Let Your Imagination Run Wild With...SpreadShirt!

There have been many times that I have gone shopping or looked online in the hope of finding something specific to wear. For example, I recently had an obsession with bird print. I wasn't sure what I wanted, whether it be a dress, shirt or jumper, but I wanted a nice bird print all over it. Do you think I could find anything that suited my taste and actually suited me when I put it on? No! To be honest I don't think I found that many choices and anything I did find that was anywhere near to what I was looking for, was way out of my price range! Anyway, I didn't think anything of it, as shops on the high street and online are always bringing out new items, so I just thought I would have another look another time.

A while ago, I was introduced to an online company called: 'Spreadshirt'. They are a company that offer their users the chance to design their own clothing items, such as t-shirts, hoodies, accessories and gifts. I designed a t-shirt myself and experienced the whole service of the website, so I thought I would do a review of each part of the service for you:

Choice
Spreadshirt have over 100 base items on their website for you to choose from. They have many categories from men, women, kids and babies to accessories and fashion brands. Each category has lots of items to choose from in which you can adapt the size and colour to suit you. I chose a long sleeved black v-neck top/t-shirt, as I am always looking for tops with longer sleeves and I knew I would get a lot of use out of it.

Design
When designing your item you can search for a specific design that you might have in mind or you can browse their categories to find something that you like. They have many categories from funny, sports and vehicles to animals, nature, computers, baby and family. You don't have to use their designs though, you can upload your own design or photo and also add custom text/slogans if you want to :-). Whatever design you choose, you can customise it by changing the colour, effects, place the design on the item wherever you want and flip the design. You can also use different designs on one item if you wish and if your item has more than one side you can place designs on the front, back and side of such item. The designing process is really easy and everything is on screen, presented simply so you can play around until you are happy :-). As stated above, I have wanted a bird print item of clothing for a while and I did eventually find a dress I liked in Primark that had little blue birds all over it but I wanted a t-shirt aswell. So as you can guess, I went for a bird design! They had quite a few to choose from on the website so I used some of their designs. I used two different designs, one for the front and one for the back, as I wanted it to look like the birds were flying around on the top. I changed the colour to a gorgeous blue, positioned the designs where I wanted them and changed the size.

Prices and Payment Methods

The price can differ depending on which base item and design you choose. Other aspects may also affect the price, such as: if you have the design in more than one place. My black v-neck top had a base price of £18.90 and shipping to my country (based on where I live and how much my order was) was £4.00. My total price after design and shipping cost was £28.29. So with the shipping cost being £4.00 (see shipping costs to where you live), the actual designing of my top cost £5.39. Not bad to get a top that I really wanted and love! Like I said, the prices differ but when you are choosing your base item from the Spreadshirt designer you can find out base costs etc there. Otherwise you can just design your perfect item and see if the total price suits your budget :-). In terms of payment methods, you can pay via credit/debit card, Paypal, bank transfer or you can use your commission from your account (if you have enough), if you are a shop owner or a marketplace contributor for the site.

Confirmation and Shipping

You will receive a confirmation email shortly after you have made your order on the website. It will basically just confirm what you have ordered along with the price and tell you to let them know of any errors straight away. It also provides you with a link to check the status of your order, so you will be able to see where about it is on the production line in terms of being produced, completed and dispatched. You will then receive an email when your item has been dispatched, which doesn't take long at all. Within the dispatched email it will also tell you approx how long it should take to get to you. As I live in the UK, this is normally 5-7 days using standard delivery (see approx delivery times to where you live). My item took 9 working days to get to me. I don't mind waiting a few extra days from the delivery date I am given when ordering from a company online because you can't always rely on mail order firms to deliver on time, unfortunately! When I received my item it came in a plastic enveloped bag and was secured shut. The plastic was quite strong, I didn't use scissors, I just pulled it apart and it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, which is a good thing! A receipt came within the package with all the details of my order on and a little note/stamp to say that my item had been quality tested and 7 people produced my item :-). That shocked me, I was like '7!', what were they all doing ha ha, but who am I to question this, it's probably why the orders don't take that long to be produced and are dispatched so quickly, so good on em! The actual top came within another plastic bag which had care instructions on, which I will tell you about further on.

Fit, Quality and Care

I always feel apprehensive trying things on that I have bought online, as it's not quite the same as seeing and trying things on in high street stores, so I always worry it's not going to suit me or fit me properly. I was sooo pleased when I tried my item on, it fitted perfectly. It wasn't too tight and wasn't too loose, considering I had ordered a large. I didn't want a tight top, I wanted one that was a comfy, loungy kind of top, but something that was still suitable enough to go out during the day in. I am a size 12 so I ordered large and it fits perfectly (you can see in the pictures above how it fits), so keep this in mind if you are ordering similar items and are the same size as me. Obviously, doing a review I wanted to check out all aspects of the top and design, so I thoroughly inspected (look at me!) the bird motif and they were perfectly placed on the top, you couldn't see any of it peeling or lifting off in places, I was really pleased! I also washed the top to be able to tell you about how it looks after a wash. On the care instructions that come on the bag it comes in, it said to wash the top inside out at a maximum of 30 degrees, which is what I did. The top turned out exactly the same as it did when I first received it, which I was really relieved about to be honest as I love the top. I am not sure how long it will stay pristine for as there are other motif tops and pyjama tops that I have and over time during wear and tear and more washing the motif has become a bit lifted or crackled, so I will have to see how it goes with this top. I will probably wash the top at a lower temp in the future just to keep it in pristine condition for longer, but I wanted to do it at the maximum temp it said the first time so I could test it for this review. My top is also 98% cotton and 2% spandex, so it is really soft and cosy! On the care instructions, it advises not to tumble dry or dry clean my item and to iron inside out, at medium heat, without steam. It also advises against ironing shirts with multiple designs to prevent them sticking together. When I washed my top, luckily it was a nice day, so I put it on the line outside to dry. To be honest, I doubt I will ever dry clean this top or iron it because from the line the other day it looked ready to wear straight away and it was hung up straight away so there really wasn't or isn't any need to iron it. This might differ with other items and there may be different care instructions for other items aswell.

If you are a budding designer or just want to design something you have always been looking for then design your own t-shirt and/or other items and let your imagination run wild! Not only is it fun but when you have your item and are wearing it, knowing you designed it feels great :-).

If there is anything else you want to know regarding my experience with Spreadshirt then feel free to ask me or check out the website for more information.

Let me know if you go ahead and design anything of your own, it will be cool to see what you come up with!

Gem XxOo

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