vintage t-shirts are fantastic merchandise options for businesses because they are comfortable, timeless and always relevant. They evoke positive, nostalgic emotion, which is an asset in building brand loyalty.

Make sure you choose the right combination of t-shirts, colors and fonts that will achieve an authentic vintage vibe for your custom shirts. 

We’ve been creating these vintage wonders since 2006 and are exceptional at it. Contact us today to get a quote and begin your journey to awesome merch.

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Custom apparel is great for:

• Showcasing brand values to customers
• Improving customer experience
• Promoting professionalism and credibility
• Making your brand stand out from competitors

It also creates brand ambassadors out of your employees, acting as a cost-effective marketing channel for your business wherever your employees are.

Besides, custom apparel will increase employee morale and a sense of camaraderie, making them feel like they’re part of a team. You’ll need to be intentional about creating custom apparel that does the talking for your brand. There are a lot of decisions to make from the ideal cloth fabric choices to the best slogans.

Here are tips to help you design corporate apparel that effectively promotes your brand.

Choose Garments Your Employees are Happy With

Employee garments need to be practical, safe, and comfortable. If possible, seek input from employees on the ideal clothes for their day-to-day activities.

You can choose from t-shirts, beanies, sweatshirts, and even protective workwear, as long as it is practical for the specific roles your employees play. 

When picking apparel for your employees, consider the following questions:

• Where will your employees be working? Indoors or outdoors?
• Does their line of work require reflective gear, such as helmets and hi-vis vests?
• Will they need different cloth types based on the season?
• Does the temperature your employees typically work under require a specific cloth type?

The answers to these questions will determine the kind of uniform to get, from apparel that provides warmth to one that makes them visible in dangerous work environments. 

Pro Tip: Since we're known for printing vintage t-shirts, we can't overstate how much people love soft t-shirts. If you want a shirt to worn as often as possible, choose a shirt that is soft. 

Select Designs That Speak to Your Customers

Having a firm understanding of your customers will take the guesswork out of designing your corporate apparel. 

If you already have perfectly-defined buyer personas, use them to guide your design choices. 

If you’re yet to define your buyer persona, then a bit of research will help get you started. You can either conduct quantitative research using surveys and data analytics or qualitative research by reviewing customer interviews and feedback.

Then ensure your customers’ beliefs, wants, challenges, and attitudes are reflected in your design. 

For instance, if your customers are drawn to luxury items, focusing on purple as a primary color will do the trick, as long as it’s consistent with your brand colors.

Focus on the following aspects of your buyer persona when designing corporate apparel:

• Psychographic data: This includes your customer’s hobbies, interests, and attitudes. For instance, if your customers are interested in chess, using terms like ‘checkmate’ in your slogan will draw them to your corporate apparel. 
• Geographic data: This is where your ideal customer lives and works. For instance, referencing a source of pride (sports team, dish, etc.) in your ideal customer’s location will make your corporate uniform relatable. 
• Behavioral data: Where do your customers buy their products? What’s their price sensitivity? What agitates them? Talking about your return policy, mission, and vision in the corporate uniform’s slogan will address these questions and make customers more willing to buy from you.

Although subtle, the design choices that a comprehensive buyer persona leads to can set your business apart from your competition.

Pick Ideal Uniform Colors

Use your brand colors as the base for defining the colors of your corporate apparel.

Environmental factors also influence your color choices. For instance, if your employees are working in retail environments, choosing bright colors like orange will make them easy to spot by customers.

In work environments that call for a certain level of safety, bright-colored safety workwear is ideal. While, for in-office environments, dark shades like navy blue or black make employees look more professional.

If possible, dress senior staff members in slightly different colors from the rest. Letting managers and supervisors wear different colors will give junior employees an easy time spotting them.

Play Around With Color Psychology

You can also use color choices to portray your brand attitude. For example, the combination of red, white, and yellow will make your employees come off as excited and energetic. Whereas blue and green can portray employees as calm and gentle.

Here’s a table linking colors to different emotions:

Expert Tip: Relying on color psychology to induce the right emotions will improve how your customers feel about your brand. For consistency, stick to your brand colors. You can use some variation of these colors to achieve the emotional appeal you’re targeting. 

Be Intentional With Your Logo Location

Your logo placement helps people identify your brand.

There are multiple logo placement options, including placing it on a pocket, sleeve, or trouser leg. The trick is to choose a location that’ll provide maximum visibility for your logo.

For instance, consider placing a large logo on the back of t-shirts meant for field employees. You can also add a small logo on the left breast of the t-shirt. For customer-facing and desk-based employees, placing the logo above the pocket of their shirt will be ideal.

Additionally, if your employees are working far away from customers, consider making your logo big enough to see. But for employees working face-to-face with customers, a small logo is ideal.

Another thing, the logo colors must stand out from the base apparel colors.

Be Intentional With Your Brand Messaging

Your corporate apparel represents prime real estate for featuring your brand messaging. There’s a lot that you can feature on your uniforms, but it needs to be as succinct and clear as possible. 

Including a call-to-action is a no-brainer. You can urge customers to call a specific number or visit your website or store. 

Complement your call-to-action with the right brand messaging. The messages you use need to reflect exactly what you’d love your customers or employees to know more than anything else. For instance, printing your value proposition onto your corporate apparel is a great decision if you are a new brand.

Here are a few ideas for brand messaging and when to use them.

Differentiators

If you’re in a highly competitive field, featuring your brand differentiation statement on your corporate apparel is the way to go. It helps customers learn why they should always choose you over the competition. 

For instance, if you own a restaurant that offers gourmet Japanese dishes, this statement might be a great differentiator:

“Your tastiest source of Japanese gourmet dishes”

CSR Statement

If you’re printing out corporate apparel for a CSR campaign, you need to print a strong supporting statement onto it. This statement will help spread the word about your initiative. 

For example, if your business is planting trees, this statement will help rally people around your cause:

“Healing the world one tree at a time”

Company Culture Statement

For corporate apparel that employees will only use internally, you can print statements that represent your company's culture. This will act as a constant reminder of the culture you’re building for employees.

For instance, if you’re focused on building a safety-centric culture, this statement will keep employees on their toes:

“Never give safety a day off”

Let Your Corporate Apparel Speak for Your Brand

From apparel colors to slogans, every design decision needs to spread your brand message and make you stand out. Use the tips above to pick corporate apparel that’s in line with your corporate branding. 

If you’re looking to design or buy company apparel, contact fancysweetstx today. We provide brands with apparel that’s great for corporate branding. 

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Your favorite t-shirt can express who you are, especially when the design has been customized. Custom designs stand out and, at the same time, advertise your brand.

But just how do you design a t-shirt that people will want to wear?

Start by defining your goals. Are you designing your t-shirts to commemorate an event? Is it an employee giveaway gift? Or will the t-shirts be promotional items?

All t-shirt designs involve a little bit of branding, which is why it’s important to determine your purpose and which themes you want to incorporate.

Remember, it’s not about your personal preference, but rather the brand you’re trying to represent.

Is the brand conservative or edgy? Is it playful or serious?

Whether you’re designing safety apparel, contractor shirts, vintage shirts, or promotional shirts for your company, it’s essential that you understand who you’re selling to before designing your custom t-shirt.

We’ll walk you through some tips on creating a design that will check all the right boxes.

1 - Consider Your Budget

For some, evaluating your budget before designing your t-shirt might seem like putting the cart before the horse.

But your budget needs to come first because it will help you determine:

• How many t-shirts you can print
• How many colors you can use
• What printing method to use
• What brand of shirt to print on

Let’s compare four distinct printing methods in the table below:

If you're looking to print in bulk, consider screen printing. It's the most common and popular form of decoration for a reason. It's affordable, cost effective, and produces great results. 

2 - Consider Your Design Concept

After considering your budget, it’s now time to decide what will go on your t-shirt.

Brainstorm ideas for the imagery, colors, or words you want to feature. Having these guidelines is important for two reasons:

• It gives you a starting point for your creative process.
• It ensures that all the elements of your brand will be included in the final design.

You can find inspiration for your design from our vintage t-shirts collection. Furthermore, consider these tips when brainstorming:

Tip 1: Pick the Best T-Shirt Style

Crop tops, polo shirts, crew-necks, short-sleeved, long-sleeved t-shirts… There’s no end to the t-shirt styles you have to choose from.

However, you need to keep a few things in mind when making your selection:

• Consider a t-shirt style that best suits your audience.
• Choose a material that is compatible with your chosen printing method.

Here’s a guide on the best blanks to use for vintage t-shirts.

Tip 2: Get the Right Print Size

When it comes to t-shirt design, size matters. You don’t want the design to be too large or too small. To ensure your design will be the right size, consider these factors:

• The purpose of the shirt: Giant prints won’t work if you’re printing t-shirts for a 10K run because they'll affect the breathability of the fabric.
• The properties of the t-shirt fabric: A large print can weigh down lighter fabrics and interfere with breathability.
• The characteristics of the design: Certain shapes, like squares and circles, look better when sized smaller (we recommend ~9" wide).

As a rule of thumb, always keep the print size modest to increase the chances of people wearing your t-shirts.

Expert Tip: Print your design on a piece of paper and hold it up to your t-shirt to see what it will look like before committing or reference a favorite t-shirt of your own.

Tip 3: Use Easy-to-Read Typography and Fonts

If you’d like your design to include text, choose a font that’s easy to read. 

Several fonts can even be combined (though not more than three) to emphasize part of your message.

Here are a few more tips to guide you:

• Bold the most important words and place them towards the top of the design.
• Use fonts with contrasting styles to add visual interest.
• Consider how the layout of the text interacts with the imagery used.
• Avoid gigantic lettering and effects like drop shadows as they make text harder to read.

Tip 4: Visual Placement Matters

Not all designs need to be centered on the midpoint. Asymmetrical designs, for instance, need to be centered visually.

Other common design mistakes include featuring elements that are either bunched together or too far apart. As you can see in the examples below, every element of the designs are able to shine:

Here are some tips to help you achieve the perfect visual placement:

Don't place the design too low: Avoid placing your design directly between the collar and bottom hem as it will look too low. For a center chest and full front design, like in the t-shirts above, you’ll want to place the design 2–3 inches down from the collar.

