While we are not Vogue or Vanity Fair, we do our best to stay on top of the latest Christian fashion trends since we believe that integrating these trends into your designs (for custom t-shirts and beyond) may have a significant positive effect on your business.
Faith based t-shirts is one item that has become much more prevalent nowadays. Recent years have witnessed enormous expansion in texture and depth, from puff embroidery to puff screen printing. We briefly mentioned it in a previous blog article on winter fashion trends, but since then, many of the Jesus graphic tees order requests have come in, so we thought it would be worth going a little further. Here is all you have ever wanted to know about puff and how to use it in your next design, so look.
What is Puff ink?
Screen printing ink combined with a foaming ingredient that activates with heat is known as puff ink. Just like a regular print, the ink is printed flat; however, once the garment is dried, the ink expands and starts to puff upward. This puffing technique works well on men’s and Simple Christian Shirts , hoodies, or crewneck sweatshirts.
How to apply puff ink on your next design
Up to the drying phase, puff ink printing functions similarly to normal printing (and may be used on most base garments/fabrics). It does, however, provide some unusual chances for personalizing your design. Consider a two-color design. You may print one color in regular water-based ink and the other in puff ink for impact. The puff pieces will stand out even more if contrasted with other flat elements in your design.
When it comes to puff ink, a decent generalization is that the bigger/thicker, the better. Puff excels in situations requiring bigger components, such as massive graphic elements or text with dense lines. A bigger design will have a greater 3D effect; smaller pieces and fine lines may be more prone to warping. The hazards of printing puff on a fine-line pattern may outweigh the benefits.
Regarding puff ink, there is one further (possible) difficulty to be aware of: color matching. In rare situations, the additive that causes your design to puff out of the fabric will also slightly change the ink’s color, making it more difficult to get a precise Pantone match (although it is still very near).
How about puff embroidery?
With a foam cut-out in the form of your Christian clothing design and a thick layer of embroidery using regular thread in the color of your choosing, you can get a puff embroidered effect. The thread fully encircles the foam and weaves over and around it to give it a smooth 3D appearance. This technique has a particularly positive effect on unique hats, polos, & zip-ups.
How to use puff embroidery in your next design
The same rule we apply to puff ink also holds here: the thicker the lines, the better. We also find that utilizing puff embroidery sparingly—for example, on the left and right chests of a Christian t-shirt or sweater, the front of a cap, etc.—tends to provide the finest results. Still, we have also created bespoke hoodies with full-front puff patterns (like the hoodie depicted above)!
Why puff?
- Bold & distinctive – In a world where it is more difficult than ever to stand out, the puff is ideal for statement pieces and elevating basic designs.
- Minimum work, maximum effect – The success of basic designs in puff ink applications is excellent news for you (and your design team). Let the puff take care of drawing attention rather than stressing yourself out trying to create a completely original design. Even simple block writing over the chest of a faith t-shirt or sweatshirt can provide a surprising amount of wow factor fluff.
- Get ahead of the wave – Although puff-in clothing has been around for a while, its popularity is now rising, and this trend is only anticipated to increase. By including puff in your design now, you can avoid the inevitable wave of puff that will arrive during the following six months.
Taking care of your puff design
We advise extra caution when using specific customization techniques on printed or embroidered puff patterns.
We advise washing your puff print from the inside out in cold water to preserve it and extend its lifespan. Any excessive heat (such as direct steaming, conventional tumble drying, ironing, etc.) might change the puff effect; therefore, drying on a cold setting or hanging out to dry will greatly extend the garment’s life.
