About Custom Children's T-Shirts

How We Make Your Children's T-Shirts

Each and every custom children's t-shirt is printed, cut, and sewn to order. Our team of print experts sublimates eco-friendly inks into the fibers of the jersey fabric to create a bright, lasting print. Each part is cut according to our template and sewn together using your preferred thread color. The result is a handmade t-shirt with amazing color reproduction.

The best thing about our custom children's t-shirts is how many parts you get to design. When we say all-over printed, we mean it. You can design the front and back, plus each sleeve separately. Finish it off by printing the neckline, and add a label inside to make this tee your own incredible creation. This is a great opportunity for kids to help out with the creative process. Choose between black or white thread to blend in with your design, and we'll create your t-shirts from scratch.

We use our Soft Fashion Jersey 5.9oz fabric for these printed children's t-shirts. It's a midweight jersey fabric that is comfortable for the kids and looks impressive when printed. You can choose between our boy's or girl's fit, both of which are available in sizes age 3-14. 

Sizing For Hemming And Shrinkage

We have a full Cut & Sew service here at Contrado, and are able to hem your fabric prints for a small additional charge. We create a small one- or two-fold hem that typically uses 0.2" to 0.75" (5-20mm) of material, depending on the thickness of the fabric. So, for example, if you want a finished piece of fabric that measures 39.37" x 39.37", you will need to order a size of 39.96" x 39.96" to allow for the hem (on top of that please also allow for shrinkage of min 2%). The thicker the fabric, the bigger the hem will be. You can choose to have your prints hemmed with either Black or White thread. On our silk and other light woven fabrics, one hemmed edge will be straight (vertically down the roll) and the other will be slightly rippled. The hemming material allowances are as follows and you need to make your print bigger to accommodate the hem:

• Light Fabrics (0.59oz-2.95oz): For silks and other light fabrics, we use 0.24" - 0.32" / 6mm-8mm in the hem (2 fold), so overall width/height will be minus 0.48"-0.56""/ 12-16mm
• Medium Fabrics (2.98oz-5.90oz): For medium-weight fabrics that fray, we use 0.5 - 0.75" / 15-20mm in the hem (2 fold) so overall width/height will be minus 1.4" - 1.6" / 35-40mm
• Stiff/Heavy/No-fray fabrics: we use 0.5 - 0.75" / 15-20mm in the hem (1 fold) so overall width/height will be minus 1.5" / 35-40mm

All of these measurements are approximate and can vary. Including with shrinkage, it can mean a fairly significant difference to ordered dimensions, so please plan your print accordingly. Depending on how open the weave is, our fabric can shrink anywhere from 2% to 8% with the average being 2.5%.

How Would you Like the Edge?

• As it comes. We cut around your image, leaving a simply scissor cut, perhaps uneven white fabric border. 
• Hem with thread. We can hem your fabric with a choice of black or white thread. Please allow 1-2 days additional production time. See below for information on how hemming affects the size of your print. We offer an overlock hem, as well as a folded hem (one or two fold depending on the fabric) however not all fabrics are suited to both hem types. If you can see both options, it means both are suitable, and you will be able to choose whichever you prefer. 
• Cut on the line. We will cut neatly on the edge of your design. This means that if you have a border around your design we will cut around that border, if your design takes the whole space of the fabric, then we will neatly cut around the edge of that image. Please be aware, when we cut along the line, we have to cut against the grain of the fabric. This is the standard procedure for fabric cutting. This means that with some fabrics, for example, Georgette and Mulmul, which have a slight wave in them, some fraying will occur. This is unavoidable, as the cut follows the grain of the textile. 

All of our fabrics are cut manually by hand, with the utmost care and attention. If your fabric has a slightly uneven look on the edges or a touch of fraying, this does not indicate a flaw in the textile. It is not always possible to achieve a perfectly straight cut with certain fabrics, so please do bare this in mind when it comes to your design. If you have any queries or would like to know about our cutting methods in more detail, please get in touch and we will be more than happy to discuss them with you.

Please note: As we make everything by hand, all sizes may vary slightly.

For further information about our fabrics see our FAQs.

How do the boy's and girl's fits differ?

The boy's and girl's t-shirts have a very similar casual fit. For the girls' larger sizes, the t-shirts are slightly more fitted.

Which parts can I design?

You can design every part of these printed children's t-shirts. That includes the front, back, both sleeves, neck rib, and a label inside.

What is the fabric like?

We use our Soft Fashion Jersey fabric for these custom children's t-shirts. It's a midweight poly-based fabric that has a bit of stretch and is a great canvas for your designs. Best of all, it's soft for the kids.