Custom clothing labels

[Alan Gage]

I hate advertising for companies after I buy their clothing and gear. For years I've been thinking I should make my own personal labels to put over the top of theirs but I've never gotten around to it. Time to start researching. There are enough sewers (no not sewers, I mean sewers) and DIY people here that I'm hoping someone can give me some tips about what types of labels/patches work best and if there are any tips for attachment. Iron on or sew on? Buy labels and sew them on or find someone with a fancy machine that can stitch the whole thing?

Alan

 

[yellowcanoe]

My mommy used to put name tags on my clothes

 

[Odyssey]

It's harder and harder to live unbranded and logo-free. Even choosing to try is a statement itself.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/647.No_Logo

 

[Guest]

There are quite a few embroidered patches with a canoe theme.

https://www.google.com/search?q=can...b9r6HkVLth_eocancp_cVE=&imgrc=qcrLNJUwQyu15M:

The place I got my silk screening done made custom embroidered patches from client artwork.

 

[Mihun09]

I have years of silk screen experience, but alas I have no screens or other such equipment anymore. I used to do my own t-shirts, decals and whatever I wanted.

 

[Canotrouge]

My way of doing it is to buy what I believe in, companies that are ethical, that gives back, that make a difference... One that is safe and that there label is actually smaller than every one else is Patagonia.
I'm also starting to make my own gear as well. Clothing is a bit harder....

 

[Iskweo]

Duct tape....if women dont find ya handsome, they should at least find ya handy.

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

My way of doing it is to buy what I believe in, companies that are ethical, that gives back, that make a difference... One that is safe and that there label is actually smaller than every one else is Patagonia.
I'm also starting to make my own gear as well. Clothing is a bit harder....

I'm sort of ok with small logos, just a name or some initials, the thing I don't get is folk wearing stuff with giant names across them. I guess this is mostly t-shirts. When I was a teen it was cool to wear Fred Perry shirts with a small wreath logo, less was definitely more.
Though thinking about it, didn't that pesky Hudson's Bay Company start it all with those stripes!

 

[Alan Gage]

Duct tape....if women dont find ya handsome, they should at least find ya handy.

Ya know, I actually kind of like that idea.

I'm sort of ok with small logos, just a name or some initials, the thing I don't get is folk wearing stuff with giant names across them. I guess this is mostly t-shirts. When I was a teen it was cool to wear Fred Perry shirts with a small wreath logo, less was definitely more.

Same here. I blame my dad. He planted the seed in my head when I was just a kid when it first started to become popular for people to wear branded clothing around here. Simply blew his mind. I refuse to buy any clothing that's nothing but a huge logo. The small ones aren't so bad but often they're in bright and contrasting colors. Used to be you could take a seam ripper and just take out the threads of the embroidered ones but for whatever reason that doesn't seem to be as easy anymore.

The only logo shirts I ever thought made sense were Duofold tech t-shirts that Campor used to sell. They were 85/15 poly/cotton and felt great. Cheap too at under $10. You could either buy them plain or, for $2 less you could get them with a small Campmor logo on the left breast. Now that's the way it should be. If I'm going to advertise for you after buying the shirt you should be paying me. Unfortunately I went to buy more yesterday and see they're no longer being made by Duofold and the only Campmor logo t-shirts available have CAMPMOR emblazened across the chest in huge block letters.

It's harder and harder to live unbranded and logo-free. Even choosing to try is a statement itself.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/647.No_Logo

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/647.No_Logo

Brad: Please don't show me books like that. Sometimes I feel I'm dangerously close to the lunatic fringe and I try not to look over the edge.

Alan

 

[Odyssey]

No problems Alan, I always have a fresh supply on hand of hat making tin foil. I never can be too careful.

I do like the label idea. My sister in law has a programmable sewing machine that can embroider. Cool. I wonder if used machines like that come up for sale?

I prefer to stay as patch/logo free as possible. Partly preferring to remain "commercial-free", partly because I just prefer "simplicity". I wish I had my own t-shirt printing cottage industry so I could pump out alternative messages to the people, besides sports teams, corporate brands and rude jokes. Maybe just...art prints. A message without an alternative motive.

