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After becoming hooked on (and, thereby, obsessed) with Firefly, I went perusing the 'Net for fun Firefly stuff...and found that people of certain countries or regions had designed and made their own Browncoat shirts (e.g. the New England Browncoats in the U.S.). Since I couldn't find any Southwestern or Arizona shirts (and I'd been wanting to try iron-on transfer paper for a while now), I decided to try my hand at making my own. I settled on the Southwest instead of just Arizona because it's a larger area, so more people would get use out of Southwest shirts than just Arizona shirts. (Though, as you'll see in a minute, the designs can be easily changed to accomodate other locales.) So I snagged a neat image of Serenity herself (© 2002 Fox Television), as well as the Serenity logo (© 2005 Universal Pictures). Then I whipped up some nifty Southwestern designs in Photoshop, and voila--instant shirts! Here's what the two designs look like. (Design I was a total failure, which is why it isn't here.) Design II - Front
Design III - Front
I chose the third design for my own shirt, and here's what it looks like. Front of shirt (note the Serenity logo on the sleeve).
So, want to make your own? No problem! The following files are free for download (right click and save, of course). Just remember one thing: I don't own the copyright on all the images below (noted in the second paragraph on this page), and I do own the copyright of the rest; therefore, these designs are not for commercial use! They are for personal use only--i.e. use them to make your own shirts or shirts for your friends! The following are Photoshop (.psd) files, with all the elements of the design in layers so they can be easily modified at one's leisure. The names of the designs are the same as those above. Note the size of the files, especially for those who are on slow connections.
For those with slower Internet connections, don't have Photoshop, or just don't want to deal with the above files, here are some GIF files of the same designs. The quality of the images appears to still be very good, though I haven't actually printed them out myself to check. All of the following files are 1.6 MB or less.
Here is the smaller Serenity logo for the sleeve: PSD,
GIF.
Some tips for making these shirts:
- Print out low-quality, black and white versions of the designs first, just to make sure your printer doesn't cut off any part of the graphics. They work on my printer, but that doesn't mean they'll work for yours. Iron-on transfer paper is expensive, so you don't want to waste it! - Speaking of which, there are two kinds of iron-on paper: one for dark shirts and one for white shirts. Be sure to follow the directions for each type (e.g. white shirt transfers typically require the image to be reversed before printing, and I have not reversed the images here). - For black shirts, be sure to cut out the black surrounding the Serenity logo(s) and the Zia symbol (the sun-like thingy). This should be obvious, but I just want to be clear. - After the design is printed, be careful with it! It is easily scratched! I suggest making as little contact with the graphic as possible before it's ironed on. - Don't forget to remove the backing first! But even if you try to iron on the design having forgotten this, don't fret! (I about panicked my head off, thinking I had ruined the pretty picture of Serenity.) Let the design cool a bit, carefully remove the backing, and then try it again. There will be a white outline around the design, but it'll still work. (I think the white outline looks rather shiny, actually....) - When ironing on the design, don't do what the directions say and leave the iron in one place! I burned the sleeve symbol twice doing this. I suggest keeping the iron moving around the design; just make sure that it all gets about 20 seconds' worth of iron (or whatever the length of time the directions say to leave the iron on). - When you iron on the other side of the shirt, be sure to put either some cardboard or a cutting board
between the layers of the shirt--something to stop the heat of the iron from reaching the side of the shirt
you've already ironed on.
General Use/Washing/Repair Instructions I have very little experience with iron-on transfers, so I do not know how long the design will hold up or how long it will take to fade. I've currently had mine for over a month now, with multiple washings, and the only problem I've seen is that the Serenity logo on the back is lighter than it used to be. Still, though, it all looks pretty good to me! Some notes on care of the shirt: - If part of a design begins to peel off, just re-iron it for a little bit until it reattaches itself. Be sure to use the tissue-paper stuff they give you with the transfer paper. Never iron directly on the design! - Follow the washing instructions. Turn the shirt inside-out and wash with something that doesn't have
bleach or bleach alternatives. (I gently hand-wash mine with generic hand soap.) Then I wrap it in a dry
towel to get the excess water off (don't want the designs to be wet for long periods of time), and dry it
on the lowest heat setting. If you prefer to hang-dry shirts, I'd recommend at least drying it in a machine
until the design is dry; then you can hang it. According to the transfer paper instructions, leaving the
design wet may cause the colors to run (this includes rain and sweat).
I'm a scientist, so I have to test my shirt, of course! Test #1. General use: Heavy-backpack wearing; light sweating; mildly pounced on by small dog. Shirt appears just fine--the design is not scratched or damaged in any apparent way. The colors did not run (sweating). Only possible problem is that the nose of Serenity isn't smoothly bound to the shirt; don't recall if it was before; will have to wait and see if it begins peeling or not. Test #2. General use: Sweat and fadeness test (i.e. running errands in 104-degree Tucson sun) plus accidental rain test. Again, shirt appears fine. There's a slight possibility that part of it bled a little bit when I was sweating, but the bleeding was minor (and it appeared in weird places--not like normal bleeding). So I don't think sweating is a big deal, though I'd be careful. It was really hot running around in a black shirt, but it doesn't look any different. Even got rained on (lightly) while standing on the balcony; wiped off some of the rain on the design with no smearing or running. Shiny! (Still, I wouldn't recommend wearing it in a downpour, of course.) Test #3. Washing: First wash run faded the large Serenity symbol slightly, but
I don't think it has faded any more in subsequent washings. Quite frankly, I don't think anything has
faded any more, which is very, very shiny. :-]
Well, I hope this was of use to some people! If anyone wants me to make a shirt and send it to them, just drop me an e-mail! It doesn't take long to do, and it doesn't cost much, either. Enjoy, and keep flying!
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