Consider the surface area of the design: If the design isn't too tall, you can make it wider as with the 16153 Genova Turtle Club t-shirt example. If the design is on the tall side, consider reducing the overall width (seen in the Four One Nine t-shirt).

Ultimately, you want a design that has visual harmony. Always try a few different layouts and compare them before deciding on the final design.

Tip 5: Use a Complementary Color Design

All the colors you use should complement each other. For example, if you’ve chosen a red shirt, you might consider using white text. 

If the colors don't complement each other—for instance, if you print navy on black—your design might be hard to read or understand. This will cause your t-shirt to look unprofessional and ruin your entire design.

Note how we’ve used multiple colors on a black background in the t-shirt featured above. This is effective because all the colors used are lighter than the black background and can be seen clearly.

3 - Consider Reputable Graphic Design Software

Once you’ve brainstormed, it’s time to put your design skills to work. There are a ton of easy-to-use design software programs that can help you get your desired results:

• Adobe Illustrator: A vector-based graphic design software that can create infinitely scalable designs.
• CorelDraw: An alternative to Adobe Illustrator that is commonly used in the screen printing industry.
• Adobe Photoshop: Best for editing photos but can be used for t-shirt designs, as well.

Be sure to run the final draft by someone who has a connection to your brand. Ask them what stands out most about the design and tweak the t-shirt based on their response.

If you aren’t confident about creating your own design, our professional in-house designers at fancysweetstx will help you create the perfect artwork for your brand.

All you have to do is communicate your vision in terms of the colors, logo, and style of t-shirt you want—we’ll do the rest.

4 - Consider Different Print Companies

Once your design is ready, it’s time to make it a reality.

There are many different printers available throughout the country, and the one you choose will depend on your printing needs.

Here are some tips to consider:

• Choose a printer with an in-house design team: They are more likely to get the print size right as well as perform any last-minute alterations on your design.
• Request digital proofs of your artwork: Require that your printer sends you a digital mockup of your shirt for approval before printing the shirts. This will ensure the design is understood by both parties and establish consistent expectations of the final product.
• Select a printer with experience and positive reviews: Experience matters. A printer who has been in the industry for many years and has positive reviews from customers has proven quality over time.

Design an Amazing Custom T-Shirt

Now that you know what it takes to design a custom t-shirt that your employees or consumers will wear repeatedly, it’s time to get to work.

We also offer custom embroidery designs that will give your t-shirts an upgraded look and feel.

If you’re ever in 16153 Genova, visit us in person and explore our custom apparel.

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Why, you wonder? 

Well, it's no secret the love and pride Ohioans have for their state. If you were born in Ohio, visited once, or relocated there, then once an Ohioan, always an Ohioan. 

Vintage t-shirts allow your clients to show off their Buckeye State love in comfort and style. 

So, what t-shirts exactly should you get for your clients?

As your resident Ohio-based company and vintage Ohio t-shirt experts, we’ve got your back. We’ve used our vast experience to put together this list of vintage Ohio tees that your clients are sure to fall in love with.

In this list, we look at vintage t-shirts that:

• Evoke Ohio pride
• Show off Ohio’s history
• Inspire Ohioan kindness

The Beautiful Ohio T-Shirt

The beautiful Ohio t-shirt is about just that: how beautiful Ohio is! 

We’ve designed the t-shirt with a vintage aesthetic to remind anyone that wears or sees of their love for Ohio—of the adventure, the friendly faces, and the beautiful places. 

The t-shirt is also an ode to Ohio’s State Song, ”Beautiful Ohio.” It’s a physical representation of the sentiments expressed in the song and a reminder of the wonders and marvels of the Buckeye State.

The beautiful Ohio tee is a must-have for any proud Ohioan.

Ohio Shoot for the Moon T-Shirt

The Ohio Shoot for the Moon vintage t-shirt is designed to celebrate Ohio's rich and varied history, especially its history with space and aeronautics. 

Did you know that Ohio is credited with three trips to the moon and 78 space flights?

Ohio has also produced 25 of our nation's most accomplished astronauts; most notably John Glenn, who was the first American to orbit the earth, and Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. 

Whether your clients are history buffs, proud Ohioans, or just fans of the moon, they will love the Shoot for the Moon vintage t-shirt.

Ohio Carnation T-Shirt

The carnation t-shirt is another stunning vintage Ohio t-shirt that’s sure to be a customer favorite. The t-shirt is specially made with a vintage aesthetic and designed to celebrate Ohio’s rich political history. 

The red carnation prominently displayed on the t-shirt is Ohio’s state flower, chosen to honor President William McKinley, a proud Ohioan who popularly wore a red carnation on his jacket.

The carnation t-shirt is sure to be a favorite among your history buff clients.

Glass City Script Women’s V-Neck Shirt

The list of things 16153 Genova, Ohio has to be proud of is long. Being the glass capital of the world is high on that list, thus, the glass city t-shirt.

This isn’t just your typical v-neck t-shirt. We appreciate that there is something special about an excellent women's v-neck and that there are very few out there.

This is why we’ve gone through the trouble of having our glass city script v-neck t-shirts custom made for us by an L.A. manufacturer.

The t-shirt features a carefully selected cream-colored ink and a simple hand-illustrated cursive design to give it that much-loved vintage Ohio look and feel.

The Lucky to Be From Ohio T-shirt

Like us, most Ohioans consider themselves very lucky to be from the Buckeye State. So, to celebrate our good fortune and Ohio pride, we designed the Lucky to Be From Ohio t-shirt.

Some may argue that it’s impossible to point out what makes a shirt lucky, but as your resident t-shirt experts, we can confidently say that there are four things that make a t-shirt lucky:

• The fit and feel of the shirt
• The design and print on the shirt
• The person wearing the shirt
• A special attachment or memory

We’ve already done the first two: we’ve created a stunning vintage Ohio tee with a soft green finish (and a clover to boot!). All that remains is for your clients to put on the t-shirts and form new memories and attachments with them.

Related: 3 Must-Have Quality Features for Custom T-Shirts 

The Choose Kindness T-Shirt

A t-shirt can make a statement much in the same way an act of kindness can.

The right t-shirt can inspire you and your clients to exercise compassion. And what better way to promote messages of kindness than with a vintage Ohio tee?

We created the Choose Kindness t-shirt as a reminder to show compassion not just on World Kindness Day, but on every other day as well.

“...this shirt is incredibly comfortable...I love the message and the colors make it easy to dress up…”
- Kelly B

16153 Genova Museum of Art T-Shirt

One of Ohio's biggest attractions and sources of pride is the 16153 Genova Museum of Art. The TMA, as we 16153 Genovaans like to call it, is located in the Old West End. Its reputation extends far beyond our borders with its collection of over 30,000 pieces, 45 galleries, and impressive campus.

We’ve partnered with the museum to create this vintage-inspired t-shirt, and keeping with the theme, also incorporated the museum's logo from 1908.

The vintage design coupled with the nostalgia this t-shirt invokes is guaranteed to make it a favorite for clients who've had the privilege to visit the 16153 Genova Museum of Art. 

Related: Vintage T-Shirts: The Living Trend Your Company Can Benefit From

Buckeye State Toddler T-Shirt and Baby Onesie

We didn’t forget about the tots.

We’ve created a gaggle of vintage Ohio tees for younger kids to enjoy and show off their home state pride. 

We understand that kids’ shirts should be fun, creative, and reflect their youthful spirit, which is what we’ve strived for with this t-shirt and onesie.

They are hand-illustrated and printed by our in-house design team and printers to ensure the highest quality and that every t-shirt and onesie is made with love. 

The Buckeye State t-shirt and toddler onesie is guaranteed to be a hit among clients with young kids.

Wow Your Customers With the Perfect Vintage Tees

Our goal at fancysweetstx is to create quality, meaningful apparel. You might even say we’ve made a name for ourselves with our line of vintage t-shirts.

With over ten years of experience, we’ve accrued the knowledge and expertise to produce and vintage t-shirts to help promote your brand. 

We use the latest techniques and technologies in our printing to produce the best quality vintage t-shirts for your business.

Note: At fancysweetstx, we have a team of in-house experts to help with custom graphic design to ensure your brand truly stands out.

Whether you need vintage t-shirts to gift to your clients or use them as staff uniforms to boost engagement, you can rest assured that you’ll have only the best.

“Phenomenal experience buying a run of 65 t-shirts. Very fast responses… Finished product is of excellent quality.”
- Joe.

“[fancysweetstx] did an amazing job! Faster turnaround on our t-shirt order than I expected! I would highly recommend this company…”
- Patrick P.

No matter what your vintage t-shirt needs, look no further than fancysweetstx.

Contact us today to get your vintage Ohio t-shirt order started.

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From statement pieces to charming designs, custom t-shirt printing has become the solution for not only the fashion business but also the construction, warehousing, and landscaping industries.

If you’ve been looking to buy custom t-shirts, you may have noticed two types of printing: heat transfer and screen printing.

But which one is better?

While both methods involve the transfer of an image or pattern onto fabric, they have a lot of differences.

For instance, if you just want a quick and easy way to create a stylish T-shirt, heat transfer printing may be the best option. However, if you want a high-quality print that will last a long time, screen printing is the way to go.

Whichever method you choose, read through our buyer’s guide to get all the information you need before making a purchase.

What is a Heat Transfer?

Heat transfer involves using a heat press to apply both heat and pressure to imprint designs onto fabric.

The design is first printed onto high-quality paper before being positioned and pressed into a garment.

