Step 3: Keep in mind that the T-shirt should be tight, but not overly stretched
onto the board. You have placed too much time into creating and painting the
design to have it look contorted by a shirt which was over-stretched. Granted,
the customer’s gut might warp the image, but we can’t control that. Let’s con-
trol what we can by making the shirt board the correct size. Your shirt mea-
surements provide the width of your shirt, but they are not quite wide enough
for the board.
For the shirt to be ‘just right’ in tightness, add 2” to the overall width measure-
ment. Carefully cut your poster board along the shoulder and neck contour lines
using your scissors or Xacto... follow the contour exactly to the outer edge of
the poster board. I have found that folding the poster board in half, vertically be-
fore you make your cut provides uniform shape to the shoulder. Also, curve into
the neck, rather than creating a harsh corner... your neck has a natural contour
and no sharp edges. (Sorry SpongeBob.)
Step 4: Using the poster board as
a template, I like to use a piece of
foam-core poster board or foam in-
sulation board to create a finished
template. (For this tutorial, I used
1/2” insulation foam board.) Lay the
poster board onto the firmer mate-
rial and transfer the lines, then cut
the foam board with an Xacto or ra-
zor knife. The purpose in this step is
to prevent wasting your hardboard...
play around with the contour of the
neck until it fits the way you need it
to, and then use your foam board
cutout as a final template. The firm-
er material will allow a ‘test fit’ of the
shirt, where the poster board is too
weak to serve that purpose.
Step 5: Most T-shirts go up or down in 2” increments. You can
overall width. This is the width of your finished hardboard shirt
note the measurements and increment steps for my shirts,
board. The next size up should be 2” wider, while the next size
which I’ve included at the conclusion of this article. We mea-
down should be 2” smaller. An Adult small and a Child XL are
sured the width of an Adult Medium T-shirt and added 2” to its
essentially the same size in width, so one board will do both
sizes.
Step 6: Now for more planning.
Take your sheet of paper, and draw a panel proportionate to the 4x8 sheet.
(You may opt to do this digitally, as I did, using Adobe Illustrator or a similar
program.) Carefully map out each cut of the hardboard necessary to create a
rectangle for each shirt board size. Plan carefully, ensuring the least amount
of waste possible as you place your panels into the diagram. I’ve included my
diagrams, keeping in mind that there may be a more efficient use of the board.
It worked for me with very little waste. I prefer my shirt boards to be a height
of 34”, so I create every shirt board at a length of 34”. Keep in mind that the
finished board loses some height due to the contour of the shoulder, creating
a ‘neck’ rising above the shirt. My tallest shirts are only 30” tall, so there is
about 1” to spare at the bottom of the shirt board of my largest shirt.
issue26.indd 29 11/4/2009 9:35:44 AM
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