Laser Cut Shirt

My sister and I headed down to heatsync labs in Mesa, AZ this morning to try out the laser cutter on some t-shirts!

(By the way?  Do you think this is cool?  Do you think huge LASERS are cool?  Check out this contest that instructables is running right now: http://www.instructables.com/contest/hurricanelasers/  -- Grand prize is a laser exactly like the one we used on this project!  My favorite machine in the lab!  <3  Enter that contest!)

The effect is really cool, like a lace, except part of the shirt itself.  We found that a 5% polyester/95% cotton blend worked best.  The polyester seems to melt at the edges of the cuts, sealing them against fraying.

Cotton works as well, but care has to be taken not to fray the edges of the cuts.

See: lace.dxf if you want to cut one of these for yourself!

Step 1: Gather your materials

As usual, first gather up all of your materials.  For this we're using a 5% polyester/95% cotton blend t-shirt.

We also grabbed a piece of cardboard out of the scrap heap to keep the shirt rigid while we cut it.

Step 2: Cover the collar with something

My sister's pattern would transit her shirt's collar with the laser on, which is a problem.  Rather than try to custom fit the pattern to the shirt, we decided to just cover the collar with something that the laser wouldn't cut through.  (Cover the collar with something so the laser couldn't touch it)

Our first thought was plywood.  The problem with this was that our laser has a "whisker" for zeroing the z-axis.  Unfortunately, the whisker travels really close to the material while cutting, and this meant that it would catch on the plywood.  NO GOOD!

Instead we decided to cover it with LOTS of tape (5 layers) and hope it worked.

It did.  If your laser has room for it, do plywood, otherwise tape will work.

(You can see the tape in step 4.  We forgot to take a photo of it, OOPS!  In it's place, please enjoy this photo of me operating a bandsaw.  This was for the piece of plywood we didn't end up using.)

Step 3: Tape the edges of the shirt

Stretch the shirt so that it is tight against the cardboard, and tape the edges back.

Step 4: Load the laser cutter

We taped the cardboard/shirt down so that it wouldn't jostle around, and set the laser to work!

Our settings were:

Speed: 50mm/s
Power: 16watts

This seemed to work really well!  Our 5 layers of tape also protected the collar!  Hooray!

Step 5: The result

The result was really nice.  Towards the top right, unfortunately, we cut the collar a bit :(.

Oops!  This was because we started the cut at much too high of a power!

Step 6: Try it on!

Here's the final result!

Comments

[pippi46]

Hi very nice job, compliments.
Would you contact me at [e-mail]
I need to make some object with laser cut and want to have an estimation
thanks
Loredana

[hohum]

with the pieces that are cutout, you could apply them to other 't shirts' in a free form design, one could use iron on adhesive tape to iron on a design from the cutouts..

hope this make sense,,

trying to get as much use from the laser as possible, the cutouts will also have their ends melted..


you guys made a fantastic 't'

[blhack]

That *does* make sense and sounds really cool :)

[HollyHarken]

There is a really great product that we sewers use called Fray Check. It will seal the edges of any material. You can buy it at any Jo-Ann's. If your local Wal-Mart has a fabric section (many sadly don't) then you can probably find it there as well.

Beautiful project!

[blhack]

Thanks Holly! Yeah, we were talking about using some different sorts of adhesive on the 100% cotton shirts. We'll have to try that. Another person suggested something called Stich Witchery.

[Rowen27]

Stitch Witchery or any other heat fuseable fabric interfacing would probably be perfect as long as the laser doesn't wind up vaporizing it too. on another note you might try making or buying a cardboard t-shirt form, that way when it was set in the laser cutter you would have a basic idea of where the collar was and set your layout accordingly.

[paqrat]

This is way cool!

[dhawktx]

Wonderful project!

To keep the Cotton from raveling would take something like Fray-Chek, a liquid that fuses the edge. Try not to use too much as it can show. Alternatively, you can outline the cuts with 3D fabric paint, which will also effectively seal the edge.

Denim: The traditional pigment for Denim is indigo-based and only lays on top of the fiber rather than soaking INTO the fiber like most dyes - this is the reason for the lovely fade you get on denim in all the wear spots because the dye is literally rubbed off the fabric. When you blast it with the laser just right you remove the dye molecules and leave the cotton (or most of it), which leaves the fabric 'tattoo'.

Besides the T-shirt fabrics, most quality silks will fuse when laser cut, you can remove the pile from velvet but leave the background fabric, and you can do the same with polyester Moleskin and many faux suedes.

