Screen-printing
You know that funny inside joke you and your friend have? Or that super awesome logo you created for yourself? Or maybe you just have an awesome design that you have always wanted to put on a shirt but didn't know how? I got you covered.
Today's post will be HOW TO SCREEN-PRINT!!! And you don't need one of those crazy expensive machines either. This is the cheapest, easiest way I've found to screen-print your own t-shirts, pants, backpacks, whatever!
In order to do this, you need:
A design
Sewing Hoops
Sheer curtains (you can get these at Walmart for wicked cheap)
Vinyl -OR- a pencil and modge podge
screen-printing paint. I use Yudu, you can get it at Joann fabrics or any craft store
scissors
SQUEEGEE!!! I love these things
Newspaper/Scrap Paper
And the object you wish to screen print upon
OK! So first thing first, we need to make our screen. Cut out a piece of curtain that is larger than the area of your hoop.
Then go ahead an put it in the hoop. You can cut off the edges after it's it.
Make sure to make the screen as tight as possible. It won't be SUPER tight, but as best you can.
Now we need to get your design on it. There is two ways to do this. You can either cheat and use vinyl (a sticker that you can make with any Cricket machine OR if you go to any sign shop they can make it for you) OR if you don't want to do that, you can use a pencil and some Modge Podge. Modge Podge is a glue you can get at any craft store.
PENCIL ROUTE:
Get your design on paper. Draw it, print it, whatever. Place the paper UNDER the curtain (hoops up so the curtain is flat on the paper), and trace the design onto your screen. A simple pencil will work fine. Keep in mind that if you want MORE THAN ONE COLOR, you need to make multiple screens. Each screen will only make ONE COLOR. Deal with it. I mean, I suppose you could do multiple colors on one screen, but it's a pain and gets messy.
Anyway, so now that you've drawn your design on there, get the Modge Podge!!! Put a scrap piece of paper under your screen, and start painting the Modge Podge on. Make sure that you only paint in the areas you DON'T want. So for instance, if you have a flower, you paint the Modge Podge around the flower.
The Modge Podge goes on white, but dries clear. When you think you're done, put it up to the light. Make sure there are NO HOLES in the Modge Podge areas. If you can see small parts that aren't covered that is NOT part of your design, paint it! Anything that does not have Modge Podge covering it WILL show up when you screen print. Take care of small mistakes now rather than after your test. You can see in the image above how the Modge Podge is on the curtain. You can still see through the curtain, but not as well as you can with the clear areas.
Once the Modge Podge is dry (stick it in front of a fan to make it dry faster if you're impatient), then the screen is ready to go. Go ahead and skip down to the TEST section.
Vinyl Route:
Congrats, you've chosen the easy way to do this. Make sure your vinyl goes on the curtain on the INSIDE of your hoop. This means the curtain is touching the table/floor/whatever surface you're working on and not hovering above the hoop.
Once the vinyl is on there, you need to cover the rest of the hoop (unless you are smart and make your original vinyl the correct size of the hoop. I wasn't, so I had to piece it out).
Once it's fully covered, your screen is ready.
Test it out
Before you screen print on a shirt, try it on a piece of scrap paper. I cannot stress this enough! This will show you EXACTLY how it will come out when you screen print. If there are holes TAKE CARE OF THEM NOW! Put more Modge Podge or vinyl on it, but fix it now. Or else you'll be cursing yourself later.
Get your item ready for screen-printing!
For this example, I'm using a shirt. Put a piece of newspaper or scrap paper inside your shirt. This way, any excess paint that bleeds through the shirt won't bleed through to the back. That would be bad! Very bad!
Screen Print time!
Line up your screen on your shirt. Keep in mind that the first time you screen print, your screen will be clean so you can move it around. But if you do more than one shirt, you have to eye ball it every time.
You probably can't tell, but in the image above I drew red lines on my hoop to help me line up the text. I needed it to be lined up perfectly because I screened it in parts. Also, this screen had been used on a bunch of shirts already, that's why it's messy. And this is a vinyl screen, and I kinda ran out of black vinyl so I added green to make sure there were no holes. Just ignore the green. Moving on!
Once the screen is where you want it, squeeze a line of paint up at the top of your screen. The paint goes a long way, so don't worry about putting too much on there unless you're making a ton at a time.
Then SQUEEGEE that sucker! I love the word squeegee. It's so cool to say. Squeegee. Anyway, make sure you put some pressure on it. The screen will keep the paint pretty even, so don't worry about that, just make sure every part gets covered. If you miss a spot, there will be a blotch on your shirt when you are done. When you are positive every area of your design on your screen has been squeegeed, pull off the screen.
Voila! It's it beautiful?!! Now be careful! The paint is wet. Place it somewhere safe so it can dry. Once it's dry, you need to stick it in the drier for like, 10 minutes. If you don't have a drier or whatever, youc an put a piece of scrap paper on top of the design an iron it for 5 minutes. Make sure to always move the iron and don't let it just sit there. It will burn your shirt if you do that, but I'm sure you already knew that. ^^
You can use your screen over and over again if you'd like, but the paint will start drying in the holes if you use it too long (over a half hour I'd say). If you plan on making a whole bunch of the same shirt, after a half hour or so stop and wash your screen off. Don't worry, the Modge Podge and even the vinyl won't wash off. Be sure to let the screen fully dry before going at it again! Then screen print away!