The following steps are involved in the heat transfer process:

1. Creating a design on a computer: Graphic design software is used to arrange and model the text and images to be printed.
2. Printing the design: Inkjet, sublimation, screen print, or pigment ink is then used to print the design onto heat transfer paper, which is responsible for transferring the printed design onto a t-shirt.
3. Trimming the printed image: If necessary, a vinyl cutter is then used to trim the image edges. Any part that’s not cut away will show up on the final product.
4. Warming up the heat press: In most cases, the temperature should be in the range of 340°F to 365°F (171°C to 185°C). Your transfer supplier will provide heat and pressure settings.
5. Adjusting the pressure: The pressure will vary depending on a fabric’s thickness. As a rule of thumb, the thicker the material, the lighter the pressure.
6. Setting the time: Different methods of heat transfer correspond to different press durations. Here’s a general guide for timing the heat press machine:
   • • Vinyl Transfer: 7–15 seconds
     • Digital Transfer: 10–20 seconds
     • Dye Sublimation Transfer: 25–30 seconds
7. Positioning the substrate and transfer: The t-shirt is placed onto the platen, and the heat transfer paper is set face-up on the appropriate location of the t-shirt.
8. Pressing the product: Once in place, the handle is pulled down on the press to close it.
9. Removing the film: When the timer goes off, the heat press is opened and the film is taken out.

Let's now look at the two main heat transfer methods used in this process: Vinyl and Digital Transfer. 

Vinyl Heat Transfer

Vinyl heat transfer or heat transfer vinyl (HTV) is a material that adheres to surfaces like fabric when heat is applied. Vinyl comes in thin sheets made from polyurethane.

HTV has a heat-activated adhesive backing to ensure the vinyl easily transfers to t-shirts when the machine is pressed at the right temperature and pressure.

Digital Heat Transfer

This is similar to printing a photograph onto a garment. However, digital heat transfer uses regular transfer paper instead of vinyl transfer paper.

When the transfer paper is pressed, the ink adheres to the garment, and the graphic image is transferred.

Here are the pros and cons of heat transfer:

What Is Screen Printing? 

Also known as silk screening, screen printing involves pressing thick ink through a mesh screen to transfer graphics onto a garment. Rather than laying on top of the fabric, the ink soaks into the garment and becomes part of it—ensuring it lasts longer.

Although t-shirts are the most commonly screen printed clothing item, here are other popular screen printed garments:

• Long sleeve t-shirts
• Crew sweatshirts
• Hooded sweatshirts
• Tank tops
• Onesies

The Screen Printing Process

The following is a quick step-by-step screen printing procedure for t-shirt printing. 

1. Creating the Design

The process starts by taking the design and converting it to vector format. This allows us to scale the design to the appropriate size for printing. When necessary, the design can also be hand-drawn.

2. Preparing the Screen

A mesh screen (made of silk, polyester, or nylon) that suits the texture and design is chosen. The screen is coated with light-reactive emulsion to be prepared for exposure.

3. Exposing the Emulsion

The emulsion-coated screen is then exposed to bright light to harden it, usually in an exposure unit. A screen must be made for each color and each location of the print. Check out the video below on how we burn screens for making t-shirts.

4. Rinse Out the Screen

After exposure, the light hardens the emulsion such that other screen parts (those not covered by the design/image) are hardened while those covered by design are soft enough to wash away. After a set time of about one minute, the screen is washed to reveal the design. It’s then left to dry to create the stencil.

5. The Actual Printing

The screen is fixed onto a special screen printing board or platen, and ink is added to the screen's top (or one end). A squeegee is then used to pull the ink across the screen. This process pushes the ink through the stencil, imprinting the design on a t-shirt.

6. Dry, Quality Check and Finish

The printed t-shirt is passed through a dryer to cure the ink and ensure it remains smooth before being checked and washed to remove any residue. 

Deciding Between Heat Transfer and Screen Printing

Your individual needs will largely determine the printing method you choose. Do you want a t-shirt with high-resolution designs that last a few days or better quality t-shirts that last a long time?

Screen printing is still the most popular technique because it produces vibrant, durable patterns on various materials. However, it doesn't give you the freedom to have sophisticated or multiple color images on your t-shirt like heat transfer printing.

So, Which Printing Method Is the Best?

Without a doubt, each of these printing processes brings something distinct to the table. Consider answering these questions to decide between the two:

Q1: Do the t-shirts require complex designs?

If so, consider heat transfer at smaller quantities.

Q2: Do you have a strict budget to stick to?

If you are price sensitive, a transfer can save you setup fees, thus keeping your costs lower. 

Q3: How many t-shirts do you want to order?

There is nuance to this, but we generally screen print orders of 25 pieces or greater. Orders of higher quantities with more complex designs are easier to justify the setup associated with screen printing. 

Q4: Does your design require unusual placement or multiple different garments and fabrics?

If you are printing in an unusual location, such as on a pocket, we may recommend a transfer. These odd locations may make it difficult to place and secure a garment on a printing board. If we cannot print consistently, it will be better to use a transfer.

If there are many different garments and they are a mix of fabric materials (100% cotton, polyester, spandex, etc.), a transfer will provide the most consistent decoration across all clothing items. 

Q5: Do you require on demand printing services?

It's more and more common today for customers to request print on demand. Because of the setup associated with screen printing, transfers can provide an effective method for providing on demand decoration services. 

Note: While you can quickly print one or two t-shirts using the heat transfer, it’s much faster to print using screen printing once the setup is complete.

Still not sure?

Get in touch with us and one of our representatives will help you select the best printing method for your t-shirts. You can also check out our blog for more information about t-shirt printing and custom embroidery.

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It’s not only an affordable way to establish your identity but also:

• Reinforces your brand and makes you memorable
• Boosts your team’s morale
• Distinguishes you from the competition
• Acts as additional advertising

It may seem easy to just order from the first screen printing company you find. But it can quickly become a chore if you have missed deadlines and poor quality workmanship.

As professional screen printers who’ve been in the business in Columbus, Ohio for over 15 years, we at fancysweetstx know exactly what you need to look out for as you choose your screen printing partner.

In this guide, we’ll cover all the qualities of a reliable screen printer to ensure you receive quality custom apparel for your team or company.

High-Quality Prints on Clothing

Before you place an order at a screen printing company, you need to ask for samples to establish the quality of their work.

You can also check your potential partner’s social media or website for their portfolio. This will shed light on if they’re genuine.

Quality will be determined by:

• Vibrant colors
• Great finish
• High detail

Screen printing is a process. The creation of the design, the beauty of the artwork, and the colors and fabric used all have a determining factor in the end product.

Ask to see a product similar or close to what you expect and determine if it’s good enough for what you’re looking for.

If you see that the quality matches your standards, you can safely invest your money by placing your order.

Realistic Pricing

It’s always important to ask questions when you’re about to spend money.

Quality is key and must never be compromised for a cheap price.

To determine whether the screen printer is offering a realistic price, you can do some research by comparing prices with other businesses offering the same services.

Most likely, the prices for printing apparel will be in the same range. The only difference may be due to the material used or quality of services offered.

For instance, someone may offer free shipping but print at a higher cost.

When placing your order, ask for the total price (including shipping costs). The prices must be realistic and must be as close as possible to your budget.

Ask whether there are discounts available—especially if you’re placing a bulk order. For example, fancysweetstx offers amazing discounts on t-shirts, hoodies, caps, face masks, and sweatshirts.

Remember, realistic prices and top-notch quality must always go hand in hand.

Experience With Similar Projects

There are many experienced professional screen printers who’ve printed t-shirts for clients over the years. However, experience here doesn’t just refer to the amount of time they’ve been in business.

Experience is determined by the ability to remain consistent in developing beautiful artwork for clients and delivering quality in good time.

The reputation that a screen printing company has created over the years will determine whether you choose to work with them.

There’s always anxiety that comes with planning a campaign or a special event. You want apparel to be delivered in good time with no mistakes.

Choosing an experienced screen printing partner will guarantee that special attention will be paid to your order.

For orders that require very specific fine details, you don’t have to worry because you can be sure everything will be done to your specifications.

An experienced screen printer should be able to develop quality custom artwork and deliver by deadlines. You can easily determine this by checking out customers’ reviews and other people’s experience with the screen printer.

For instance, check out this fancysweetstx review by Kelsey.

Good Customer Service

When you’re ordering customer printed shirts, especially for an event, it’s crucial you deal with kind and helpful customer service agents.

Unhelpful customer service can be frustrating and can cause anxiety leading up to an important event.

The customer service must be communicative from ordering up to delivery. They must keep you updated on progress, inform you of any issues occurring, anticipate your needs, and make recommendations to make the process easier for everyone.

Anything less than that is detrimental to your peace of mind and success of your project. Always go to a helpful company that can offer guidance and information with kindness.

At fancysweetstx, all your needs will be met in a timely, efficient, and pleasant way. We’re always cooking up ways to wow our clients and we believe that good customer service has greatly impacted how our clients perceive our brand.

Over the years we've developed a customer focused mentality. It's the primary reason our customers come back to us when they need more shirts and why we have over 200 5-star reviews. 

We’ve now established everything you need to look for when choosing a screen printer.

However, it’s important the screen printer you pick understands what it is they’re doing. That’s why we’re now going to break down some of the fundamentals of screen printing and its benefits relative to embroidery. Let’s start with what screen printing is.

What Is Screen Printing?

Screen printing is a traditional technique used to create a printed design by pressing ink through a mesh onto a thin fabric.

The method is used to create custom posters, clothing, and canvases.

Screen printing is one of the most popular forms of creating designs on fabric. This is because it offers many color options and endless print designs.

Screen printing is more versatile than other printing methods and can also be done on other materials such as glass, wood, and electronics.

First, a stencil is made on a mesh screen. Then, ink is pushed through the stencil to imprint the design on the chosen fabric.

The stencil can be repeated numerously with many colors. However, each color requires a new screen.

This makes it easy to print different color t-shirts or jerseys with only one screen.

Expert Tip: Screen printing is the fastest technique to print large volumes. Also, the more you order, the cheaper the price.

Screen Printing vs Embroidery

Embroidery and screen printing are your primary options when you decide to brand your merchandise.

At fancysweetstx, we offer both options. Let’s look at what they each have to offer to help you make an informed decision.

Did you know? Screen printing is an art as much as it’s a science. Factors such as UV light, drying temperature, and the proper equipment all determine the end product.