 

[Guest]

Same here. I blame my dad. He planted the seed in my head when I was just a kid when it first started to become popular for people to wear branded clothing around here. Simply blew his mind. I refuse to buy any clothing that's nothing but a huge logo. The small ones aren't so bad but often they're in bright and contrasting colors. Used to be you could take a seam ripper and just take out the threads of the embroidered ones but for whatever reason that doesn't seem to be as easy anymore.

There is probably an ageist cut off where folks don’t remember growing up with a giant block letter NORTHFACE billboard across their chest. Don’t even get me started on collecting unscuffed $200 “Jordans” or whatever.

As a kid I didn’t even have the wee Levi tag to display, I wore all knock-offs. Off-brand jeans. Fake Jack Purcell’s tennis shoes (the toe strip was a give-away different color). “Dress” shirts with a not-quite-an-Alligator on the breast, Sears-brand maybe.

The Army-Navy surplus store was my favorite clothing outlet. Navy surplus double- button wool pea coats. Anyone remember pea coats? Fatigue jackets with four big cargo pockets and, if you were lucky, some insignia still sewn on. Best shirt ever was a khaki Air Force button-down with shoulder insignia.

I may have imparted too much clothing disregard to my sons; their high school coaches kept sending them home with bused shoes and clothing from the school lost and found.

Ah Thoreau, you weirdo. “Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes”

Unfortunately I went to buy more yesterday and see they're no longer being made by Duofold and the only Campmor logo t-shirts available have CAMPMOR emblazened across the chest in huge block letters.

Well, unless you festoon a dozen embroidered patches across your chest like a Soviet General guess that ain’t gonna cover it.

The only solution for a billboard logo is to dirty that thing up. Some epoxy and varnish drips, SPAM oil grease, spilled beer, burn holes, pit and collar stains and, hey, no one is paying attention to your CAMPMOR logo.

To hide the single discreet logo (come on Alan, admit it, it’s a polo shirt isn’t it) I kinda like the embroidered-patch collection. Lots of merit badges and military patches to choose from.

Sergeant Stripes sweater. Corporal Canoe pants. Major Cold down jacket. Hey, get creative, there’s a Scouting patch for “Composite Materials”

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/Merit_Badge_ReqandRes/Composite_Materials.pdf

 

[Alan Gage]

I have years of silk screen experience, but alas I have no screens or other such equipment anymore. I used to do my own t-shirts, decals and whatever I wanted.

My mom is a graphic design instructor at the local college so that gives me a leg up on designs and logos. She used to do screen printing on her own but long ago got rid of it and a few years ago the college did the same. But she did make herself some custom clothing while she still had access. My favorite is a sweatshirt that simply says: Font Snob

Ideally I'd use my own logo rather than finding something premade. I really like this logo she made. I'd leave the lettering off for clothing:

20150811_003 by Alan, on Flickr

Duct tape....if women dont find ya handsome, they should at least find ya handy.

I've found places to order custom clothing labels but most of them are minimum orders of 200 labels. The price (~$75) doesn't seem outrageous but what am I going to do with 200 labels. Then I did a search and came up with this: http://www.tcdtape.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=CUSTOMDUCTTAPE

Whoo buddy! I wonder if it's good quality tape? I might have to give that a try. I wonder if you can get just a couple rolls or if they make you buy a whole case?

Alan

 

[Alan Gage]

The only solution for a billboard logo is to dirty that thing up. Some epoxy and varnish drips, SPAM oil grease, spilled beer, burn holes, pit and collar stains and, hey, no one is paying attention to your CAMPMOR logo.

That's the point most of my shirts are getting to and I'm in a bit of a quandry about what to replace them with now that my old stand-by seems to be discontinued.

To hide the single discreet logo (come on Alan, admit it, it’s a polo shirt isn’t it)

Nope, Tommy Bahama

Hey, get creative, there’s a Scouting patch for “Composite Materials”

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/Merit_Badge_ReqandRes/Composite_Materials.pdf

Maybe a composite fail merit badge would be more fun. Let's see, what would the picture be? Drips and runs? Epoxy slimed door handles? A custom patch for DougD of a guy standing outside the bathroom with a worried face, epoxy dripping from his hands, and smoke coming out of his pants?

