How to Silk Screen T-Shirts
Making a personalized silk screen shirt is a way of creative expression. You can make any design you want and let everyone see your artsy side. Here are some simple steps you can follow in making a silk screen shirt.
Things you’ll need
For Making a Silk Screen:
Wood
Sand paper
Wood glue
Screen mesh
Tacks or staples
For Creating a Stencil:
A design
Transparency films
Knife or Cutter
For Printing the Image on the Shirt:
Shirt
Textile paint
Squeegee or sponge
Masking tape
Steps:
Gather all the materials you need and find a suitable working area.
Making a silk screen
There are pre-made silk screens that you can buy, but if you don’t like to buy any, you can just make one.
Determine the size of wood frame you need.
Cut the wood to your desired length.
Put together the wood pieces to make a frame.
Use wood glue to secure the frame. You can also just nail the sides together.
Smooth the sides with a sand paper.
Stretch the screen mesh on one side of the frame.
Secure the the screen with tacks or staples.
Create a Stencil
Draw your design on a clean white sheet of paper.
Trace your design carefully on the transparency film using a cutter or knife.
You may opt to directly draw your design on the transparency film.
Printing
Secure the transparency film on the silk screen with a masking tape
Make a test print by putting the frame on a newspaper or sample shirt with the screen under the wooden frame.
Put enough textile paint on the frame.
Spread the paint over the stencil using a squeegee or a sponge.
Lift the frame and check if you achieved the design you want.
If not, you may have to redo your stencil otherwise, proceed with printing your design on the shirt.
Place the frame over the shirt with the screen facing down.
Spread the paint over your design using a squeegee or sponge.
Carefully lift the frame.
Let your shirt dry.
Tips:
You can make several stencils for complex designs.
You may also opt to have your design printed on film positives and use this as your stencil.
If your using multiple colors, wait for one color to dry first before adding another layer of paint. This will prevent paint from smudging and ruining your work.
There are silk screen shops who will gladly make stencils for you. You just have to give them a copy of your design.
Silk screen shirts are good personalized gifts and give away for different occasions.
Keep your frames in good condition so you can use them again the next time you want to make another silk screen shirt.
Making silk screen shirts is easy to do. Gather your friends together and spend an afternoon making personalized shirts.