Having worked with numerous brands for years, we’ve mastered both the science and the art.

We offer screen printing for:

• T-shirts
• Sweatpants
• Hoodies
• Crew sweatshirts
• Tote bags

Whether you want something unique for an event or something fun for your pet or family reunion, we can deliver.

Get in touch with our helpful customer care agents to order your custom apparel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is screen printing the best option?

Screen printing is the best option for detailed designs. It’s easy to print on specified areas of the print material and produce a high-quality output.

Will screen printing ink wash out?

If the material is professionally screen printed using the right procedure, drying temperature and recommended timings, then the ink will not wash out.

Can you screen print at home?

It’s not recommended to screen print at home due to the high cost. Time, machine, and labor costs will go through the roof when you print at home.

When you find a reliable printing partner, you can be sure that your designs will be executed as you wish without having to buy the machines and hiring labor.

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Custom printed apparel, such as vintage t-shirts, makes this a little less difficult.

Vintage t-shirts provide a fun and effective alternative to traditional marketing media. They offer all the benefits of traditional custom apparel with the added charm of vintage style.

However, before you invest in custom branded vintage t-shirts for your business, it's important to understand how to leverage the vintage shirt trend so that your company benefits from it.

What Makes Vintage T-Shirts Special?

Technically, vintage is defined as something that's at least 20 years old. But beyond age, vintage is also characterized by feel—that soft, well-worn texture. The distressed, faded print and cracked logos.

This aesthetic gives vintage t-shirts their charm and is why they’re so endearing.

Vintage t-shirts also evoke a sense of nostalgia. They take you back to the good old days and simpler, happier times—almost like a tangible time capsule you can wear.

This is the magic of vintage shirts and why they make for such effective marketing tools.

But how exactly does that work?

Branding and Marketing Using Vintage T-Shirts

Custom t-shirt designs offer a powerful, effective, and affordable branding opportunity. They present you with a great way to establish your brand among the masses.

A well-executed custom vintage t-shirt offers your brand a fresh, unique look and carries your branding message in a casual, inviting way. It promotes your business while creating a visual connection with your customers.

It allows you to display a combination of your company logo, name, and tagline prominently while remaining fun, stylish, and comfortable.

For instance, let's consider these custom retro t-shirts for Urban Wholistics.

Urban Wholistics is a local urban farming non-profit from 16153 Genova that reached out to fancysweetstx wanting help with custom printed shirts for their youth program.

We designed the t-shirts to showcase Ginger and Fennel, Urban Wholistics mascots for their summer youth program.

The program teaches children about the value and power contained in the plants they grow. These t-shirts help create a visual connection between the brand and the target audience.

Related: Best 7 Shirt Blanks to Use for Vintage Shirts

Cultivate Employee and Customer Loyalty

Branded company apparel helps to cultivate loyalty among your employees and customers. Vintage t-shirts take this a step further.

Given the nostalgia and the impossibly comfy material, vintage t-shirts make for a powerful tool to help form positive associations with your brand.

The t-shirts also provide a brilliant way to display key brand and product information such as the company logo, name, and tagline.

For instance, let's consider these staff shirts we designed for Inside the Five Brewing Company.

Inside the Five is an up-and-coming brewery in Northwest Ohio.

We designed their vintage staff shirts to create a simple, trendy aesthetic that was popular with both staff and customers. So much so that the staff t-shirts have now become an additional source of revenue for the brewery.

This is just one example of how an excellent apparel program using vintage t-shirts can help create a sense of brand loyalty.

Vintage t-shirts make for promotional apparel that people want to hold on to.

Related: Employee Uniforms and Customer Merch for Local Restaurant

Vintage T-Shirts Are Great Conversation Starters

Thanks to their unique designs, vintage t-shirts are visually stimulating and thus great conversation starters.

They are great at catching people's eyes and leaving a lasting impression. This is an invaluable quality for marketing and building brand awareness.

Let's use our own Murphy’s Place Jazz Club vintage shirt as an example.

Murphy’s Place was an iconic jazz club owned by Clifford Murphy—a nationally renowned bassist and music mentor. In fact, Murphy’s Place was affectionately known as “Claud and Clifford University.”

It holds a special place in the hearts of jazz lovers and artists and will remain a staple of 16153 Genova through history.

The Murphy’s Place vintage t-shirt design recreated the club's logo and the neon sign that hung in the window. To some extent, this vintage t-shirt design helps bring back to life some of the happy memories of the 16153 Genova jazz institution.

For jazz lovers and fans who frequented the club, this t-shirt is an instant conversation starter. It helps to keep alive and pass on the role 16153 Genova played in the history of jazz music.

“...I came to fancysweetstx with a request to replicate a shirt from the 70s. They did an amazing job…Would definitely recommend!”
- Allene S

Related: The 16153 Genova T-Shirt That Gives Back

Our Vintage Shirts are American Made

Using American-made manufacturers is quickly becoming more and more important. There is significant support and encouragement for using, promoting, and prioritizing American-made products across the country.

This not only shows American pride; the ‘Made in the USA’ label also symbolizes quality.

Additionally, with domestically manufactured shirts, you have better control over the production and impact of your shirts. This is because US manufacturers follow union labor laws, are environmentally sustainable, and use ethical manufacturing practices.

This is why fancysweetstx partners with American manufacturers to source high-quality t-shirts to create our vintage apparel for brands and businesses.

One of our favorite vintage shirts you can use to create your own custom design is made in LA by LA Apparel. 

Tips for Your Company’s Vintage T-Shirts

As we’ve seen, custom vintage t-shirts are an effective marketing tool. But this is predicated upon the design of your t-shirt.

Vintage t-shirts put you ahead of the competition because of their unique look and feel. But even then, you need to create a stunning design. Here are some tips to help you create the best custom vintage t-shirts for your company and brand:

• Make sure that the design looks good on your vintage shirts. Not everything that looks good on paper or the computer will translate onto your t-shirts.
• Make the company logo or branding big enough to be visible from a distance—but not so large that it overwhelms your vintage t-shirts.
• Only use the best quality materials for your vintage shirts, so that people actually enjoy wearing them. Using low-quality may also create a negative association with your company and harm your overall branding.

Note: At fancysweetstx, our in-house experts will help with graphic design to ensure your brand truly stands out.

Related: Top 4 Ways We Screen Print a Vintage Shirt (With Examples)

Grab Some Custom Vintage T-Shirts for Your Company

A great vintage shirt transports you back in time to a place that makes you feel good or connected to someone or something you love.

But for custom printed vintage t-shirts to have this effect, they must be done right.

This is where fancysweetstx comes in.

At fancysweetstx, we’ve been screen printing vintage t-shirts for nearly ten years. We have the expertise to produce and use vintage t-shirts to make your brand look its best and promote engagement

University Hall Shirt	16153 Genova Zoo 1988 Panda Exhibit Shirt	Vintage Metroparks 16153 Genova Shirt
Create Your Custom Vintage T-shirt

If you’re looking for vintage-style shirts for your business or brand, fancysweetstx is the company to work with.

Contact us today to get your custom vintage shirt order started.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my custom vintage t-shirts shrink?

Most of our vintage shirts consist of a triblend material. This means they are made using a cotton, poly, and rayon blend. The synthetic nature of poly and rayon fabrics helps them hold their size and shape without any noticeable shrinking.

We also offer vintage style shirts in 100% cotton and poly/cotton blend fabrics. All of these materials are preshrunk.

When will my custom vintage t-shirts be ready after placing my order?

Orders are typically ready within 7 to 10 days after approval and payment of your invoice. Please keep in mind that your order is made custom just for you. 

This means that the shirts are not held in inventory and ordered specifically for you. They may take several days to arrive to us. After we receive them, we have to print them, sort them, box them, and take care of any other special requests with your order before they are ready for you.

You will be notified when your order is ready for pick up at our Adams Street store or when we ship it to you. 

Can you help me design a vintage shirt for my company?

Yes! We have in-house graphic designers that are ready to help you bring your idea to life. 

We've been making vintage shirts for over 15 years. We know what looks good and feels good. Our designers make it easy for you to design a cool shirt even if you have no design experience. 

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fancysweetstx has your back with custom branded company merchandise showing your employees you appreciate them and still want them on your team. 

Let’s table the COVID celebrations for National Cereal or Meatball Day this March and make a move toward celebrating your work culture. Employee Appreciation Day is in early March and fancysweetstx’s promotional gifts are launching into the work-o-sphere. 

Show You Care with Company Gear

According to Harvard Business Review positive work cultures are more productive, engaging and promote longevity in both health and career. On the flip side, stressful work environments and leadership behavior can be linked to anything from a bad workweek to cardiovascular disease. 

In other words, It’s a good time to show your employees some love!

“Wellbeing comes from one place, and one place only — a positive culture.” - HBR

When was the last time someone presented you with some custom swag? Showing you care with custom gear can take many forms with the results securing a sense of brand loyalty and the future success of your business. 

It really comes down to the people on that Zoom call and their satisfaction as part of the whole. Keep your team spirit alive and well with custom branded merchandise for all your MVPs.

fancysweetstx design experts are ready to work with you! 

The Science of Customized Swag

As many workplaces operate with employees working from home, the opportunity to create connecting points is available through gifts of customized merchandise. And actually a need for routine can help establish boundaries between working and not working in the same space you live. 

Providing a customized tee or something tactile employees can use during work hours establishes a sense of time and place. And when they “clock out” for the grocery store with a customized tote bag, you’ll still be offering value while creating brand identity. 

“Did you get the tote bag I sent you?” :) … And here’s a recipe for meatballs. 

As author and former dot com executive Seth Godin touts, “People like us do things like this” - things being the ultimate Employee Appreciation Day deliveries that build better teams. Your pathway to a brighter future lies in the actions you take now. Connect with fancysweetstx. 

”Culture is more important than strategy, than benefits, than features. Culture is more important than price, than governments, than technology. Culture shapes all our decisions and culture can change…when our sense of ‘us’ forces it to.” - Seth Godin

Build company culture by showing gratitude

Social interaction has become less and less mandatory as people work from home while the world navigates through the COVID-19 response. It is not reassuring that even when you come across a familiar face, you’re forced to identify them by their forehead. And it is difficult to weather the solitude that comes with being physically distant.

