A few years ago, I was in “t-shirt” mode. I had this idea that I would make my own t-shirts and then maybe sell them. Mostly I was just interested in the art of screen-printing, but it turned into one of those moments where one thinks, “Can I do this, and also make money at it?”

Well, I was only semi-successful at DIY screen printing. Yes, I proudly built my own press, made my own screens, and printed a few of my own shirts. My first tee was a Hunter S. Thompson portrait, and I sold all of them rather quickly. To this day, when I wear the shirt, people stop me to ask where I got it or to say “cool shirt”.

That’s where Screenarchy comes in. It’s a business that prints shirts. I went to them a couple of years ago to see if they could “do it right” and make me a large quantity of shirts, and I chose THEM because it was a completely DIY operation, all done in some guy’s basement in a house in Minneapolis. I drove there, and picked up some super-nice t-shirts at a great price. I was very impressed with what was going on there.

Well it’s been a couple of years since I’ve seen their operation but apparently they’re still going strong and still printing tees in the basement. It just goes to show: you do NOT need a big office, a boss, a degree, or a rulebook to “make it”.

* Screenarchy has not asked me to write about them and probably wouldn’t even remember me. But they did great work and since they’re true DIY-ers I wanted to give my recommendation.

Stumble it!