If you would like a screen printed t-shirt without having to
make up aluminium framed screens or convert picture frames to screens then the
following instructions may be just what you are looking for. If not, go to www.instructables.com to find a more
involved set of instructions for screen
printed t-shirt .
Instructions to Make a Screen Printed T-shirt.
- You will need:
-
Plain light coloured t-shirt.
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Screen printing ink.
-
Pencil.
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Embroidery hoop (cheap at half the price).
-
Paint brushes (any quality, cheapies will do) the size of which will
depend on how large and how intricate your image. An artist’s brush and a
˝” and 1” paint brush may be ideal.
-
Non water soluble glue.
-
Sheer fabric or old nylons.
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Piece of unwanted fabric (for ironing) slightly larger then the image.
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Iron.
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One (or two) pair of rubber gloves. Surgical gloves are the best. They
are inexpensive and it’s handy to have a box of them around the house.
-
Image to trace. If you have a black and white image that will do
otherwise any image on your computer may be converted to a bitmap file using
a “paint” type program. You may lose some of the detail when you convert
colour to black and white. Try a few different images until you find one that
converts well (if you can sketch, then you could always add the missing
details). Need I say print it out? Ok then, print it out but make sure it is
no larger than the embroidery hoop which is no larger than your t-shirt (I
hope).
Do Your Screen Printed T-shirt Outdoors or in The Garage.
-
1.Pull the sheer fabric or the nylon very tightly over the embroidery
hoop and screw it tight.
-
2.Place the image on a bench or table and place the hoop, sheer fabric
end, down on top of the image.
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3.Trace the image with a pencil the best you can making sure it is
visible when you remove the image.
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4.Turn the embroidery hoop up the other way. The image should now be
upside down with the sheer fabric at the top of the hoop.
- 5.Now take the glue and paint all the area you don’t want printed. To
put it another way, paint all the white space within your image and allow
the glue to dry - completely.
-
6.Lay your t-shirt out flat and smooth out any wrinkles or folds. Turn
the embroidery hoop back over, centre and place it on the t-shirt where you
want the image. Make sure the top of the image is adjacent to the top of the
t-shirt. If you didn’t use the gloves when you worked with the glue then
put them on now.
-
7.Take a paint brush and sort of push the ink through the sheer fabric or
nylon. First apply the ink and then gently dab it evenly until the surface
is evenly saturated. This is referred to as stippling – the image will be
made up of little dots of ink.
-
8.Now very carefully peel the screen printed t-shirt from the embroidery
hoop as you lift the hoop from one side.
-
9.Allow the ink to dry and follow the instructions on the ink container.
In most cases you will need to iron the screen printed t-shirt on both sides
of the fabric. It may be best to put a piece of old or unwanted fabric
between the newly printed area and the face of the iron.
- And now you have your very own screen printed t-shirt.
Return to how to
t-shirt page.
Go from screen
printed t-shirt to Pepperlibido t-shirts and tops home page.
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