This article covers a step-by-step in making your own T-shirt boards.
Chip aka ‘aiScribbler’ has been airbrushing for a little over 20 quality.
years now, with a career that covers textiles, custom graph- 3. Do I possess the skills, or have the time and tools necessary
ics, sign work & pinstriping. Although he enjoys many forms of to create my own boards?
art, he especially enjoys expressing art onto T-shirts with his There are some outlets which sell shirt boards that are already
airbrush. Scrib has also developed a great love for computer cut to size, saving you the hassle and expense of creating them
generated art and web design, having designed far too many yourself. However for the cost of one pre made board you can
logos and websites to count over the years. His graphic pro- buy an entire sheet of material from which you can make sev-
gram of choice is Adobe Illustrator, cooperating with Adobe eral boards. Since you’re a crafty person with the skills and
Photoshop. Scrib and his wonderful wife of over 22 years have tools for the job... let’s just make them ourselves. Here we go:
a college-student son who serves as an associate with Scrib This how-to uses tempered hardboard (masonite) to create
in his ‘real life’ job as a minister. Over the years, I’ve used (and the shirt boards, but the methods of measurement are similar
have seen others use) all kinds of materials for T-shirt boards... regardless of the material being used.
poster board, foam-core poster board, core-plast corrugated You will need the following materials/tools:
plastic, insulation foam board, cardboard and hardboard, just * 4’x8’ (3/16” thick) sheet of tempered hardboard (Service
to name a few. variety, finished smooth on both sides)
Ideally the material used for shirt boards should be durable, * Circular saw, table saw or hand held jigsaw (just the jigsaw if
moisture resistant, smooth and not too thick. (I have shirt the lumber store cuts the panels for you)
boards which I made of cardboard that are over 20 years in * Sandpaper (a reciprocating or vibrating hand held sander is
service.) The questions I hear asked most often are: 1) What a nice touch)
material should I use for a shirt board? 2) How wide/tall * Hand drill with a 1” flat wood bit
should I make them? I’d like to address these questions in this * Tape measure (or yard stick)
little how-to. Before tackling the job of making boards, consider * Pencil and Sharpie marker
the following: * Wide masking tape (or blue painter’s tape)
1. How long will my shirt boards be in service? Am I really only * Poster board and Foam core poster board, or like material
going to make a few dozen shirts, or am I in this for the ‘long * Sharp scissors or an Xacto knife with a new blade
haul’? * Adult Medium T-shirt from which to measure and make the
2. What are my budgetary constraints? You can make shirt pattern
boards out of many materials, but some are a little pricier than * A sheet of paper to diagram your cuts
others, although expensive doesn’t necessarily mean higher
Step 1: Before we purchase a sheet (or sheets) of hardboard, we’ll need to
measure a shirt. Place a piece of poster board on a flat surface. Take an adult
medium T-shirt and lay it on top of the poster board with the sleeves opened
outward, so as to make a ‘T’, ensuring that the front of the shirt is facing up-
ward. Smooth the shirt to remove the wrinkles being cautious not to stretch
the material, notice the natural contour of the shirt. No one is rectangular
shaped (except SpongeBob), so our shirt boards should follow the natural con-
tour of the shirt, rather than forcing the shirt into an unnatural shape. Using
a pencil, lightly trace the shoulder and neck area of the shirt onto the poster
board... this will act as your template. Don’t stop tracing at the point of the
shoulder, but continue to follow the contour down the sleeve until your come to
the edge of the poster board. This single poster board template will work with
each shirt, with only a few adjustments for the larger and smaller shirts.
Step 2: After you’ve traced the shirt, carefully mark the area of the neck open-
ing. Now, about midway down the shirt, take a careful measurement of the
full width of the shirt, and record that measurement. Now, remove the poster
board and you will find the contour needed to cut the neck and shoulders.
issue26.indd 28 11/4/2009 9:35:12 AM
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