hettinger_rl Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I'm thinking of trying to make some t-shirts. Just wondered if anyone had tried it and what their experiences/tips would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heycurly Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I did some t-shirts a few years ago. Lots of work but nice results, especially if you like the vintage look.My method was really old school, which involved stretching a screen over a frame, placing it over the logo, then 'painting out' the negative spaces. Once the template was complete I used a flat blade spatula to press the paint into the fabric.I'll see if I can dig up the shirts and post some images... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddball Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 My experience was, it sounds like a good idea, but was such a pain in the butt, cleaning the screens etc. Honestly, now this was years ago when I was younger, but I couldn't get more than two or three good prints out of a screen. If you want to screw around with something, that's fine, but if you're going to do more than a couple or multiple designs, take it to a shop and save yourself time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supercoollimp Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 I screen print professionally in an actual shop. Experience one was hands on in college when i took the course and it was pretty basic. Experience number two was practice with basic go buy it yourself mini work boxes from a craft shop for $50 that only used water based ink. That was very time consuming and took way too much to get such a mediocre result no matter what you did. Experience three was when I ran my own business with some hand crafted equipment and some purchased professional equipment. I learned from the hard knocks in life over two years with this experience and unless you're literally willing to pour $5000 plus into it just to start out and countless hours of time and hard work I don't advise it. Your heart really has to be in it to do it this way.Experience four working in an actual print shop for the last year and a half. This is the way to go.In closing if you want to fiddle around just to see what you can do go for it. If you want to make small orders for you and some pals go for it. If you actually want to make big orders like more then 20 shirts get it done professionally. In the long run you'll save time, money, and a big headache. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heycurly Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Yeah, totally agree with these last two. DIY screen printing is only good for a few shirts before the screen is unusable. You'll never get a crisp, clean product, but like I said, if vintage is your thing, then by all means. If you're thinking of doing a whole run of shirts for sale, or trying to outfit a team, get the pros to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyraven8 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 If looking for low tech one-offs for fun could try the freezer paper stencils.Tried one for the first time recently on a blank used shirt(I used Plaid brand "Simply Screen" water-based screen printing ink for mine but can use fabric paint):there's many out there (search 'freezer paper stencil' or 'freezer paper screen printing') but here's one tutorial online:http://egl.livejournal.com/15958144.html?thread=349975936 "Just when I thought you'd said the stupidest thing, you keep on talking" - Hank Hill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewcandraw Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I live in Los Angeles, and there's usually a local art supply shop or press offering a one-day class on silkscreening. Groupon or LivingSocial is a good place to find stuff like this. I took one just to check out the space and the people, and what I do is rent studio space by the hour when I need it.If you want to do all-DIY, you can, but I'd strongly advise buying pre-made screens rather than trying to make your own--unless you have a lot of experience stretching canvases or some such and even then, it's a pain. You can burn screens at home but nothing beats a proper darkroom, which I don't have the square footage for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCDuck Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I work at an art supply store that sells screen-printing supplies. The most expensive materials are probably going to be your photo hot lights for "burning" the image into the screen.If you're just doing it to say you're doing it, or to put stuff on shirts, you can just buy a cheap pre-made screen with a coarser mesh. It's usually cheaper and easier than trying to stretch a screen from scratch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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