Best Brand Of Sweatshirt?

[susiestar]

This year I am going to make 2 gifts of decorated sweatshirts. 23-21 yrs ago I painted the lines of a Christmas tree on shirts and then sewed buttons and beads on them to make gifts for those I love. I actually got buttons from my childhood bff's gma that came off of bff's fave clothes from when she was little and used those. Each shirt had very personalized buttons that represented something to the recipient. Most came with a letter explaining them.
Last year two people posted pics of their shirts on their FB pages. I had no idea one of them still had hers, or that the other one still enjoyed hers (baggage between us on her side led me to think she had stopped wearing it). That really touched me.

This year I am making one for J and for my female cousin who is in college. I used Hanes from WalMart when I first did them, but now I would like to use a better quality shirt. I am thinking Land's End maybe.

Does anyone else know of a good quality brand that holds up better than a Hanes type from WM? As these have ended up as heirlooms worn 2 decades later, I would like to use the best shirt I can. Thanks!

 

[DammitJanet]

Well you cant go wrong with Land's End. I honestly didnt realize that there were many separate sweatshirt makers...lol.

 

[AnnieO]

Honestly, I love Hanes. I have never had one fall apart on me! And I, too, used to decorate sweatshirts... Mom still has several I made for her.

 

[BusynMember]

That's a great, loving idea for a present, Susie. How do you do it? I'm low on money this year and need to think of something low cost, but that expresses my love. Now I'm not a sewing pro...lol...but if you...or anybody...has an idea of a hand-made present I can do seperately for all that is not hard to make, please do share.

Susie, I'm with AnnieO. I love Hanes and have had good luck with it. It's so soft and warm. I think you'd do fine with Hanes. You are such a thoughtful person.

 

[AnnieO]

MWM, low-cost gifts are something I love... Plus I am really "artsy-fartsy". Sweatshirts in a myriad of colors are cheap at Wal-Mart, and then you buy fabric paint - I think the two big brand names are Tulip and Scribbles - and you can either use a paint brush or the tip of the bottle. It doesn't have to be fancy - an upside-down "J" is a candy cane... an oval turns into a penguin really easily. (And if you are weird like me, you put antlers on the penguins and you have reindeer.)

You don't have to sew anything on if you don't want to. Or you can use an iron-on applique, and embellish with the fabric paint. Or rhinestones. Or whatever tickles your fancy. They even have iron-on rhinestones now!

Now... The fabric paint... Comes in puffy, or shiny... Iridescent, glitter, gel/transparent... Even matte. It runs from 79¢ to $1.50 a tube/bottle, but it will last you. For the penguin/deer a couple years ago, I used black, red, yellow and brown. More black than anything. 8 tiny reindeer (1 1/2") and one huge one (7") only took about 1/4 the bottle of black and that included outlines, filling in the wings, etc.

(I made Big Sister and Big Brother shirts for Belle and Pat when Rose was born, too.)

FWIW, I can't draw a straight line with a ruler and a CAD program. I find pictures online, reduce them to black-and-white outlines, reverse them and print them - then I can iron them on, because the printer toner melts like a transfer!

 

[BusynMember]

Thanks so much, AnnieO!!! I think I'll do that! And I wonder if there are stencils to make it even easier...lol. Both of you are lifesavers to me. I was really worried about Christmas this year. I am glad all my kids are seventeen/up. The only one who still believes in Santa is my grandson

 

[AnnieO]

Stencils - you can use any kind of stencil you like, too. Even make your own!