are you starting to think about holiday gifts? here's an easy method to silkscreen on fabric.
make t-shirts for your whole family, or all your kid's friends (a special edition t-shirt makes a great party favour)
as you may know, Lee and I have made lots of t-shirts together for his 5YO t-shirt company. this is the latest design- aimed at members of our community. we'll sell them this year at our Christmas Boutique.
it is a great way to put kids' artwork on shirts- for the child or for anyone! here are some other designs Lee has drawn that we've turned into shirts:
to make your own silkscreen you will need:
- an embroidery hoop
- curtain sheer fabric (synthetic, not stretchy, fine gauge, thin enough to see through easily)
- Mod Podge - non-water soluble craft glue
- paintbrush, pencil
- your desired image
to print on fabric you will need:
- fabric ink (i use Speedball Opaque Fabric Ink)
- a stiff paint brush
- a plastic putty knife or something similar to press down ink
- your desired t-shirt, canvas bag, fabric, etc
1. trace your image onto the curtain sheer in the embroidery hoop with a pencil. this one is Lee's drawing of our Island ferry and the block letters ISLAND.
2. using the Mod Podge, paint with glue over every space where you DON"T want the paint to go. you are leaving UNCOVERED the places where you want the paint to go through the screen onto the fabric. Let it dry overnight. Hold the screen up to the light after it's dry, make sure you don't see any little pinholes or spots that you missed- if you do, touch up your screen.
3. Put a book or a piece of cardboard inside your shirt to protect the back of the shirt. Lay it out flat with your screen centered on top. Dollop some ink on, and spread it out, pushing down through the screen with the brush. Then use a putty knife to smooth the ink and push it through the screen- concentrating on down rather than side-to-side motion.
4. carefully lift the screen off of the fabric. I find I can, with practice, do about 5 prints before I have to rinse the screen and start again if I am working quickly. you definitely don't want the ink to dry on the screen or it will be ruined. rinse the screen under cool running water with a small brush or plastic scrubbie and let it dry for another round!
5. Let dry overnight, and heat set according to the directions on the ink. i put my dry shirt into a hot dryer for one hour.
Have fun!
