Tests of final designs

Phren tee test

For this test printed my design onto a cotton t-shirt using sublimation. As you can see the colours haven’t come through as well as I would have hoped however the colour is still visible and the text too. With this test thee was a few problems which the pictures show mainly the colour being faded this was because of the material used. I know for my next test however that I need to use polyester or nylon as this takes the colour best. I also had some issues with the large back piece as it isn’t in the middle and is off centre. In addition to this the ink has leaked through onto the back from the front image and has left a green mark which to the camera isn’t visible but is to the eye. I also found that the cars border was difficult to get all the way around and therefore there is a chunk missing. However I do think that the design itself works really well and I am sure I would be happy with the outcome when I make a final shirt with this design.

Mixed placed shirt

I really like this design as a concept but this test turned out to be a real nightmare. From my last test I found that cotton doesn’t sublimate well and therefore I went and brought a 100% polyester shirt to test. This shirt was a women’s but would have worked well. I was told to heat the fabric up to get it used to the temp of the sublimate so I used the iron. I forgot to use greaseproof paper and the iron melted the polyester and left a large hole in the shirt this t shirt was no longer fit for purpose but I still tester to see the colours. I then put the paper sublimation paper the wrong way around which meant only a tiny amount of ink transferred onto the shirt and left faint print. Once transferred properly the inks worked and looked really vibrant and bold which was the result I wanted however the t shirt did scorch and turn brown because of the heat. The collar ink also ran out onto the shirt and left black ink marks. I think that on my next test if I manage to find another polyester t shirt I will be more careful in my printing and will make sure that I use plenty of grease proof paper too get the result I want.

Final test mixed tee

I got given another partly cotton t shirt but I didn’t have lots of time so I went ahead and used it. Firstly however I did a quick test with the temperature at 185’ and 210’ to see which the colour would print best at. I found that there wasn’t much in the printed article however at 210 more of the ink transferred of the paper which is why I chose it to use. I then went on with Celia’s help to print onto the shirt and this is the finished thing. I am happy with how this looks as all items printed as they should of and there was no mess ups. The only thing I would change and will have to sort out is that the shirt goes brown scorched because of the heat and so I will give it a wash at a cool temperature to try and remove this. In addition to this the shirt was a long sleeve one which meant I needed to further the pattern so it wouldn’t look a miss. I had some pattern lest and so I wrapped it around the cuffs. This is a technique Paul Smith would use as when worn with a suit the cuffs hang out and will be shown off and it looks very stylish.