Impressions - September 2013 - (Page 68)

talking SHOP Digital Decorating Digital Decorators Must Overcome Growing Pains Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a business based on a digital printer. By Rebecca Levine, Contributing Writer Levine recently added shirts to her designer line, and experienced a learning curve when initially choosing which styles and sizes to order. All photos courtesy of R.Levine Original Designs. All photography by Henry Bernstein, vice president of marketing, S.M. Cristall Model: Michelle Szabo Editor’s Note: Rebecca Levine, owner of R.Levine Original Designs, Cleveland, started her apparel decorating business in her basement. After hand painting scarves for the ﬁrst two years and selling them at trunk shows and similar consumer events, she knew that to grow her business, she would need a way to mass produce her work. (see “Digital Decorating Opens Doors,” Impressions, August 2013.) She decided to purchase a Mimaki digital printer and spent close to three months experimenting with the machine to get the results she wanted. Once she mastered her printing skills, she began to expand her line. 68 Impressions | September 2013 a fter successfully printing scarves on my digital printer the ﬁrst few months, I decided to branch out into shirts, as it seemed like a natural progression. I have always been into fashion and accessorizing. I rarely made things individually; rather, I always liked putting complementary pieces together. I wasn’t necessarily aiming to create matching pieces, but, instead, pull elements — such as a paisley print — from a scarf and incorporate them onto a shirt. Shirts, I quickly discovered, were trickier to deal with because of the different sizes, seams and silhouettes. So I experienced a learning curve when initially choosing from among the different styles and sizes to order. When you are a designer — especially a print designer — the cut and color of the shirt are important. My customers vary, and some prefer a ﬁtted cut because they are tired of a regular T-shirt. I also have women customers who want a shirt that is fashionable, but not so ﬁtted. I initially kept my line basic, and included cotton scarves and just a few shirts. I had already built up a reputation as “the scarf lady.” Customers love cotton because it is so comfortable and the best part about digital printing is the lack of hand that the print produces. It’s not like screen printing. People are amazed at how the print seems to be a part of the fabric. ADDING ACCESSORIES Once I ﬁgured out how to print scarves and shirts, my next addition to the line was wrap bands, which are strips of printed fabric that can be worn as headbands, wristbands or chokers. Sometimes a hand-painted button is added for interest. One of my latest experiments is printing fabric with the impressionsmag.com http://www.impressionsmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Impressions - September 2013

Impressions - September 2013
Contents
First Impressions
From the Show Director
FYI
Product Gallery
ISS Conferences
Outdoor Outfitting
Beat the Heat
Today’s Textile Ink Options
Shop Spotlight
Shop Spotlight
Embroidery Technique
Embroidery Production
Tech Tips Embroidery
Screen Printing Production
Screen Printing Graphics & Design
Screen Printing Technique
Online Directory
Tech Tips Screen Printing
Digital Decorating
Classifieds
Ad Index

Impressions - September 2013