What happens when you bring back older printing techniques with modern technology?
Sublimation is a form of ink that turns into a gas and fuses onto the materials surface. Creating a permanent, vibrant, no crack, no peel, high quality print.
Sublimation originated in France in 1957 and gained slight traction in the 70’s. It wasn’t until the 90’s and early 2000’s where it started to gain popularity. From 2010 to the present, thanks to newer inkjet tech and industrial machinery for production and the rise of e-commerce it has been a top staple.
The issue is that most only use this print method with polyester fabric only. I’m not a huge fan of plastics or plastic blends. So I started with a white base fabric since it’s easier to work with for this type of printing. I took it a step further by creating a knitted fabric for knit sweaters and tested multiple gauges until the fabric was just right for a top sublimation layer to be applied across the fabric. Giving it a true vintage look but keeping the aesthetic of a knit sweater.
This finalized the ability to make a pattern for the sweaters and then lay sublimation over top prior to cutting, sewing and finally adding a vintage chain stitch logo done with older handheld machines.
-Gabe (Noru)
