Fresh Tees to Go with Stitch Tech Tees
By Christopher Miller
LOCK HAVEN – We all wear t-shirts. They are a means to a comfortable wardrobe when a button-down dress shirt is too much for your style. They have a unique sense of style and identification. From the corporate-branded uniform, to the dad-on-the-go, tees have been around for over a century, originally starting in the late 1800’s as a way to cope with the heat, and then again as standard issue “underwear” for the U.S. Navy in 1913.
Enter Mike Hall of Lock Haven.
As many small business stories go, a man started a business. That was certainly the case with Mike.
“I started a small t-shirt business in 2023 with not a lot of start-up cash,” Hall told The Record. “I ended up winning a $1,500 small business grant through the county, took the money and bought an industrial heat press and some t-shirt inventory.”
And as they say, the rest is history.
For Mike, the plan was to get a heat press, find the best materials to use, and to take his show on the road.
“Quality is the most important thing,” Mike said. “I don’t produce garbage.”
After Mike perfected the process behind making the best t-shirt, he took his show on the road, attending craft fairs in the fall and spring months, and also working out of his workshop at home.
Mike not only works with the heat-press transfer, but sublimation (ink in the garment) works as well.
“I test and wash things before we go and sell them, I do not want things to be returned to me. These are not like the quality tees you may buy at the beach or on vacation: they are excellent quality and will last for wash after wash,” Mike urged.
The science behind making the perfect tee is relatively simple: secure top-notch transfer paper for the heat press, heat the press to 315 degrees for 15 seconds, and let it cool, peel the paper backing off, press it again with a piece of parchment paper over it, “just to lock it in, that last press really sets it into the fiber,” Hall said.
The process is a bit hotter and shorter for athletic jerseys, which requires a special kind of paper and 370 degrees of raw heat.
Stitch Tech Tees is able to do anything from custom designs, novelties, and do not charge for design work.
“I don’t require a minimum quantity number and on occasion I will provide a customer with a sample that they can see, feel, wear, and wash just to make sure they are confident with their order,” Mike said.
Another area that Mike wishes to break into is the ability to give back through his business.
“I was at a wrestling tournament in Tyrone recently, the athletic association reached out to me asking if I would be willing to press shirts on demand,” Mike said. “Let’s just say: I pressed a lot of shirts that weekend on the spot.”
By giving back, a percentage of sales were given back to the team, and Mike has plans to take this further for other organizations as well.
“I really just need access to electricity for my machine,” Mike said. “Tyrone allowed me the space, did not ask me to pay for a table, and I was able to do my craft on site for those interested in a tee, serving families on the spot.”
Mike expressed his wishes to work with other small businesses and organizations in the area.
“I want to continue to grow, I have done work for Avenue Coffee, the Lock Haven and Williamsport YMCA, Haven Barber Shop, Common Places Church, Flemington First Church of Christ, UPMC Haven Place Pep Squad, and I have plenty of room to break into local sports teams and clubs, dance competitions, and school athletics,” Mike said.
When speaking of the overall quality of the tees, Mike said that he has items he made for his young children, such as a Halloween t-shirt that was made a year and a half ago, and it still looks really nice like when it was first produced.
“I have stuff for my kids that we have tested when I was first starting out and after many washes and dries, it still hasn’t cracked or shown signs of wear,” Mike mentioned.
As for creating tees for sale at local businesses, Mike charges a fair and competitive price that allows the business room to sell it at a fair price.
“I want my brand out in the community,” he said, “and I want to promote others too, like the person who did my logo, locally known artist Joey Maguire of Prollynaut.”
Small business. Great quality. Give back. Locally produced. Those are the tenets behind Stitch Tech Tees.
Stitch Tech Tees
Lock Haven, PA
814-482-0901
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stitchtechtees
Email: stitchtechtees@gmail.com
Website: stitch-tech-tees.square.site