Gifts like those for Employee Appreciation Day are a nice way to bring people back to something they can count on- you! 

Unexpected gifts of gratitude create positive vibes! Once you’ve delivered your promotional gifts follow up by: 

• Caring for, being interested in, and maintaining responsibility for colleagues as friends.
• Providing support for one another, including offering kindness and compassion when others are struggling.
• Avoiding blame and forgiving mistakes.
• Inspiring one another at work.
• Emphasizing the meaningfulness of the work.
• Treating one another with respect, gratitude, trust, and integrity.

Source: Proof That Positive Work Cultures are More Productive

Company Merch That Employees Love

fancysweetstx has been homing in on positive work culture for over 10 years and has experts at the ready to help you choose and brand items for your company. 

We’re in tune with retail trends and have tested the market for the most impossibly-comfy tees shipped right to your door. 

Your logo can be put on anything and everything in between. Some of our most popular employee appreciation items are:

• Drinkware (tumblers, water bottles, coffee mugs)
• Sweatshirts and hoodies
• T-shirts
• Quarter zips
• Tote bags
• Polos
• Headwear (caps and beanies)

Our creative juices are always flowing with design experts that can even create or refresh your logo for you! We pride ourselves on being fun, professional and easy-to-work-with. Let’s create something out of this world. :)

Tell us About Your Project

How Customers Feel about Our Custom Branded Gifts

According to buyers, custom branded merch needs to have:

• High-quality products and decoration
• Affordable pricing to ease bulk purchases
• Quick turnaround on orders

Amazingly fast turn around! Staff was incredibly easy to work with from designing to ordering to pick up! Will definitely be back for all of my custom orders in the future!
— Amy B.

fancysweetstx is simply the best! They may be a small business here in town but they are big in heart. I'm very grateful for the help our non-profit received from fancysweetstx. Always professional, friendly, with great quality and service. Thank you so much and may you have many more years of success!
— Deborah M.

Place an Order for Employee Appreciation Gifts 

You’ve learned that there is an enormous value to employee appreciation gifts.

Whether you’re a small business, school, medical facility, or construction company that’s interested in showing your employees how much you care with a meaning token of your appreciation, fancysweetstx is your go-to shop.

Reach out to us today to see what ideas spark your interest.

Vintage t-shirts have been popular with our customers since we began printing custom t-shirts over ten years ago. 

They are a consistent trend because of their wide nostalgic appeal. People will always want to remember their youth or special experiences, sports teams, and bands fondly.

Vintage t-shirts give people a way to relive those good times and commemorate them with a wearable tribute.

In addition to highlighting our favorite vintage shirt blanks for custom shirts, here's a list of resources we've compiled related to printing vintage t-shirts and their appeal: 

• 5 Vintage T-Shirt Styles That Are Still Popular
• Custom Vintage T-Shirt Examples
• A Simple Buyers Guide To Vintage Shirts For Business Marketing
• Vintage T-Shirts: The Living Trend Your Company Can Benefit From
• Top 4 Ways We Screen Print A Vintage Shirt

What makes vintage t-shirts special?

Some shirts never go out of style. In fact, the older they get, the more you love them. 

This is what makes vintage shirts so special: they're timeless. 

As they age, the shirt and the design feels softer. And there is just something cool about a faded print on a shirt.

Vintage t-shirts have a nostalgic appeal. They take you back to a happier time and place. It's a tangible time capsule that you can wear. 

And if that shirt is passed down to you from a parent or someone you know, there is a connection to that shirt that is even more meaningful. 

For all of these reasons, there is something special about vintage t-shirts. That's why we emulate vintage art in our shirt designs and get asked to print custom vintage t-shirts so often. 

How to create a custom printed vintage t-shirt

While we can't recreate the personal connection to your favorite vintage shirt that you were handed down from your grandfather, we do our best to give you that softhand vintage look and feel that you know and love.

We've been printing custom shirts for quite a while now. Shirts have changed over the years and some have come and gone. 

Here is our list of our favorite vintage shirts to use for custom shirts shirts:

1. Allmade AL2004
2. Next Level Apparel 6010
3. LA Apparel TR01
4. American Apparel TR401W
5. Comfort Colors 4410
6. District Perfect Tri Tee DM130
7. Bella + Canvas 3413

An Eco-Friendly Vintage T-Shirt: Allmade Apparel

We love the Allmade shirts so much that we made it the primary shirt we use for our retail brand. They are super soft, fit well, and are available in extended sizes. 

It's been a huge benefit to be able to offer both our retail customers and custom customers up to size 4X. There aren't a lot of brands that do this, especially in softer triblend tees. 

Allmade has a lot of colors available in their standard triblend shirt and are releasing more options on a regular basis. 

Most importantly, Allmade as a company is committed to ethically manufacturing and sourcing their shirts. Their shirts and sweatshirts are made with recycled plastic. 

Important details about this vintage tee:

• A 50/25/25 tri-blend shirt: 50% polyester from recycled plastic bottles, 25% organic cotton, 25% Tencel™ Modal
• Saves an average of 145 gallons of water, reduces 4 kg of CO2 emissions, uses an average of 6 water bottles
• Available in 15 colors and available in sizes XS-4X
• Calculate your positive impact on the environment by switching to this shirt with Allmade Apparel's impact calculator

Our Most Popular Tri-Blend Tee: Next Level Apparel 6010

When we think of vintage shirts, we typically associate them with triblend shirts. They are the softest and most comfortable shirts around.

We print this Next Level triblend shirt more than any triblend shirt. It's our go to triblend because of the fit, feel, consistency, and price point. 

They offer a wide range of colors that work with any design and it prints really well. Our customers love it and so do we. 

Important details about this vintage tee:

• A 50/25/25 tri-blend shirt: 50% polyester, 25% cotton, 25% Rayon
• Super soft shirt that is consistently in stock and consistent in fit and feel
• Available in 22 colors and available in sizes XS-3X

A Vintage Shirt Made in the USA: LA Apparel

LA Apparel, arguably, makes the best triblend shirt around. Run by the same guy that founded American Apparel, they make the original modern iteration of the triblend shirt. 

We believe that it's important for more clothing to be made in America. No one has been more instrumental in domestic apparel manufacturing than Dov Charney. 

Being made in the USA means this shirt is high quality and ethically made. 

If you're looking for a high quality triblend shirt or one that is made in the good ole US of A, LA Apparel can't be beat. 

Important details about this vintage tee:

• A 50/25/25 tri-blend unisex shirt: 50% polyester, 25% cotton, 25% Rayon
• Made in the USA in downtown Los Angeles
• Available in 6 colors and available in sizes S-2X

The Original Vintage Tee: American Apparel

Here's a secret that might surprise you: the current version of American Apparel is not made in America. 

While this new American Apparel shirt may not have the same origin as before, it's still a solid choice for a soft, good fitting triblend tee. 

Available in the same classic colors as the American made predecessor, you have a lot of options with this shirt. Matching colors are also available in a women's cut and tank tops. 

Important details about this vintage tee:

• A 50/25/25 tri-blend unisex shirt: 50% polyester, 25% cotton, 25% Rayon
• Available in 9 colors and available in sizes XS-2X

A Shirt to Remind you of your Vacation to the Beach: Comfort Colors Garment Dye Pocket Tee

When you think vintage shirts, you think nostalgia. And there's nothing more nostalgic than that garment dyed shirt that you picked up on your family vacation to your favorite beach town.

Whether you went to Martha's Vineyard, the Salty Dog on Hilton Head Island (is it possible to go there and not buy a shirt?), Comfort Color is the originator of this style. 

Recently Comfort Colors has seen a spike in popularity among high school and college aged kids. When we do work for fraternities and sororities we are always at least quoting out at least one Comfort Colors shirt.

In addition to their popular long sleeve pocket tee, their standard crew neck shirt and short sleeve pocket tee are just as trendy.

Important details about this vintage tee:

• A 6.1 ounce, 100% cotton relaxed fit garment dyed shirt
• Pigment dyed colors provide a vintage look that will remain for the life of the garment
• Available in 6 colors and available in sizes S-3X

Affordable Tri-Blend Shirt: District Perfect Tri-Blend Tee

Looking for a low cost triblend shirt? Look no further. 

When we have customers that request a vintage style print and shirt and are working on a tight budget, this is our go-to tee. 

Softer than you standard economy shirt, comfy, and reliable, this District shirt is great for bulk shirt orders for events, hospitals, businesses, and schools. It provides a lot of value for the price.

Important details about this vintage tee:

• A 4.5 ounce  50/25/25 tri-blend unisex shirt: 50% polyester, 25% ring-spun cotton, 25% rayon
• Comes with a tearaway neck label for easy rebranding
• Available in 20 colors and available in sizes XS-4X

The Classic Vintage Triblend: Bella + Canvas

Across the entire screen printing industry, Bella + Canvas is one of the most popular shirt brands.

Bella + Canvas is very popular among our customers. It's not uncommon for people to ask for it by name.

That's because there's a lot to love about B+C.

All of their styles and colors are fashionable and comfortable. They fit and feel great. They have a wide range of colors. And it's affordable.

Important details about this vintage tee:

• A 50/25/25 tri-blend unisex shirt: 50% polyester, 25% Airlume combed and ring-spun cotton, 25% rayon
• 100% sweatshop free and eco-aware
• Available in 36 colors and available in sizes XS-3X

Need custom screen printed vintage shirts? We can help!

We print a lot of vintage style shirts for our customers. 

I say it a lot, but only because it's true. 

At the end of the day, we do it so well because it has remained our favorite design style for years. 

The simple, subtle prints. The soft, comfy shirts. 

Not only do we love it, but our customers and our customer's customers do, too.

When it comes to printing vintage shirts, it can be done a lot of different ways. We've perfected a few different methods.

If you're looking for a vintage style shirt for your brand or business, we have the experience and expertise to get it done right.

