Custom screen printed gear for Navy personnel at Naval Station Great Lakes, printed by veterans and delivered to base or door in North Chicago, Illinois.
The workhorse method: vibrant plastisol or water-based ink pressed through mesh, one color at a time. Best price per shirt at volume and prints that survive hundreds of washes. For Naval Station Great Lakes, that comes with delivery to base or to any North Chicago address in 5 to 7 business days.
Off post, North Chicago counts about 30,000 people, and family or veteran-org orders there ship on the same timeline as unit orders to the gate. Orders regularly split between the installation and nearby Lake Bluff, IL (2 mi), Knollwood, IL (2 mi), Green Oaks, IL (3 mi), at no difference in price or timeline.
Whether it is a full unit run or a single retirement piece, pricing is published up front, the front decoration is included in every price, and nothing goes to production until your point of contact signs off on the proof in writing.
Between the installation, North Chicago, and Lake Bluff just 2 miles away, one screen printing order often serves the unit, the families, and the booster club at once.
Anniversary shirts with the type and insignia matched to the era they honor. Mixed sizes and colors in one run are standard here, not a special request.
When the count is high and the budget is fixed, light blanks and one-color prints deliver. One point of contact owns your order from first proof to delivery confirmation.
One design across the whole formation, printed at pack pricing that drops as the count climbs. Mixed sizes and colors in one run are standard here, not a special request.
Uniform shirts that still look issued after a season of job-site laundry cycles. Reorders match the first run exactly because we keep your art and specs on file.
Runs, festivals, and booster fundraisers with published pricing so the margin math is done before the order form goes out. Packs mix garment colors freely, so squads, shifts, or grade levels can each get their own.
Mixed youth and adult sizes in one run at one pack price. The proof comes first and it is free, so what arrives is exactly what you signed off on.
This shop exists for the military community, and it shows in how orders run. Deadlines are treated like formation times, proofs are honest instead of optimistic, and when Navy units call, a person who owns the order answers.
Part of the job is refusing bad orders. When the art, the garment, or the date is wrong, saying so before you pay is the service.
Ninety seconds in the Design Lab gets you a complete number: garment, print, sizes, upcharges, and shipping, all before any contact form.
Garment choice makes or breaks the order. These are the blanks Navy units pick most, all designable online on real product photos.
The default unit shirt: heavy cotton, an 80-color palette, and a fit that survives the wash cycle. Youth and adult cuts run side by side in the same pack at the same price structure.
The clean-front fleece crew: 8.0oz, no pocket, no hood, maximum canvas for crests and block letters. The proof comes first and it is free, so what arrives is exactly what you signed off on.
When the count is high, this 4.5oz ringspun blank keeps the math friendly: $12 a shirt at volume, front print included. A real designer, not an upload widget, checks every file before it goes near production.
Half the orders we take begin as a phone photo of a sketch, an old shirt, or a sentence describing the idea. A designer turns that into print-ready vector art at no charge, sends the proof inside 24 hours, and revises it until you sign off in writing. Nothing is produced before that signature, which is why what shows up matches what you expected.
Prefer hands-on? Build the design yourself in the Design Lab on real product photos, with the running price on screen while you work.
Start the budget from the real numbers: published light cotton tee packs, front print built into every figure Naval Station Great Lakes units see.
| Pieces | Total | Each | Ship | Back print add |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 pieces | $180 | $18 ea | $18 | $4 ea |
| 15 pieces | $250 | $16.67 ea | $18 | $4 ea |
| 20 pieces | $320 | $16 ea | $20.99 | $4 ea |
| 25 pieces | $375 | $15 ea | $20.99 | $3 ea |
| 50 pieces | $700 | $14 ea | $22.99 | $2 ea |
| 100 pieces | $1200 | $12 ea | FREE | $2 ea |
Three add-ons exist and all are flat per piece: the back print at the table rate ($3 from 25 pieces, $2 from 50), the oversized front at $3 or $2 depending on quantity, and extended sizes at $6 or $4. Nothing else gets added. The Design Lab applies every rule automatically, and the written quote confirms the total before anything is charged.
Kick it off however suits you: describe the concept in the quote form or drop your art straight into the Design Lab. Polish is not required at this stage.
One day later the proof is in your inbox: your art, your garment, your colors, at true print scale. Revisions never cost a cent.
Nothing goes to press until you approve the proof in writing. What you sign off on is exactly what prints, that is the whole point of the proof.
Five to seven business days covers printing and delivery. Tight timeline? Rush gets a truthful quote, not a hopeful one.
Everything about the run gets archived, which turns every future reorder into a one-line email.
Count 5 to 7 business days, production included, for tracked delivery to Naval Station Great Lakes and North Chicago addresses. APO and FPO addresses ship at the same pace, so deployed elements are covered. At 100 pieces shipping costs nothing; under that, the flat rates in the table are the whole story.
The roster is the packing list: every size counted into the box, tracking issued at pickup, and any shortage or transit damage made right at our cost without argument.
The extended-size rule fits in one line: add $6 per piece below 25 total, $4 per piece at 25 or more. The Design Lab applies it automatically.
Finality is the nature of custom work: no returns once it prints. Your protections live earlier in the process, in the free proof and the written approval that nothing skips.
The minimum order is 10 pieces. Your unit at naval station great lakes can order ten today and a hundred next month; the packs just make each piece cheaper as the count grows.
Vector files such as AI, SVG, EPS, and PDF are ideal. A 300 DPI PNG with a transparent background also prints clean. If all you have is a screenshot, we redraw it free.
Yes, APO and FPO delivery is standard here, not an exception, and every state in the country ships the same way.
Yes, and without giving up your email: the Design Lab keeps the complete total, packs to shipping, on screen while you design.
Count 5 to 7 business days from approval to doorstep, production included. Tighter date? Ask about rush and you get a straight answer before paying.
More answers on the full FAQ page.
See everything we deliver to Naval Station Great Lakes, browse screen printing across Illinois, or read the full screen printing service page. Also at Naval Station Great Lakes: Embroidery, DTG and DTF Printing, Sublimation, Banners and Signs, Custom Design.
The sequence never changes: free 24-hour proof, your written sign-off, then production at the price you already saw.