Alan

 

[Canotrouge]

So, you don't want the company logo on the stuff you buy, but you put a logo on the stuff you make? I think I might be missing something here....

 

[Alan Gage]

So, you don't want the company logo on the stuff you buy, but you put a logo on the stuff you make? I think I might be missing something here....

Yes, perhaps a bit of hypocrisy there. But I like that image. It fits me perfectly. I've never put a bumper sticker on my car but that image will be going on my rear window soon. I'd feel good having that (small) image on my jacket. I have no problems advertising for myself. I'm not so keen on advertising for other people.

Alan

 

[Mihun09]

My mom is a graphic design instructor at the local college so that gives me a leg up on designs and logos. She used to do screen printing on her own but long ago got rid of it and a few years ago the college did the same. But she did make herself some custom clothing while she still had access. My favorite is a sweatshirt that simply says: Font Snob

Alan

I could easily order a screen or two and all the inks, squeegee and bits to do screening again, I did it 5 years ago for a job. Just try to figure out how to screen on textured powder coat, that was challenging and fun. Anyway, some of my issues may stem from 22 years of working with lead based paints, the various screen inks and thinners, et al. After all that exposure I am the poster child for proper PPE.

Presently pondering a company name for myself, although I have been using a logo for identification on the shop awhile, but I'm thinking a brass tag for the new boat. Branding ourselves and creating a legacy for those of us who are childless isn't the same as corporate branded everything.

 

[Odyssey]

Branding ourselves and creating a legacy for those of us who are childless isn't the same as corporate branded everything.

Absolutely agree. Just like signing a work of art or craft made from one's own hands.
I didn't mean to imply that all advertising is bad, nor that business is bad nor profits are evil. Maybe not all corporate brands are alike?
Who knows where to draw the line between "evil corporate empire manipulation" and "shucks, just plain ol' good natured ads"? Or if even a line exists? Perhaps the only real difference is in the way in which some do business. Working conditions, environmental record...Maybe that's more telling than how slick a commercial is, and how we're being romanced into supporting a brand. After all, wearing a brand is like advertising one's identity. For many the car we drive, dog we walk, shirt we wear, is all a statement of who we are, or at least who we want to be seen as being.
I live in the land of tomatoes. Well, among other things. On bicycle rides my wife and I pass fields of flowers destined for wholesale, and fields of tomatoes destined for processors...Maybe you've heard about the ketchup (catsup) wars here in Canada? Your "big bad" American ketchup king Heinz pulled out of our Ontario tomato capital of Leamington and left an empty factory behind. In walked another "good guy" American company French's who committed to using Ontario local tomatoes for their ketchup, and a media circus was born. Grocery stores and restaurants are swept up in the popular opinion tug of war. There's even a guy selling t-shirts proudly advertising the "Canadian" ketchup. I think buying local is good. I try to live on a 100 mile diet myself, but don't stick to that diet all the time. Sometimes I compromise. Maybe compromise is a dirty word. Maybe I'm "selling out to the man". I've resolved to make my own ketchup this summer. From locally grown tomatoes. No offence to Heinz or French's.
There are some logos in my life. A favourite baseball cap from some memorable days in the sunny stands eating hotdogs and sipping beer watching the Durham Bulls. A favourite t-shirt advertising my favourite (local) brewer. I'd be proud to sport a logo from the skilled canoe builders in Warren Manitoba and NW Iowa.

 

[Mihun09]

No Title

I'm fairly certain Lee Valley cannot make a brand for my existing logo... I drew it on a piece of Masonite with a sharpie and some black enamel. I have been thinking of taking up my wood burner again and possibly doing a wolf on some cedar, potential for embedding it in the bottom of a stripper.

Actually, first w/c boat rebuild I did, a Bastien Bros 15 footer, I penned this on the underside of the bow deck. I wonder if the gals who bought that boat still have it.

Christine would like me to come up with something simpler.