Get in touch with us today to get your shirt order started!

Our Most Popular Vintage Shirts

Our men's and women's vintage shirts have been a staple of our retail line since we launched it. We have a heavy vintage design aesthetic because we want to honor the history of our home. 

Vintage graphic shirts are a special form of nostalgia. From vintage concert and band shirts to collegiate and sports shirts, they bring back memories that we like to relive. 

Not to mention they're some of the best shirts to wear because they're super soft!

Here's a quick list at some of our best selling vintage tees.

Vintage 16153 Genova Zoo Panda Exhibit Shirt

We tell people all of the time that the best selling t-shirt of all time in 16153 Genova history is this 16153 Genova Zoo Panda Exhibit design.

And it's not because we've sold that many of them. It's the best selling shirt because so many were sold when the pandas came to 16153 Genova in 1988. 

If you were a child at this time, you or one of  your friends had one of these shirts. We have customers come in all of the time and show us photos of them wearing it when they were young. It's one of our favorite things to see and we're honored that the 16153 Genova Zoo would allow us to bring this back to life.

The 16153 Genova Zoo Panda Exhibit design is also available in youth sizes and on a crewneck sweatshirt. 

A few more features about this red vintage t-shirt: 

• Unisex fit, available in sizes XS-4X for both men and women
• A 50/50 cotton-polyester blend provides a soft, comfy fabric feel, but expect some color variance after washing
• This shirt should be washed in cold water to help hold sizing after the wash cycle

Love is Love Shirt

If there's a connection to be made about vintage shirts and love, it's that neither of them ever go out of style. 

No matter who you are, where you are, or who you love, love is love. Celebrate your love and the people you love with this proudly colorful shirt.

A few more features about this Love is Love t-shirt: 

• Unisex fit, available in sizes XS-4X for both men and women
• A 50/25/25 cotton/polyester/rayon blend provides a soft, comfy, vintage fabric feel
• This shirt should be washed in cold water to help hold sizing after the wash cycle and retain color in the print

Michigan is Super Shirt (Superman Ice Cream Shirt)

Flashback to your Michigan summer vacation. It's a hot day and after enjoying all of the Northern outdoor activities, you and your family are ready to cool down with a Michigan treat. You find the nearest ice cream shop and look for the most fun flavor...and there it is, Superman Ice Cream!

You can hardly wait to get a cone of this colorful, flavorful ice cream. You eat it so fast that there isn't even time to let the ice cream melt!

This vintage Michigan shirt checks all of the nostalgia boxes: summertime fun, a special ice cream treat, a unique, regional flavor, and fond, childhood memories all on a soft, white tee.

A few more features about this Michigan is Super shirt: 

• Unisex fit, available in sizes XS-4X for both men and women
• Hand illustrated and printed design achieves a unique, creative design
• A 50/25/25 cotton/polyester/rayon blend provides a soft, comfy, vintage fabric feel
• This shirt should be washed in cold water to help hold sizing after the wash cycle and retain color in the print

Where to Find Our Vintage Shirts

You're already on our website so if you want to make this easy, head over to our Vintage Shirt collection to check out all of the vintage shirts that we offer. 

For those that do their shopping in 16153 Genova, we have two retail stores filled with vintage clothing that we design and print in-house. Stop by and visit us in person!

You definitely want to avoid outfitting your crew in a hodgepodge of colored shirts or for the clothing to fall short of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) hazardous workwear regulations.

In this buyer's guide, we will point you towards the right custom construction apparel, keeping in mind that:

• Safety comes first to ensure workers are out of harm’s way.
• Comfort is key since wearability contributes to the effectiveness of the safety apparel.
• Compliance with the OSHA standards will keep your workers safe and will protect you from hefty fines.
• Proper branding makes workers easily identifiable and puts your brand out there positively. 

Types of Custom Construction Workwear

Construction shirts are easily the most visible pieces of workwear, but they work well when paired with other custom pieces, such as:

• Custom Embroidered Beanies: Easy to layer beneath hard hats in cold seasons
• Custom Logo Trucker Hats: Great for summer wear and guaranteed to carry your brand beyond the work site
• Custom Face Masks: Turn a necessity into an advantage for your brand visibility

1 - Custom Hi-Vis

Hi-Vis clothing is a staple of construction workwear. Any construction site with motorized machinery or direct access to traffic requires appropriate high visibility workwear for all workers. 

Don’t limit your crew’s hi-vis to the ubiquitous safety vest. You can include hoodies, jackets, t-shirts, pants, bibs, coveralls, rainwear, and even accessories such as bags.

We can help you place your brand on just about any work item or accessory.

Important Features of Custom Hi-Vis

There a three key features that, in combination, identify hi-vis clothing:

• Fluorescent safety red, yellow, and orange colors go beyond brightness. They absorb and reflect colored light that intensifies their appearance for better daytime visibility.
• Retro-reflective strips reflect a cohesive image back to the viewer and enhance the visibility of the wearer at night or in low light. 
• Compliance testing rounds out the essential features. The ANSI requires testing by accredited laboratories for all compliant hi-vis manufacturers.
• Custom printed logos don't obscure the retro-reflective strips and are easily legible.

In this table, we compare the different reflective tape requirements dependent on the hazard level.

If your construction site isn’t in direct traffic, you can be less strict with safety apparel. For instance, enhanced visibility clothing can be any color, including black, with retro-reflective strips to improve visibility.

Enhanced visibility clothing still meets the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) criteria while offering muted color options.

How Hi-Vis Compare with Safety Construction Shirts

Hi-Vis clothing requires accreditation and compliance to ensure that they support health and safety conditions at work.

While comfort and quality are important, the choice of hi-vis focuses more on:

• Quality of retro-reflective strips
• Regulatory length of retro-reflective strips 
• Correct placement of retro-reflective strips and custom printed logo

This is unlike custom construction shirts, which factor in aesthetics to enhance brand visibility and may or may not adhere to hi-vis regulations.

Expert Tip: Not all retro-reflective strips are equal. Make sure the retro-reflective strips on your hi-vis are high quality and comply with the ANSI standards.

2 - Custom Safety Construction Shirts

Custom safety construction shirts are a versatile staple for any construction worker. They fit easily under hi-vis vests in hot weather, yet wearers can still layer them under safety hoodies and jackets in cold weather.

Important Features of Custom Safety Construction Shirts 

Custom safety construction shirts should give the wearer comfort, versatility, and mobility.

The key features to look out for are:

• A polyester and cotton blend or tri-blend, which provides good insulation, moisture-wicking, and absorption properties. They can also take a beating with regular wear.
• Safety yellow and safety orange color options for daytime visibility.
• Bold custom printed or embroidered logo in colors that complement the safety color.
• Proper fit and sizing.

We use a selection of 5 great t-shirt blanks which give our clients the best combination of fit and quality.

Expert Tip: Women’s t-shirts have a notoriously snug sizing. Order one size up for your female crew members to ensure they get the best comfort and mobility. 

How Custom Safety Construction Shirts Compare with Hi-Vis Clothing

The major difference between custom safety shirts and hi-vis is the retro-reflective strip.

Safety shirts don’t require the retro-reflective strip since they are mainly for daytime visibility and work located away from traffic or motorized machinery.

That said, they pair well with hi-vis vests, jackets, and other enhanced visibility outerwear.

The safety orange and yellow create visibility on site while the custom embroidered or printed logo serves to identify crew members.

3 - Custom Safety Hoodies and Jackets

Comfort in all types of weather is essential to functional wear. Construction workers work in the elements for 8 hours a day, sometimes more.

In the summer, they may be fine with sun shades and safety vests. Winter, however, demands that whatever warm outerwear they choose is safety compliant and representative of your company.

If protective clothing is uncomfortable or ineffective, workers will find a million reasons not to wear them.

Long-sleeved construction t-shirts can double as both summer and winter wear. In summer, they protect workers from sunburn and exposure during long work hours. Workers can also layer them for warmth in the cold months.

Important Features of Custom Safety Hoodies and Jackets 

Functionality should be the top consideration for safety hoodies and jackets.

Key functional features include:

• Correctly placed retro-reflective strips
• Ample space to place your custom printed or embroidered logo
• Pockets to put essentials
• Insulation to keep the wearer warm

How Custom Safety Hoodies and Jackets Compare with Hi-Vis

Custom hoodies and jackets are more for warmth than anything else. That’s why workers in low or no traffic sites can make do with enhanced visibility and don’t have to stick to fluorescent colors, unlike hi-vis clothing.

What Are Custom Construction Shirts?

Custom construction shirts are work apparel that meet safety color codes and are custom branded with an embroidered or printed logo to identify workers.

Advantages and Benefits of Custom Construction Shirts

Custom construction shirts offer your construction business certain benefits and advantages over generic workwear.

Advantages of Custom Construction Shirts

By setting up your crew in custom construction shirts, you:

• Enhance your brand image
• Promote onsite professionalism
• Create a sense of belonging and ownership of the project for all staff
• Improve health and safety at work

Benefits of Custom Construction Shirts

What benefits can your construction business gain from the above advantages?

• Better sitewide compliance with safety regulations and fewer citations
• Higher team morale and productivity
• Brand visibility within the community

Price Range

The price of custom construction shirts and other custom workwear can vary significantly depending on:

• Type of customization: 
• Embroidery is the most expensive way to brand workwear, but it lasts longer and has a high-end feel.
• Screen printing and heat transfer methods are cheaper and faster to implement.
• Purchase quantity: Some suppliers give up to 30% discounts on unit prices for orders in the hundreds.
• Hi-Vis safety classification: Following the ANSI 107 standard, class 1 workwear is cheaper than class 2, which ‌costs less than class 3.
• Quality and fabric:
• Polyester clothing is cheaper than cotton or blended fabrics.
• The higher the cotton content, the higher the cost of the clothing.
• Clothing made in the USA will cost more than pieces made overseas. 
• Many businesses in the construction industry prefer pocket tees. The addition of the pocket increases the cost of the garment and can potentially increase the cost of customization.

