MySQL query finding values in a comma separated string

Take a look at the FIND_IN_SET function for MySQL.

SELECT * 
    FROM shirts 
    WHERE FIND_IN_SET('1',colors) > 0

This will work for sure, and I actually tried it out:

lwdba@localhost (DB test) :: DROP TABLE IF EXISTS shirts;
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.08 sec)

lwdba@localhost (DB test) :: CREATE TABLE shirts
    -> (<BR>
    -> id INT NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
    -> ticketnumber INT,
    -> colors VARCHAR(30)
    -> );<BR>
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.19 sec)

lwdba@localhost (DB test) :: INSERT INTO shirts (ticketnumber,colors) VALUES
    -> (32423,'1,2,5,12,15'),
    -> (32424,'1,5,12,15,30'),
    -> (32425,'2,5,11,15,28'),
    -> (32426,'1,2,7,12,15'),
    -> (32427,'2,4,8,12,15');
Query OK, 5 rows affected (0.06 sec)
Records: 5  Duplicates: 0  Warnings: 0

lwdba@localhost (DB test) :: SELECT * FROM shirts WHERE LOCATE(CONCAT(',', 1 ,','),CONCAT(',',colors,',')) > 0;
+----+--------------+--------------+
| id | ticketnumber | colors       |
+----+--------------+--------------+
|  1 |        32423 | 1,2,5,12,15  |
|  2 |        32424 | 1,5,12,15,30 |
|  4 |        32426 | 1,2,7,12,15  |
+----+--------------+--------------+
3 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Give it a Try !!!

FIND_IN_SET is your friend in this case

select * from shirts where FIND_IN_SET(1,colors) 

The classic way would be to add commas to the left and right:

select * from shirts where CONCAT(',', colors, ',') like '%,1,%'

But find_in_set also works:

select * from shirts where find_in_set('1',colors) <> 0