Today’s topic is about reverse print Hawaiian shirts and
some of the myths and misconceptions that surround them. If you ask someone what reverse print means to
them you will get a variety of responses, with many responses hinging on what trade
or task that they are actually familiar with.
People familiar with the technique of printing images or
text on the underside of a transparent film or part of a lamination process may
say that’s their definition of “reverse print” and to others the modification
of your printer properties to achieve a “reverse print” A.K.A mirror image of your
fonts, is the proper definition. Both definitions are correct, as well as many
others.
But for the sake of discussion I am going to stick with a
topic I am an expert on, and that’s Hawaiian apparel, in particular Hawaiian shirts.
We sell all sorts of Hawaiian apparel at Wave Shoppe including some reverse
print Hawaiian shirts, but you would be amazed by how many people that wear
them yet have no idea how they are made. One common myth is that the shirts are flopped
inside out and another myth is that the fabric is somehow printed so that the
pattern is muted and dull.
Truth be told the concept is extremely simple. But first let’s
do a quick review of how fabric is printed so this will make complete sense to
our readers. When a fabric is printed the rolls of white cotton are screen
printed by a machine, usually in a continuous run. The coloring or dye lot is
pressed into the exposed layer of the raw fabric, and then dried, producing the
vivid and often colorful patterns that you see in the shirts.
When the dye is applied it’s absorbed by the fabric and how
saturated the fabric get depends on the fabrics gauge and or thickness and
thread count, as well as the pressure used during application.
On a good print job the dye will almost ooze from the
underside (non-printed side of the fabric) producing a dull toned down, yet
mirror image of the design being applied, as illustrated below.
So at this point we have covered the basic aspects of
printing fabric. The soft rule for when you are selecting candidate fabrics for reverse print Hawaiian
shirts is that you focus on the undersides of the fabrics (as shown above) and try imagine what they
would look like as a shirt.
With a little experience under your belt you will
come to know that not all fabrics are good candidates, some have too many
dominant colors that have bleed through and some don’t have enough. What you don’t
want is a shirt that is so poorly dyed that all you see is the thread weave or
worse, a visibly low thread count. You objectives are to make a muted looking Hawaiian
shirt that looks a bit more stylish than a ghetto looking shirt that was simply
flipped inside out.
Once you have made your selection you’re off to the races. All
that’s left is to lay out the layers of fabric with the original printed side
down and then start cutting the components of the shirt. Sewing will put it all
together and presto, you will have a reverse print Hawaiian shirt! The shirt we
used for illustration purpose’s is for sale and is appropriately referred to as
our Blue Green Reverse Print Hawaiian Shirt which is a big hit with our reverse print customers.