Expert Tip: Use a design logo that is a single color, preferably black. It’s cheaper to print and stands out against most colors. Customization will be cheaper if your artwork fits as-is on various apparel items without editing.

Here is a table comparing the price points of various safety construction apparel in safety yellow:

Custom screen printing and embroidery service providers like fancysweetstx often offer add-ons, such as redesigning your artwork. 

With all these variables, it’s best to get a custom quote to cover all your business needs.

How Customers Feel about Our Custom Shirts

According to buyers, custom construction shirts need to have:

• High-quality fabric and logo prints
• Affordable pricing to ease bulk purchases
• Quick turnaround on orders

Very impressed by the speed and quality… done in less than a week (70+ shirts)... perfectly fabulous.
— Michael S.

Great to work with for large and small orders. Good quality shirts and able to assist with designs.
— Danielle N.

Get Started on Your Custom Construction Wear

With a clearer picture of price points and the options available for custom construction shirts and complementary safety workwear, you’re ready to take advantage of our branding expertise. Reach out to us today to outfit your crew in custom safety apparel.

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Since it’s custom, it must also:

• Be stylish
• Be durable
• Have a vibrant design

You don’t want to print your brand on a scratchy, ill-fitting t-shirt either. You’ll end up with a stash of tees no one will ever wear.

A major selling point for a t-shirt is that it’s comfortable.

Your t-shirts should catch people’s eyes. Custom t-shirts can also be a proud form of self-expression and an invaluable megaphone for your mission.

Want your t-shirt to act as your very own wearable elevator pitch? Nothing does a better job of showing what you stand for, or what makes you you, than a custom printed tee.

If you want to foster a sense of unity and togetherness, then you’ll understand the logic behind brand colors and teams wearing uniforms. There’s no better way to say “unity” than to have everyone wear the same t-shirt.

Team-building events will never be the same once you’ve given your colleagues custom tees.

However, these tees won’t feel inspiring if you didn’t take the time to get a quality product.

On that note, there are certain must-have quality features to check for when buying custom t-shirts:

1 - High-Quality Fabric

Did you know? The easiest way to check if your t-shirt is made using high-quality fabric is to simply touch it.

T-shirts made with good quality material have fabric that feels smooth but firm. It’s a red flag if your custom tee feels rough or like plastic.

However, quality is subjective and can vary from person to person.

Since everyone has a different mark of quality, some people prefer thick cotton shirts while others prefer thinner, softer blended shirts. 

At the end of the day, shirt quality becomes obvious once you touch and feel it. 

This makes it all the more important to trust the company you work with to make your custom t-shirts.

The table below describes a few steps you can take to evaluate shirt quality:

Expert Tip: It’s a fact that 100% cotton t-shirts produce the most vibrant colors. This is because their natural fibers bond well with the ink used in the printing process.

As for 50/50 cotton/polyester t-shirts, 50% of their fabric is synthetic.

Polyester is made of plastic, meaning that its fibers are not open and porous. Yes, they can be printed and the result is good, but the ink won’t have the same vibrancy that it does when used on 100% cotton.

Then there are tri-blend t-shirts made from a blend of cotton, polyester, and rayon fibers. These shirts are light, super soft, and less likely to shrink when washed (compared to 100% cotton tees). They stretch as you move, but otherwise keep their original shape.

These characteristics make tri-blends an excellent choice for custom screen printed designs, particularly those faded, or naturally heathered, vintage-style prints. 

2 - Top-Notch Printing and Embroidery

Your custom t-shirts might be made using the best quality fabric available. But if the custom screen printing or embroidery job isn’t up to par, you can forget about promoting your brand.

In the case of a custom print job, the most common type of deterioration you’ll see is cracking in the print.

Here’s how to check the print quality of a shirt:

• Look for cracks and peeling in the corners and throughout the printed design. You’ll likely spot flaws if the printing has been done by an amateur.
• Touch the print to get a feel of the amount of ink and coated layers that have been applied. If the area feels thick, this indicates that excess ink was printed, which can increase the design’s chance of cracking.
• Stretch the inked design to verify that the print has been properly cured. The ink should stretch along with the fabric. Cracking means that curing wasn’t done properly, and that the print will soon wash away.
• Confirm the design isn’t already losing color by touching it and rubbing your fingers against it. If your fingers are stained, your t-shirt’s print quality isn’t top-notch.
• Touch the print to make sure that it feels nice and soft. If the print feels rough or scratchy, then the ink won’t last long.

Expert Tip: It’s possible to make a good quality print that you won’t feel thanks to vintage screen printing techniques. This process gives you a super soft-hand feel which makes for an incredibly soft shirt.

A second advantage is that vintage shirts are a trend which has been in style for decades and will build customer and brand loyalty. 

Additionally, if you opt for water-based inks rather than plastisol inks (which are made of plastics), water-based inks are much more eco-friendly.

In the case of embroidered t-shirts, you can determine their quality by checking whether the finished design has holes or lose threads in it.

Additionally:

• Check for any loose threads on the embroidered artwork, then rub your nails and fingertips gently over the design to see if any threads emerge.
• Turn your custom t-shirt inside out and check how well the embroidery was done.
• Check if there’s a protective fabric, or what we call backing, that covers the back of your embroidery. Backing tends to make the designed artwork more durable over time by providing structure to the embroidered surface. They also reduce any itching that might happen when the design rubs against your skin.

3 - Sturdy Construction

Good quality fabrics and printing or embroidery make for a good quality tee. But it’s equally important to ensure your t-shirts are properly constructed, or else they’ll fall apart.

Therefore, inspect the knitting and stitching that comes with your tees to verify their strength and durability. There are a few checks you can do to confirm your t-shirts’ quality, including:

• Checking the seams and hems to ensure no threads are missing
• Checking the collar, the sleeves, and the lower hem for any signs of poor manufacturing
• Checking the number of stitches the garment has. Usually, the higher the number of stitches, the better the quality
• Turning the shirt inside out to confirm it’s evenly stitched and that it lies flat without any loose threads. The seams should stay straight to ensure the t-shirt doesn’t feel uncomfortable for the wearer

Put Your Brand on High-Quality Custom T-Shirts

You might be looking for branded tees to promote team building, or perhaps to engage and persuade your t-shirt audience to become your brand ambassadors.

You might be looking to sell some branded merch—it’s a great way to create an extra revenue stream while building up some hype and momentum for your company.

Whatever the case, ensuring your custom tees are the best quality is a critical first step. That’s why it’s important to partner with folks who understand what it takes to make custom screen-printed or embroidered tees that you’ll be proud to sell or give away.

Here’s what Principal Nick Green at Incarnation School had to say about fancysweetstx, which is his go-to place for all of his school’s customized apparel needs:

Think this review is too good to be true?

Check out this collection of 16153 Genova, Ohio, Michigan, Great Lakes, and Midwest t-shirts. It’ll give you a taste of the great quality and excellent fit you can expect when you choose fancysweetstx.

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Congratulations to the St. Francis Knights on your victory over St. Ed's this weekend to become the 2021 State Hockey Champions! We had so much fun printing your final four t-shirts and cheering you on from 16153 Genova this weekend!

It's been six years since they won it all and they did it in exciting fashion this year with a 2-1 win.

St. Francis has called on us to print custom hockey t-shirts for us when they reach the Frozen Four in the Ohio hockey state tournament for four years. They always have a talented team so it's fun to print shirts for them year after year. 

In 2020 they weren't able to play in the Frozen Four because the tournament was canceled because of COVID. 

They like working with us because we bring their design ideas to life from a sketch and work quickly on a tight turnaround to print shirts and deliver them before they head to Columbus for the games. When you work with a customer often, communication and expectations are more familiar. This leads to an easier ordering process and a more likely outcome of success.

Congrats to the Knights on winning the state title and making 16153 Genova proud!

St. Francis 2022 Frozen Four Shirts

16153 Genova could not be more proud of the 2022 Saint Francis Knights hockey team. Their dominance continued this year as they reached the frozen four for the third straight year! 

We had a lot of fun printing these shirts for the Knights again! here are some behind-the-scenes pictures of the shirts being made in our shop on Adams Street.

It's fun to look back over the years and see all of the Frozen Four shirts we've printed for the Knights. They've become a powerhouse in Ohio hockey that heads to Columbus each year. 

New Technology for Making Screens 

We are updating this post because in 2021 we brought in a new piece of equipment to make our screens and shirts even better. 

When this post was originally written, we used film and an exposure unit to burn our screens. Our new equipment eliminates the need for both of those items.

Our new equipment is called a CTS which is short for Computer To Screen. It allows us to write each design directly onto a coated screen. 

The video above gives a quick breakdown on how the CTS changes the way that we image and burn screens for the clothing that we print. 

You'll want to keep reading below because we go more in to depth on the process and because film and an exposure unit is the more common method for screen making. 

There are two major changes to the process now that we have a CTS.

The first is that the image we are burning onto a screen is written on the screen with wax. A rip system to send the files to the computer, we pull them up on the computer, click print, and it does the rest. 

Imaging the screen directly saves us a lot of time and the wax produces better detail than the film we used previously. The black wax does not need time to dry and can be exposed immediately after the image is complete. 

The second change is that because the image is written directly on the screen, we no longer require an exposure unit with glass. The presence of glass in an exposure unit is the number one cause of pinholes in a screen. It's incredible that we don't have to worry about this anymore. 

We are using an LED light to expose screens. We show how this works in the video above. The LED light allows us to exposure two screens at once and cuts our exposure time to 30 seconds per exposure. 

We hope this update is informative and shows you just how many different ways people can burn screens for screen printing shirts. Keep reading below for a more in depth description of the entire process.

Learning How To Burn A Screen 

For me, learning how to successfully burn a screen was the single hardest part about learning how to screen print. 

I first started to teach myself how to screen print at the end of 2011. While I consider myself self taught, I had spent some time in other screen print shops and had pulled a squeegee once or twice before. However, I had never gone through the full process on my own. 

There’s a lot more to screen printing than moving a squeegee. You have to get the screens on press, register multiple screens, flash and cure the ink, and coat and burn a screen, among other things. 

