Trip to Write On

Since the spring of 1989, the first graders from our school have been designing class t-shirts. My collection of shirts includes the names of every child I have had in my class for the last 20 years! It's quite a sight when I hang them all up outside our classroom. After making the design, we then go on a short trip to Write On, a local graphic design, printing and embroidering company, to see how our original artwork is transferred to our shirts. Owners Peggy and Don do a great job of setting up the tour, and their employees are very patient with the endless questions from curious first graders.

Here are the designs from the last few years...

and here is my whole collection!


This year, we started the tour with a welcome from Peggy and Don as they showed us some of the products that Write On can make, including mugs, mouse pads, shirts, hats, jackets, sweatshirts, photo enlargements, buttons, stickers, key chains, and more. Then we divided up into four groups to rotate through the various work stations.

The kids listened very carefully to everything Don and Peggy told us, and they were very excited to start our tour.

We started out seeing how transfers are put on mugs. The mugs get very hot in this machine!

Then we saw a very old sewing machine that they use to stitch patches and letters on Bomber letter jackets. This machine used to be a foot-operated treadle machine, but it has been converted to electricity. It has to be very tough to sew through those thick jackets!

We learned that computers are very important. All of the artwork is generated by a graphic designer who works with a special computer program. The designs are put on discs, which are then put into the drive of the sewing machines. The information on the discs tells the machines what color of thread to use, and what design to make - amazing!

The kids in each group got to choose clip art to make a picture on the computer.
The finished pictures were sent to the printer and are now hanging in our classroom.

We got to make some funny faces, too, by changing features on this picture. The woman looked really silly with horse teeth and three eyes!

This machine was sewing designs on jackets.

It could go fast or slow.

Look at all the thread colors!

This machine was really loud when it went fast. It could sew hundreds of stitiches a minute.

We also saw the vinyl sign making department.

This machine could cut vinyl with a very sharp blade. We didn't touch!

Finally, we got to see our design being transferred to our t-shirts. Most of them were already done, but several shirts were left to demonstrate the heat transfer process. Our design looked really weird because all the printing was backwards before it was transferred.
First, the shirt was pre-heated.

Then, the transfer was place in just the right spot and it was heated again. A timer was set so the shirt wouldn't burn, and it made a loud whooshing noise when it was done.

Then the transfer was peeled away and, like magic, all the ink was transferred to the shirt!

Looks good, doesn't it?

We got to feel it when it was still hot, and it isn't backwards anymore!!

Don met with us again at the end of our tour, he gave us a treat, and then we headed back to school, just in time for playtime and lunch. One of the kids summed it all up: "That was the best trip ever!" Thanks, Write On, for our awesome t-shirts and another great trip!

And here we all are in our brand new shirts! We will be wearing these shirts for our spring concert, class trip, and Phy. Ed. Fun Day. It's really easy to tell where each first grader belongs since each class has a different color. We'll look like a giant rainbow on the stage for our concert!

Once again, the kids just couldn't resist doing a "goofy face" picture.
What a crew!