the bluecotton blog

“Beware the mundane, the comfortable, the lackluster or the negative. We are, by nature, brutal with our criticisms of others. We tend to take the microwaveable, quick and easy approach to life, to problems, to challenges. Step out of your comfort zone. Find your passion.” – Stormi Murtie, The Center for Courageous Kids

Over the past 25 years, custom t-shirts have increasingly become a form of mass communication. Used for advertising and promotion, to show one’s alliegence to a team, or to champion a cause or charity, custom t-shirts give you an opportunity to share your message with everyone you meet.

One of our core values at BlueCotton is to help our customers share their message through quality custom products. When I first met Stormi Murtie, communications director for The Center for Courageous Kids, I didn’t realize that I was meeting an inspirational powerhouse that would help BlueCotton make this core value more tangible.

She told me about the 20 million dollar state-of-the-art medical camping facility in nearby Scottsville, KY and invited BlueCotton to visit and learn about their mission to provide a “cost-free, safe and fun camping experience for seriously ill and disabled children and their families.”
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As the custom t-shirt market expanded, the variety of ladies t-shirt styles and shapes grew beyond the traditional unisex t-shirt we all know and love/hate. We have choices now, ladies – and instead of taking home a unisex t-shirt and tying it off to the side like we did in the 80s, or butchering it into a more flattering style, we can buy custom t-shirts for our group that fit our shapes perfectly without modification. Lots of high school groups (dance teams, volleyball teams, cheerleaders and soccer teams) have found the perfect custom t-shirt in Junior’s sizing at BlueCotton.com. I’d like to give you a few tips about placing a custom t-shirt order for ladies, my secret weapon in sizing up a ladies t-shirt, and the difference between Women’s and Junior’s t-shirts.

The most important thing to note is women’s sizing is different than men’s sizing. If you are in the process of collecting sizes for a bulk order, make sure you ask your teammates for their unisex t-shirt size as well as their ladies t-shirt size. Sometimes our customers will decide to ditch the unisex t-shirts in favor of a ladies custom t-shirt design, but have already collected sizing that was intended as a “basic t-shirt” size. I wear a medium in a men’s unisex t-shirt, and if someone asked me what my t-shirt size was, I would respond with “medium”, since it is the default. In the Anvil 978 (women’s shirt), I would choose a large. While I size up for women’s garments, not all women may do the same. A person who orders a small in a men’s shirt, may also wear is small in a women’s shirt – it’s really a personal preference. When gathering sizes for custom t-shirts for women, I suggest taking down both women’s and unisex t-shirt sizes, in case you decide to go a different route with the garment itself.
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So we’ve all seen the standard flower bouquet, the cookie bouquet and the candy bouquet. Today we bring you the new gold standard – the t-shirt bouquet. More precisely, this DIY project shows you how to craft a bridal bouquet made of t-shirts. You read that correctly. A bridal bouquet of t-shirts.

This blog post is particularly appropriate for BlueCotton’s customer service team who has no less than four weddings scheduled for 2012. There’s just so much love in customer service. Have you talked to any of our customer service people? They’re lovable for sure.

The t-shirt bouquet would also be perfect for loved ones who are allergic to flowers! It’s handmade and beautiful! Guys – don’t sleep on this one…we know you have some craftiness in you yet.

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No, not this winter. I hate those scratchy wool scarves. Really I do. I will not wear any of that nonsense this year. This year, I will put my abundance of old t-shirts to use and make myself some cute scarves. We’ve shown you how to turn your hoodie into a laptop sleeve, and how to turn old t-shirts into a pillow chair. This week we’re dialing it back a notch and keeping the t-shirts safely in the clothing realm.

Cutoutandkeep.net features no less than 33 different versions of t-shirt scarves. You can go there for inspiration and instruction in the fabulous recycled t-shirt circle scarf! Lots of ideas, colors and great photos that helped me to plan color combinations. Which t-shirts will you rip to shreds for scarf greatness?

Ninthandbird.com wins my completely unofficial award for best DIY Recycled T-shirt Scarf photography. I love the shirt colors she chose for her scarf and how she wound the pieces together. The instructions are super-easy as well!

So let’s get started, gang! Post photos of your recycled t-shirt scarf below for a chance to win a cool BlueCotton prize.

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JC Penny Pulls “Sassy” Tee for Tween Girls

Yesterday, the women-focused entertainment blog, The Frisky, posted a brief piece calling out retailer JC Penny on a shirt targeting young girls. The shirt was printed with the statement, “I’m too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me.” Jessica Wakeman, the writer at The Frisky responsible for the post, expressed her disdain for the poor message being communicated by the shirt. Only hours later–after the post had been picked up by dozens of other news sites–JC Penny emailed a formal apology to The Frisky and notified the author that the t-shirt was being pulled from their stores and website immediately. You can read the original post here: Kill Me Now, Please: JC Penney’s “I’m Too Pretty To Do Homework” T-Shirt For Girls.

Credit Card Fraud Suspects Tracked-Down Using Logo on T-Shirt

Two New York men suspected of using a stolen credit card were tracked-down by detectives using surveillance footage. A logo on the back of the suspects’ t-shirts led the detectives to the shop where the shirts were printed. Once there, the employees of the shop were able to identify the shirts and where the gentlemen worked. You can read the full story here: APD: T-shirt logo leads detectives to two suspects with stolen credit card.

Hell’s Angels Slap Amazon with Lawsuit for Trademark Infringing T-Shirt

The infamous biker gang known as Hell’s Angels has filed a lawsuit against online retailer Amazon.com for trademark infringement. The shirt features the phrase “My boyfriend is a Hell’s Angel” and a winged symbol reminiscent of the actual Hell’s Angels logo. You can read the full article here: Hells Angels sue Amazon for selling T-shirt.

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I’m often scouring the web for some useful or interesting things involving t-shirts. Here’s a round-up of some great t-shirt related tidbits I was able to find this week.

Neo-Nazi Giveaway T-Shirts Reveal a Secret Message

A group in Germany called “Exit Deutschland” created and gave away t-shirts seemingly in support of Neo-Nazi ideals. However, a hidden message of change and tolerance was revealed after the t-shirts were washed. Check out the full article at Gizmodo.

Measure Up Your Beard with this Clever T-Shirt

The Beardly has created this fun and clever t-shirt (seen above). Where does your beard fall on a scale of “Manly” to “Beardly?”

The 10-Shot T-Shirt Cannon

I couple of months ago we shared how you could build your very own t-shirt cannon. Well, there’s always a bigger gun. Team 254 Robotics of Bellarmine College Prepatory of San Jose built this impressive 10-shot t-shirt cannon. You can read their full log of the build process on their website.

Former Threadless CTO Hired for Obama’s 2012 Campaign

Harper Reed, formerly of the popular “Threadless” t-shirt site, has joined Obama’s 2012 campaign as the Chief Technology Officer. Read the full article from the Chicago Tribune.

T-Shirt Uses Sound Waves to Power Smartphones

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