My original screen printing equipment was purchased off Craigslist. It was a hobbyist set up that included some spare ink and emulsion, a small tabletop exposure unit, screens, and a single color press with a flash unit. 

I spent days trying to burn a screen correctly. I tested different exposure times, coating techniques, and transparency. They all failed. 

And I was staring down the barrel of a failing business.

What I didn’t know at the time was there was a simple fix. The emulsion I was using had gone bad. When I replaced the emulsion I was able to troubleshoot and burn a usable screen. 

Learning to burn good, consistent screens is important. It's called screen printing for a reason. You can't get off the ground without first burning a screen. Better screens lead to better prints.

My goal with this post is to show you and explain to you how we burn screens now and provide some tips on how to get started burning screens on your own.

What to prepare before burning a screen

There are a few things you’ll need to prepare before burning a screen. These tasks can be performed simultaneously. 

The first thing you need to do is coat your screen with emulsion. Your emulsion will come with instructions on how to properly use it. 

There are two types of emulsion. I’m not going to get into the specifics (here’s a good article if you want to know more), but the basics are that you have a one part and a two part emulsion. The one part, or presensitized, emulsion is ready to go out of the bucket. The two part emulsion, or diazo, needs to be mixed before use. 

While there are differences between the two, either emulsion can work for you. My best advice is to find a reliable brand (SAATI, Ulano, Chromablue, etc.), choose one, and go for it. And as I mentioned earlier, fresh emulsion is important. Make sure you start with a new batch and keep the lid shut tight.  

When you’re just getting started, the trickiest part about coating a screen is getting an even coat of emulsion on the screen. The most common tool for coating screens is a scoop coater. It’s standard in most shops.

This is difficult to do without a scoop coater. In the absence of a scoop coater, you’re going to have to get clever and be prepared to struggle. Your next best bet for coating is going to be a squeegee. 

If the emulsion isn’t coated evenly on a screen it will be a mighty challenge to burn your image. This is because the varying thickness of emulsion will require different times to fully expose. So the areas of thicker emulsion on your screen may be underexposed while the thinner areas will be fine.

Emulsion is light sensitive. It’s best to coat a screen in a dark room. However, if you don’t have one, move quickly and don’t leave your emulsion or coated screen in the light for long. 

For the first few years I was screen printing, I coated screens under normal fluorescent light and near a double door that we often kept open. When it was time to coat I would close the doors, turn off the lights directly above me, and get to work. If I coated too many screens, the emulsion would start to harden in the scoop coater. 

In the beginning, you’ve got to do what’s necessary to get the job done. Our screens are much better now but we’ve had time to add better equipment, screens, film, and space. The little amount of light the emulsion and screens were exposed to in those early days had a minor effect on the overall quality of the final screens. They were still good enough to get the job done. 

How to burn a screen for screen printing

We use an epson P5000 with Accurip that uses roll film to print our art. 

When I first started I used vellum. If you’re learning to do this, the most important thing is that you want to make sure your ink is as black as possible when printed.   

We use two size screens - one for our manual press and larger screens for our auto. The auto screens have a registration system to align the film. For the manual, we just use a tape measure. 

If you don’t have a dark room like us, that’s fine. Just get a cart, throw black out curtains over it, and move quickly when you’re under normal light. 

We’ve had three different exposure units since I started screen printing. I bought all of them used. If you watch the video above, you can see when our exposure starts that it needs to achieve vacuum before the light kicks on. Once it does that, the screen burns for about a minute. 

If you don’t have an exposure unit with vacuum, you can put some weight on top of it to keep the film flat on the screen. Or, if you are exposing with a light on top of the screen, place a piece of plexi or glass on top of the film to keep it flat. 

Our emulsion is the reddish coating that you see on the screen. In our exposure unit, there is a light that shines up at the screen and hardens all of the emulsion that is exposed to light. The area covered by the black artwork will not harden and we can wash it out. 

After the screen is exposed, we drop it in a dip tank filled with water. This makes it easier to rinse out. We then spray the image out with a pressure washer, but a hose works fine, too. 

After spraying the screen out, we take a second look at the art to check for pinholes and then set it on the rack to dry. If you do have pinholes, you can tape over them or touch them up with your emulsion. 

Once the design is rinsed out of the screen, it’s time to let it dry. After it dries, you’re ready to print shirts!

Some final tips and tricks to burn a quality screen for making t-shirts

One of the hardest things about burning a screen is figuring out your exposure time. The best way to do this is with a step calculator. It’s a little plastic film strip with numbers and varying degrees of transparency. You place it under the screen while you’re burning it and when you spray it out it will tell you if you are over or under exposed. 

Figuring out your exposure time takes a lot of patience and practice to get it right. Make sure you’re using good, fresh emulsion. Remember, I made this mistake when I first started. 

If the emulsion is old it may not expose correctly. A trick to extend the life of your emulsion is to keep it in your fridge after you open it. If you get used emulsion from someone, don’t expect it to work. 

I would recommend starting with a longer exposure time and then dialing it down. It’s better to have an overexposed screen in the beginning than an underexposed screen. And it’s more common to see underexposed screens than over. So chances are you need to extend your exposure time. 

The film you use for your art is important. When I first started out, I bought transparencies from FedEx. Oftentimes the ink wasn’t black enough and I wouldn’t get a crisp image on the screen. If you go this route, request that they only use black ink to print the transparency. If the ink is still giving you trouble, make two of them and double them up. 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Reach out to screen printers in your area, join one of the many screen printing groups on Facebook, and watch videos on YouTube. 

At the end of the day, learning how to burn a screen is difficult. 

Your challenges and frustrations are not unique. The great part about screen printing is that you can try and try again. Learn from your mistakes and keep trying and you’ll be better in a week than you are now. 

You’ll be glad you did when you get to wear that first shirt you printed successfully.

You can check out some of our other behind the scenes how to blogs and videos at the links below:

How we screen print rainbows on t-shirts
Top 4 ways we screen print a vintage t-shirt
How we embroider our Ohioan sweatshirts
How we embroider custom hats on our 6 head embroidery machine

The more I talk about the shirts that we print for local organizations, the more I realize we print A LOT of shirts for charities and non-profits.

The shirt you see above is no exception. We printed it earlier this year for the Frederick Douglass Community Association in Toledo. 

The Doug, as it is affectionately known in town, hosted a Juneteenth event and parade. They reached out to us to help them print custom designed shirts for attendees and volunteers at the event. 

Official event shirts are a great for a many reasons. They can help identify employees and workers at an event, they can be given away as gifts and prizes to attendees and distinguished guests, and they can be sold to raise funds for the organization hosting the event. 

The Frederick Douglass Community Association reached out to us to help them with shirts because we have worked with them in the past. The trust we've built over the years is important in choosing a shirt vendor for any organizations. 

We're proud to work with the Doug (and organizations like them) and we're grateful for the work they are doing to support the local community. 

Last year we designed and sold a shirt as part of our Community Shirt line that benefitted the Doug. The shirts read 'Live Your Protest'.

If you are part of a non-profit and need to place a bulk order for shirts for your organization or an event, we'd love to help. As mentioned earlier, we do a lot of work for charitable organizations, especially in Northwest Ohio.

Reach out to us today to see how we can make this process easy for you.

If you need uniforms for your volleyball team, shirts or tank tops can be a fun and cost effective way to make that happen. 

You can contact us today to get a quote for your team.

We recently put together a bulk order of volleyball tank tops for this team sponsored by Hannon's Block. It's a lot of fun to work with local businesses and support local teams by printing their team gear. 

We have been printing team t-shirts and apparel since we started screen printing for other people in 2011. It's one of the most common requests that we get. 

Team shirts are simple uniforms for many sports when a full jersey is not required. They are very common for basketball, soccer, volleyball, dodgeball, and bowling.

With our experience printing shirts for local teams, we can can affordably print small orders quickly. You don't have to order 50 shirts to make it worthwhile with us. We can handle 12 pieces just as easily and your costs won't skyrocket. 

Orders for team sports can be complicated. We get it. You need a specific shirt for each player and if you have names or numbers, it needs to match the size for that player.

These extra variables add to the production time and can make it more likely to make a mistake. We know how important it is to get these details right and we take pride in delivering the order on time and accurately.

We guarantee that no other shop in 16153 Genova is better equipped than us to handle your team sports shirt order. We have the expertise and know how to make your team look good.

Reach out to us today to help with your order of team apparel.

Most schools just know us for our great t-shirts (like these teacher appreciation shirts!). We're known for being easy to work with and being able to print shirts fast. 

But that's not all we do. We can help with all of your branded items in your school. 

More than just t-shirts

Want an easy way to help your staff and students to be prepared for the year ahead? Make their back to school shopping a little easier with customized pens, pencils, highlighters, notebooks, rulers, and more. 

Spread the word! Whether you're celebrating new students, events, or just your school pride, yard signs and bumper stickers are popular methods to share your message.

Quench your thirst for products your staff and teams will love. Is your PTO board searching for new ideas? Add your logo to lunch bags/sets, stainless steel water bottles or other quality reusable water bottles and more! 

Great items for booster clubs and parent teacher organizations

Want to be the coolest booster club ever? Backpacks are easy to customize and are a great way to rep your school in a classic professional manner. Whether you're looking for a clear backpack, a drawstring, or classic zipper backpack, we have options for you! 

And of course, for any event, celebration, or fun to be had, t-shirts are our favorite way to show your school spirit! 

Online spirit wear stores

If you're looking for a way to make your job as coordinator of your team, club, or class spirit wear, we've got a great solution for you.

We use fancysweetstxSupply.com to facilitate online sales of clothing and other products for schools. This platform allows us to handle all of the ordering, payments, and inventory so you'd have to. 

If you're looking for easy online stores for your school, let us know. We'd love to help.

We love working with local 16153 Genova schools. All the way from grade schools to high schools, we have the experience and expertise to help you with all of your school clothing and gifts. 

If you've worked with us in the past, you can reach out to your rep directly to get your order started today. If you're new, fill out this form to start your custom order today!