There's nothing like a good old screened shirt, right? What I'm wondering is what the shirts from all these online apparel sellers are like. My daughter got a shirt made for me a while ago, the image is like a blob of plastic stuck to the shirt, and not only that, it began to crack after a few washes.

Years ago, I had a shirt made at a mall kiosk, it was a heat transfer method, but it was nice and soft, not at all plastic-y, and it lasted for a decade (more, really). But now, all the custom shirts I see are this awful stuff. Any experience, insights? Thanks.

I get my shirts at spreadshirt.com and they are great. Very good quallity, you can design your own stuff and the prints really last long (flexprint they call it). I got shirts I've already washed at least 50 times and they still look great. You can start your own shop for free (mine is basstam whitch I created for a friends-group). I'm only not sure if they send to the whole world.

*Update - they now sell fabric paint in little "pump" bottles at arts n'crafts stores - if you want to do home stenciling, the job just got easier, get your x-acto, cut your design out of thin, stiff cardboard like a cereal box, stretch out the shirt and spray. This only makes a few because the stencil starts to curl but some people like that "crude" look.

If you want to make a lot, get a sheet of thin plastic like this: http://www.grafixplastics.com/polyethylene.asp 

By the way, just last night I saw there was another advance in t-shirt technology on the Rachel Maddow show. An organization in Germany provided t-shirts free at a NeoNazi music festival that had a rockin' racist design  but when the shirts are washed, it turns into a different message! More here:  http://www.care2.com/causes/neo-nazis-in-germany-get-tricked-by-trojan-t-shirts.html

I just wanted to add to this discussion that we have a brand-new shirt available in the GaragePunk.com Spreadshirt store that features a design by Shawn Dickinson (the guy responsible for the great cover of the 3rd volume of the Hideout Comp Series). It's now available in our Spreadshirt shop for $16.99 + shipping. CLICK HERE!

We make our own and it's not so hard. You can do it with your daughter cheap.

You get fabric paint but really any paint works - I've even used spray paint.

Print out any design on the computer on paper. Then stick it to a piece of card stock like a cereal box and cut out the letters with a box cutter or x-acto blade. The O's and B's and R's and letters like that have to be stencil-style letters or the middles will fall out.

Mix the paint with water so it won't clog and put it in a sprayer, like an old windex bottle. Stretch the shirt over a piece of cardboard and spray through the stencil onto the shirt. You can make many shirts, just dry off the stencil first. If it looks half-assed, you now have official garage punk quality! If you iron or tumble-dry the paint to heat-set it before you wash it, it lasts and lasts. This also lets you recycle any old shirt that has space on it.