Introduction: Customized T-Shirts!

About: I'm Nicolaj, a Danish chemistry student interested in DIY and projects involving fabrication.

You have probably seen one of those methods to create your own patterns etc. on a T-Shirt. But the problem being, that it is time consuming and that you probably don't have all the materials and tools needed.

This method is easy and cheap, yet results a very pleasent result.


Step 1: The Transfers

First of all you'll need your t-shirt to print on.
Also you will have to buy some 'T-Shirt Transfers' sheets sold in many stores, including your local printer shop. Often the 'T-Shirt Transfers' sheets will only allow you to use them on white T-Shirts, but it is possible to buy them for darker colors.
I found these at 3-4$ per sheet, but I live in a country where everything is expensive, so you might be ble to find them at a much lower cost.

Step 2: Customize!

Think about what you want to be on your T-Shirt, this can be anyehere from kinky text to photos from your vacation. Be creative!
All you need to do at this point is to flip the text or image horizontal in an image editing software. If you don't hve such, the instructions on the T-Shirts Transfers will often guide you to a website where you will be able to download their free software.

In able to save on the number of sheets used per image, you can insert all your desired images/text into a word document or the like.
After this is done, go ahead and print it! Make sure to print on the blank side of the sheet. Of course, if you want colored images, you will need a color printer ;-)

Step 3: Cutting Out

Cut around the image, with a distance to the edge of at least 1 mm. Be sure to round the sharp edges off, so they won't lift during cleaning the T-Shirt.

Step 4: Attaching the Image

Now for ironing the image to the T-Shirt. For this, a regular ironing board is too soft to get the image transferred optimal. Instead, use a hard surface, such as a table and lay a piece of thick pasteboard under the T-Shirt, so you won't damage the T-Shirt. Go ahead and iron the T-Shirt to get rid of any wrinkles. Place the image faceside-down where you want it to be. Set your iron to 'max' and iron it. ½ minutes for images smaller than 10x15 cm, 1-½ minutes for sizes around a half A4 and 3 minutes for a whole A4 sheet. Remember to iron every corner!

After this, let it cool and peel off the paper.

Step 5: Enjoy!

Now you're finished, take a look at your result! Wasn't that easy?