Sublimating Hoodies in All the Wrong Places

Unusual decoration placements, such as the inside of a hoodie, can set your design apart from the competition's and boost your bottom line.
Feb 1, 2008

It took 11 sheets of 11" x 17" transfer paper to give this hoodie its all-over print. A larger, 20" x 17" heat press made production speedier.

The hoodie has invaded the marketplace; you see them everywhere, from sport club fundraisers to hip, urban boutique racks. Apply some creativity to decorating hoodies and you can be out in front of the trendiest retail fashions with a high-margin item your customers will love. In particular, you can produce these high-dollar decorations by sublimating hoodies with unusual placements and techniques.

This article will show you how to decorate blank hoodies in styles that are right in step with youth fashion at retail.

All of the designs applied to the hoodies in this article were printed on Beaver Tex Print XP Plus transfer paper using an Epson 9800 wide-format inkjet printer equipped with Sawgrass Artanium sublimation inks. The garments, which have the look and feel of cotton, are 100% spun polyester and really show off the vibrant color and intricate detail that sublimation can produce with virtually no "hand" at all.

Each hood can be pressed at the same time as you press the front and back of each garment. Or, you can print the body of each garment first and then go back and press all of the hoods. I prefer to do it that way — press the hoods all at once after the front and backs are done — but your design will dictate which way is best for you.

Note: If you don't want your strings sublimated, tuck them inside the hoodie before pressing. Plastic fasteners or tips will melt in the press, so make sure they stay out of the press, or, if that's not possible, wrap them as described on p. 86.

For the most part, I printed all of these designs on 11" x 17" transfer paper (the 9800 prints media up to 44 inches wide) and used a 20" x 17" iDek heat press. Most transfers were pressed for 50 seconds at 390°F using moderate pressure. Hoodies' fabric weight can accommodate strong pressure, so do not be afraid to use more than normal, especially if a design goes over pouch seams, which are very thick.

Optimal time, temperature and pressure will vary among presses and garments, so do pre-production tests to find the best settings for your equipment.

VENGEANCE HOODIE
This white, pullover hoodie got an all-over print, which is a very hot look today. All-over prints are much easier to do than you might think.

First, measure the garment, making sure the sleeves are fully extended, and create a template in your design software. This will be your placement guide as you create and print your design. To be sure all areas are covered when pressed, extend the design approximately one-half inch outside the template lines.

To begin, I position my design within the hoodie template, divide the file into 11" x 17" blocks and send each of those to the printer. I use my desktop inkjet to print a thumbnail of the completed hoodie design and refer to it when pressing the transfer sheets.

If you are not comfortable creating a template, you can print full sheets of your design, making sure to print enough sheets to cover your garment. This method ensures every area of the hoodie is printed, though there is some ink waste. Also, if you want particular elements to print on the sleeves, you need to pay close attention to where various elements of the design print within the "block."

All-over prints are a breeze if you are lucky enough to use a large-format inkjet printer and a large heat press. But you can do them even if your shop uses a desktop inkjet and regular-size heat press — it just requires a few more hits on the press.

Generally, my first rule of thumb when restricted by small paper and press size is to create my design without any type of repeating, symmetrical pattern. This allows for some flexibility when pressing because the transfer sheets don't have to line up precisely.

FOOTBALL ZIPPER HOODIE
A football booster club ordered some hoodies for a fundraiser. I designed an all-over print (right) that was easy to produce since the footballs were randomly placed. These hoodies were a hit, and what made them a hot item was repeating the print on the inside of the garment.

Printing the inside of the garment is easy to do; I simply turned the hoodie inside out and pressed it just like the outside. My experience with sublimating the inside of a fleece garment is that colors will print slightly lighter than the same transfer sublimated to the outside. So, if you need to achieve a bold color on an inside print, extend the press time or use slightly darker and/or brighter shades in your design. Sometimes, a combination of both achieves the best result. If you are trying to achieve a specific look, experiment first.

FRANKLIN VARSITY HOODIE
Sublimating the sleeve is a popular look right now and, for sports teams, personalizing garments with each player's number is a simple way to add value. Personalization was taken a step further with this group of hoodies by sublimating the team member's number inside a football along with the team's title, "2007 State Champions" at the nape of the neck. Getting creative with this type of enhancement can set your garment's design apart from the competition's and ultimately increase your bottom line.

SNOWBOARD HOODIE
Kids into action sports love hoodies with unusual graphic placement and the bright colors achieved with sublimation inks. The pullover hoodie shown here was printed with vivid color inside the hood, down one full sleeve, on the opposite sleeve's cuff and waistband and, finally, with text on the front and another graphic over the pouch.

I used a random pattern of bright colors and abstract shapes to accent the inside of the hood. To print it, I turned the hood inside out and pressed twice — one transfer on each side of the middle seam. On each press, the graphic was allowed to slightly overlap the seam. Again, using a random pattern required no exact matching.

The length of a garment's sleeve will determine the number of presses needed to cover the entire area. This hoodie, a men's size medium, required only two presses using 11" x 17" sheets. I printed the design on two 11" x 17" sheets and trimmed the paper at an angle to fit the sleeve's width. I used the trimmed excess to press over the remaining sleeve and cuff area. This procedure was repeated on the back side of the sleeve. Keep in mind that if you have a pattern that must be matched, it is likely that more presses will be required.

The waistband was done much the same way — I began by printing the design on two 11" x 17" sheets and trimmed them to fit the width of the waistband. I like to leave an additional 1/4 to 1/2 inch so the graphic hangs over the edge of the waistband. This ensures that the edges of the waistband are pressed.

When aligning the paper with the waistband's top seam, it is important to smooth the fabric and flatten any bulges. Make sure your graphic is lined up with the seam and has not crept up onto the body of the garment.

The snowboard graphic for the front was scaled to fit within the pouch dimensions. Again, since this graphic goes over the pouch seams, it required increased pressure when pressing.

SUBTLE STRINGS
Sublimated strings can be the accent that makes your design stand out from others. The strings shown here were printed quickly and done with leftover scraps of transfers used to decorate the rest of the garment.

If a hoodie's strings have plastic fasteners or tips, they will melt under the press. The safest way to avoid melted plastic is to arrange the garment so the plastic hangs off the edge of the press plate. If it is impossible to press your design without having the plastic fasteners under the press, encase them in thick fabric. The heat will be absorbed by the fabric and will not melt the plastic.

Many plastic fasteners can be removed from the string and replaced after printing. This may work best for you, but don't forget to take into account the amount of time this process will take. If it's faster, I enclose each plastic fastener in a wrap of thick fabric.

When sublimating any drawstring, I begin by pulling each side tightly, which causes the hood to contract and allows more of the string to be exposed. Position the strings across the press and place a blank piece of paper under the strings so excess ink doesn't transfer onto your press.

For strings, I line up several scraps of transfer paper printed with the colorful design and place them on top of each string, overlapping if necessary. Make sure your graphic goes right up to the edge of the fastener or tip of the string. Once sublimated, turn the strings over and repeat.

I am a strong believer in experimenting and practicing before using any new technique or undertaking a large project. You will save a lot of frustration, time and money by ordering an extra hoodie that is only used for this purpose. Once you learn the optimal settings for your press, creating unique hoodie styles will be simple and profitable.

Kim Stryker is creative director for Vapor Apparel and a former graphic artist for Sawgrass Technologies. She has won numerous awards for her graphics arts and fine arts work, and has designed for celebrities, including Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins and Tom Hanks.

For more information on sublimation or to comment on Kim's article, e-mail marketing@vaporapparel.com.

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