No I’m not here to tell you everything I know about vinyl, which I don’t believe is a whole lot, but I am here to tell you how I got into vinyl.
I get “I didn’t know you made t-shirts.” a lot so this is why I felt the need to make this post.
I’m gonna start by saying what a difference a year makes. A year makes a huge difference because a year ago I was prepping and pressing my very first order of t-shirts for my t-shirt business that I didn’t know was a business. I still wouldn’t technically say I’m in the t-shirt business even though I do have regulars who come to me for their t-shirt needs.
I really got into creating t-shirts because 1) I hate having a middle man and 2) I get too many ideas popping regularly to pay someone every time I have an idea. Reason #2 is the reason why I have a hard time saying I’m in the t-shirt business. My thought process for buying a heat press and plotter was “Boom! I have this crazy (often snarky and sarcastic) idea. So let me hop on Photoshop, press it, and if people like the tee then I guess I will have to start a t-shirt business down the line.
I’ve learned a lot in one year and it could have been 2 years because I bought the equipment and stared at it or walked past it for nearly a year. The best thing I can tell people interested in creating vinyl shirts is to do your research on equipment and types of vinyl first so you won’t have dormant equipment like I did. And another is to make sure it’s something you have an interest in pursuing and not to get into the biz to get rich. Heatpress and vinyl is more of a creative outlet for me over looking to make a ton of money but the money is good additional income for me.
I have over a dozen shirts that are 1 of 1’s: mostly sarcastic, but that’s just my schoolgirl charm. I have a dream that one day my collection will be in The Smithsonian 😉