Hope this helped!
Today's post will be HOW TO SCREEN-PRINT!!! And you don't need one of those crazy expensive machines either. This is the cheapest, easiest way I've found to screen-print your own t-shirts, pants, backpacks, whatever!
In order to do this, you need:
A design
Sewing Hoops
Sheer curtains (you can get these at Walmart for wicked cheap)
Vinyl -OR- a pencil and modge podge
screen-printing paint. I use Yudu, you can get it at Joann fabrics or any craft store
scissorsSQUEEGEE!!! I love these things
Newspaper/Scrap Paper
And the object you wish to screen print upon
OK! So first thing first, we need to make our screen. Cut out a piece of curtain that is larger than the area of your hoop.
Then go ahead an put it in the hoop. You can cut off the edges after it's it.
Make sure to make the screen as tight as possible. It won't be SUPER tight, but as best you can.
Now we need to get your design on it. There is two ways to do this. You can either cheat and use vinyl (a sticker that you can make with any Cricket machine OR if you go to any sign shop they can make it for you) OR if you don't want to do that, you can use a pencil and some Modge Podge. Modge Podge is a glue you can get at any craft store.
PENCIL ROUTE:
Get your design on paper. Draw it, print it, whatever. Place the paper UNDER the curtain (hoops up so the curtain is flat on the paper), and trace the design onto your screen. A simple pencil will work fine. Keep in mind that if you want MORE THAN ONE COLOR, you need to make multiple screens. Each screen will only make ONE COLOR. Deal with it. I mean, I suppose you could do multiple colors on one screen, but it's a pain and gets messy.
Anyway, so now that you've drawn your design on there, get the Modge Podge!!! Put a scrap piece of paper under your screen, and start painting the Modge Podge on. Make sure that you only paint in the areas you DON'T want. So for instance, if you have a flower, you paint the Modge Podge around the flower.
The Modge Podge goes on white, but dries clear. When you think you're done, put it up to the light. Make sure there are NO HOLES in the Modge Podge areas. If you can see small parts that aren't covered that is NOT part of your design, paint it! Anything that does not have Modge Podge covering it WILL show up when you screen print. Take care of small mistakes now rather than after your test. You can see in the image above how the Modge Podge is on the curtain. You can still see through the curtain, but not as well as you can with the clear areas.
Once the Modge Podge is dry (stick it in front of a fan to make it dry faster if you're impatient), then the screen is ready to go. Go ahead and skip down to the TEST section.
Vinyl Route:
Congrats, you've chosen the easy way to do this. Make sure your vinyl goes on the curtain on the INSIDE of your hoop. This means the curtain is touching the table/floor/whatever surface you're working on and not hovering above the hoop.
Once the vinyl is on there, you need to cover the rest of the hoop (unless you are smart and make your original vinyl the correct size of the hoop. I wasn't, so I had to piece it out).
Once it's fully covered, your screen is ready.
Test it out
Before you screen print on a shirt, try it on a piece of scrap paper. I cannot stress this enough! This will show you EXACTLY how it will come out when you screen print. If there are holes TAKE CARE OF THEM NOW! Put more Modge Podge or vinyl on it, but fix it now. Or else you'll be cursing yourself later.
Get your item ready for screen-printing!
For this example, I'm using a shirt. Put a piece of newspaper or scrap paper inside your shirt. This way, any excess paint that bleeds through the shirt won't bleed through to the back. That would be bad! Very bad!
Screen Print time!
Line up your screen on your shirt. Keep in mind that the first time you screen print, your screen will be clean so you can move it around. But if you do more than one shirt, you have to eye ball it every time.
You probably can't tell, but in the image above I drew red lines on my hoop to help me line up the text. I needed it to be lined up perfectly because I screened it in parts. Also, this screen had been used on a bunch of shirts already, that's why it's messy. And this is a vinyl screen, and I kinda ran out of black vinyl so I added green to make sure there were no holes. Just ignore the green. Moving on!
Once the screen is where you want it, squeeze a line of paint up at the top of your screen. The paint goes a long way, so don't worry about putting too much on there unless you're making a ton at a time.
Then SQUEEGEE that sucker! I love the word squeegee. It's so cool to say. Squeegee. Anyway, make sure you put some pressure on it. The screen will keep the paint pretty even, so don't worry about that, just make sure every part gets covered. If you miss a spot, there will be a blotch on your shirt when you are done. When you are positive every area of your design on your screen has been squeegeed, pull off the screen.
Voila! It's it beautiful?!! Now be careful! The paint is wet. Place it somewhere safe so it can dry. Once it's dry, you need to stick it in the drier for like, 10 minutes. If you don't have a drier or whatever, youc an put a piece of scrap paper on top of the design an iron it for 5 minutes. Make sure to always move the iron and don't let it just sit there. It will burn your shirt if you do that, but I'm sure you already knew that. ^^
You can use your screen over and over again if you'd like, but the paint will start drying in the holes if you use it too long (over a half hour I'd say). If you plan on making a whole bunch of the same shirt, after a half hour or so stop and wash your screen off. Don't worry, the Modge Podge and even the vinyl won't wash off. Be sure to let the screen fully dry before going at it again! Then screen print away!
Hope this helped!
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