Silk screening t-shirts

We had a really fun 4-H weekend and haven't had a chance to sort out all the photos yet. One of the many activities we did with the club these past two days was silk screen t-shirts.
Earlier this summer I did some research on silk screening and found a really helpful video on how to do it inexpensively at home (see below). The kids made t-shirts with their friends for our camping trip in July, then again with their California cousins and now with their 4-H group.

They've enjoyed doing this so much I thought I'd share how we did it.

We used an embroidery hoop and 100% nylon material (a 'sheer' fabric - like the kind used for dance costumes - worked great for us) to make the screen.

Then the kids drew a simple design (nothing too intricate) on to a piece of paper and then traced it on to the material (securely fastened in the hoop).

We used Mod Podge and a small paint brush to 'paint' the glue on to all the areas of the screen that we did not want ink to go through. We applied two coats of Mod Podge to make sure the screen was well-covered (and it turns out after making several of them, the screen lasts longer with two coats).

We opted to use Lumiere fabric ink instead of the more typical fabric paint because it is not as sticky and less likely the clog-up the screen. The downside to the ink is that it requires heat-setting (laying an iron on the design for several seconds once the ink is dry). The kids also liked the metallic paint options with the ink and I liked that a little of it went a long way. I purchased 3 bottles of the ink at the beginning of the summer and still have 2 half full bottles after making nearly two dozen t-shirts.

We use a piece of folded, coated paper - a newspaper ad circular actually - to spread the ink on the screen. It works great.

An extra set of hands to hold the screen in place while spreading the ink is helpful.

When making letters with the homemade screen, they aren't perfect - designs are more 'forgiving' for inaccuracies with the screening. But after the paint dried on these particular t-shirts, the kids outlined the letters with glitter fabric pens and the effect was really nice. The shirts are still drying as we speak but I'm sure you'll see the final results in a future photo here ;-)

These t-shirts made by my nieces were screened with metallic ink and they liked the 'fancy shine' to them.



Silk screening: A how to video from YouTube