I was in downtown Toronto with a friend today, needed to buy some new clothes (having to do laundry ever week and a half in a residence is a real pain). I came to a sad realization; everyone sells the same crappy urban and/or preppy clothing. I can't find anything I like (except for the obcene T-shirts, which make me laugh).

I figured I'd look into printing my own T-Shirts for myself. First off, just colouring a shirt with marker will not work; it'll all just wash out, even permanent marker (to some extent, anyways). Painting the shirt directly with fabric paints is also a no-go. I could try some fancy screening method, possibly, though. Everything I can find through google deals either with going through a large company to get a custom shirt done, or by using print-out iron on transfers. The first option is too pricey, the second won't work either since I want to cover most of the shirt with the design, and obvsiously a standard inkjet printer will only print on an 8 1/2 x 11" piece of paper (or smaller).

I don't suppose any of you guys have any solutions? Ryan needs some new clothes!

i think DeviantART do T-shirts as part of their prints. That could be an option, but i dunno how much they cost. there is another company just for it but i cant remember the name/site

www.cafepress.com is great. I have created tons of shirts through them. I also have two shops as well.

www.cafepress.com/zewerr
www.cafepress.com/bsccwear

Photoshop comes in really handy, to edit your picts for a shirt.

Use a screen. Even if you do it badly it'll look cool.

I think I might experiment with the screen idea... time permitting. I really should be studying right now, but.. well... beer is more interesting.

I did a bunch of shirts using contact paper and fabric paint. some of them came out pretty stunningly well.

You just lay a printed design over the contact paper (over a piece of cardboard) and then use a razor blade to cut out the stencil. then you take the wax paper off the back of the contact paper and press it onto the fabric of the shirt and paint over it with the paint. let it dry a couple days et voila.

I've never heard of contact paper before. Any literature anywhere?

Contact paper is the kind of stuff you (well, some people) put down on the bottom of drawers and cabinet shelves. Sort of a vinyl on top and an adhesive on the bottom.

For example: http://housewares.hardwarestor ... er-and-contact-paper.aspx

Easily found at Walmart and other supermegachains for very little $$.

Once you get sick of accidentally tearing paper/card stencils with x-acto knives, google "photo emulsion".