[jdorman19]

I am preparing to start a clothing company, I have a few designs made on photoshop but I want to get them on t shirts to get everything started. If anyone could help with advice on how I should go about persuing this dream of mine, i'd appreciate it very much.

[WearEco]

Hey JDorman19,

I am currently trying to pursue the same dream myself. I am in the beginning stages as well. If you want to PM me to talk about it a little more let me know. Maybe we can help each other out.

-Taylor

[JLeezer]

Have either of you done a search on here for this kind of information? I guarantee that there have been several different threads pertaining to this within the last 6 months.

[WearEco]

Of course searches have been done, I am simply trying to reach out and possibly help people out in stages that I might have already passed and they are having problems in.

Sorry if that is bothering you.

-Taylor

[nppro]

cafepress.

[MASapparel]

cafepress uses heat transfers. What you want is screenprinting. I run a studio that focuses mainly on start up clothing lines, doing anything web, graphic, or print related.

Contact me with any questions

[latinolive]

Cafepress, tshirts.com, tshirtprinting4u.com are all sites that may be helpful to explore as competitors or potential joint ventures. Do you have financing in place, as well as a business plan? US Small Business Administration at www.sba.gov is a great site to visit for potential ideas and templates of documents/agreements.

Carlos

[jeremydelane]

Hey j I own a small independent clothing line and have been in business for about 2 1/2 years, I would be more than happy to talk with you concerning your idea and maybe give you some tips from my own experience. One thing I can say out front is don't rush into it, plan plan plan. I know the first thing you might want to do is get your designs down on real product but trust me it takes some serious time and effort to make something like this a success. It is an extremely competitive market. Don't ever give up, just create a real solid plan before you launch.

[yourhostingspot.com]

You don't want to use Cafe Press or any site like that. If you want to start a clothing company, invest alittle bit of money, order in bulk and sell the clothing yourself. The cost per piece will be alot less. Screen printing is what you want.

[MJBwebpro]

I would recommend cafepress to give you a good start

[yourwaiter]

You're gonna want to keep prices relatively low, therefore expenses will have to be low. Using cafepress is probably not a good idea. Go with buying your own materials and making the shirt yourself. You'll save on the markup and S+H of cafe press. Plus it'll be a good experience if you're gonna start a real clothing company. If you have the materials and buy a t-shirt patten the making of the shirt should be pretty easy. The hardest part will probably be the collar but there are always tutorials on how to do that. I'd post a link to one I found, but apparently thats not allowed before i make 5 posts.

Any more questions you can PM. I'm no expert, but I like helping people.

[PDLopez]

I will tell you from personal experience this can be a great idea. In high school, a few buddies and myself had a clothing business. We started by making desgins on photoshop, and would transfer those over to screens. We had to make the screens ourselves, but if you are somewhat artistic, it shouldnt be a problem. Or if you cant, find someone who does know how to make screens. You will need some sort of press as well, and the paint. We ordered bulk orders of generic t-shirts, and printed on those. We never went online, but did fairly well in our local area. I agree with the last post: buy the materials and do it yourself... shoot, Hurley and some of those companies were started the exact same way. Once you have some credibility and experience, you can move on from there.