[blhack]

I think we're going to try denim this weekend :-D

[dhawktx]

Here's the Moleskin test panel we did a while back...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhawktx/4045062595/in/set-72157623905104905/

and the same design on a soft leather (really too soft, it drew up in places due to the heat of the laser)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhawktx/4045062595/in/set-72157623905104905/

[askjerry]

You are close... lower the power of the laser to about 60% or 80% and slow down your engraving speed as well. You can get very clear engravings... but you need a slower setting at less power to avoid too much heat. Sometimes it takes two passes... but you can do it.

I had not thought of velvet before... nice idea... it should work... I'll have to try that!

Thanks for the tip!

Jerry

[gerflash]

Wow! Great! I'm brand new at this, and though I understand the laser part (enough to go dig up a laser cutting company!), can you tell me a little about developing and printing (or whatever) the actual master design that will be cut?

[justjimAZ]

Kudos for mentioning HeatSync labs!

[davemitchell]

Great idea, like your design. For some reason I cannot save the dxf file.

[fred27]

Nice. I'd be interested in seeing a photo after it was washed though. That would answer the "will it fray" question.

[DELETED_jrutherford5]

(removed by author or community request)

[blhack]

Hi...uhh...we actually covered this in the instructable!

We're also not cutting any metal in this, just fabric o.O

[askjerry]

I didn't say that you were cutting metal... I said that aluminum foil would make a better stop-block than tape would. The aluminum foil will block the laser light 100% for the CO2 type laser you are using.

Therefore, aluminum foil can be shaped and cut with scissors to become a block for any area you do not want cut. I use this method when I engrave on a laptop computer or an iPOD to cover any areas that I don't want to chance damage to.

You said: "Towards the top right, unfortunately, we cut the collar a bit :(."

This was to prevent that error.

You said: "Instead we decided to cover it with LOTS of tape (5 layers) and hope it worked."

I was offering a proven method that works every time... to assist you.

Also... I re-read the Instructable... but I didn't see where you mentioned the use of the Stitch Witchery to bond the fibers to prevent it from coming apart. If you did mention that... sorry... i missed it.

Jerry

[blhack]

Oh. Okay, Jerry. I misread your comment. I meant that we covered your first point by saying that you should use a polyster blend instead of cotton.

Btw, to anybody reading these comments, I'd be really wary of putting aluminum foil in the laser. "Not running at 100%" is a meaningless safety precaution; 80% of a 150watt tube and 80% of a 40watt tube are not the same thing.

#3 is a great tip, though. We'll have to try that this weekend!

[scoochmaroo]

The t-shirt shouldn't unravel where it's cut because it's knit, not woven.
Rad design, I love it!

[dantistus]

So cool! Thank you for sharing this knowledge about the lasers! It was specifically useful for me to know about the polyester melting, I might use it in a project one day :) Thank you!

[jeanene123]

thats so cool. i will give it a bash, as I am thinking of making corporate clothing for myself. Also want to try engraving denim.

[jessyratfink]

Oh, that's gorgeous! Makes me want to go laser cut some clothing!

[blhack]

Did you go laser cut anything!?

[jessyratfink]

Noooooooo. But soon! SOON! I have spent far too much time typing lately, I think I am going to remedy that next week. :D

[blhack]

DO IT! :-D

I guess lasering on cloth is actually really common in production. You can stack many layers of cloth on top of each other, then laser cut them instead of using shears.

[scoochmaroo]

I've done that before with great success! Want to make several of one pattern? Check, done, perfect. It's awesome.

[Rowen27]

I particularly like this idea because I love sewing but HATE cutting patterns... Sadly I'll have to stick to relatively small patterns for now, as the cutter I have access to only has a 12" x 24" bed, but I do see several murloc hats in my immediate future.

[canucksgirl]

Well done! I really like how it turned out. Thanks for sharing. ;-)

[blhack]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! :)

[MauiJerry]

What type of laser and settings did you use? I know they may not translate to our laser but it helps to have a starting point.

We did a t-shirt during a laser class/experiment last year. I dont know the material but we put the t on a sheet of melamine board and cut w/75%speed 40% power 1200Hz on an 40watt Epilog Helix. Results were pretty good ...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mauimakers/6044894766/in/set-72157627312292063/

Source diagram for that shirt was Garrett Lisi's E8 Theory of Everything (http://garrettlisi.com/)

[blhack]

Oh la la! I really like that design a LOT!

Our is an "XYZ Technology" "Exlas" or something like that. It's a commonly re-branded machine out of China.

It's an 80watt tube, and I cut it at 16watts, meaning 20% power. If you have a 40watt, that would be 40% power.