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Ever said to yourself "Man, I wish I could find (Insert "ultimate fantasy shirt" here). But I just don't know where to buy one...(Sigh)...Guess I'll just keep looking..." ???
Well...The truth is, you don't really have to look anywhere! You can make the shirt you've been looking for and pretty much any design you can dream up with a method of printing graphics know as...
"Silk Screening"
For those of you who want to get into silk screening, its a very simple and fun way of printing designs onto fabric, paper, wood, plastics and a variety of other materials.
Here's a screenshot of the materials you might like to purchase if you don't already have them:
(See notes for details on items!)
1: A silk screening frame with mesh (Nylon mesh is what is used and comes in different gauges of fineness. 110 mesh is ideal for t-shirt making. You can buy mesh and frames at most supply stores)
2: A squeegee
3: Water Soluble Fabric Paints (Come in regular for normal use and Opaque for use on dark fabrics.)
4: Screen cleaners and De-Greasers (For prolonged life of your screen)
5: X-Acto knife
6: A Heating Iron
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Miscellaneous items you might like to have:
Photo Emulsion: This will give you a higher quality stencil. Light sensitive material, should be used in a dim environment and should not be exposed to light until dry.
200 Watt Lightbulb: This is used in conjunction with the emulsion. The light bulb exposes the light sensitive emulsion and hardens it while leaving a positive unhardened image on the screen thus creating a stencil.
(I will be covering the Photo Emulsion process in another Instructable...)
Retarder Base: Slows the drying process of the ink's
Well...The truth is, you don't really have to look anywhere! You can make the shirt you've been looking for and pretty much any design you can dream up with a method of printing graphics know as...
"Silk Screening"
For those of you who want to get into silk screening, its a very simple and fun way of printing designs onto fabric, paper, wood, plastics and a variety of other materials.
Here's a screenshot of the materials you might like to purchase if you don't already have them:
(See notes for details on items!)
1: A silk screening frame with mesh (Nylon mesh is what is used and comes in different gauges of fineness. 110 mesh is ideal for t-shirt making. You can buy mesh and frames at most supply stores)
2: A squeegee
3: Water Soluble Fabric Paints (Come in regular for normal use and Opaque for use on dark fabrics.)
4: Screen cleaners and De-Greasers (For prolonged life of your screen)
5: X-Acto knife
6: A Heating Iron
-----------------------
Miscellaneous items you might like to have:
Photo Emulsion: This will give you a higher quality stencil. Light sensitive material, should be used in a dim environment and should not be exposed to light until dry.
200 Watt Lightbulb: This is used in conjunction with the emulsion. The light bulb exposes the light sensitive emulsion and hardens it while leaving a positive unhardened image on the screen thus creating a stencil.
(I will be covering the Photo Emulsion process in another Instructable...)
Retarder Base: Slows the drying process of the ink's
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Signing UpStep 1Getting Started. The Paper Stencil Method
Alright, you have your materials in front of you and you're ready to make some prints, but wait...lets get a little organized.
Have your materials nice and neat and set up some news paper or work in an area you dont mind getting dirty with paint. Wear old clothes that you dont mind getting paint on as well. Wear some gloves so you don't get paint your hands and always remember to keep them clean. The last thing you want is to end up with a smudgy finished product...
The Basics
There are many ways to go about making a stencil for your design...
Paper Stencil: The paper stencil is the simplest way of making your design transfer to the shirt.
Using this method will render quick usable stencils. For stencils ideally you will want to have a black and white image. You will want to either print or draw these designs.
(ADVICE: When cutting a stencil, Make sure you leave areas where the white parts of your image stay connected to the entire piece of paper or they will fall out along with the black parts. You only want to cut the black parts of your image. See notes for more tips)
When you have the stencil ready, cut along only the black or negative parts of the image. This is where the paint will flow through and end up on your garment. Be careful not to cut the white as this will act a the negative parts of the image and will block unwanted paint from going onto your shirt.
Have your materials nice and neat and set up some news paper or work in an area you dont mind getting dirty with paint. Wear old clothes that you dont mind getting paint on as well. Wear some gloves so you don't get paint your hands and always remember to keep them clean. The last thing you want is to end up with a smudgy finished product...
The Basics
There are many ways to go about making a stencil for your design...
Paper Stencil: The paper stencil is the simplest way of making your design transfer to the shirt.
Using this method will render quick usable stencils. For stencils ideally you will want to have a black and white image. You will want to either print or draw these designs.
(ADVICE: When cutting a stencil, Make sure you leave areas where the white parts of your image stay connected to the entire piece of paper or they will fall out along with the black parts. You only want to cut the black parts of your image. See notes for more tips)
When you have the stencil ready, cut along only the black or negative parts of the image. This is where the paint will flow through and end up on your garment. Be careful not to cut the white as this will act a the negative parts of the image and will block unwanted paint from going onto your shirt.
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Mar 30, 2010. 10:14 AMpoonkikik
says:
cool thanks i have wanted to do this for along time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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