Screenprint custom t-shirts for special events
Custom screenprinting t-shirts is fun because it allows you to design your own t-shirt for special events easily and inexpensively. Screenprinting may also help you not only fit your personal style, but save money compared to buying a shirt at a store. Once you have a design you like, you can reuse it many times and sell the shirts to make money.
Instructions
Make Your Artwork
1. Within an illustration software program, create the artwork for your t-shirt, unless you decide to draw it out by hand on paper. Anything not in the computer must be scanned in.
2. Make several copies of the artwork on your computer so you can separate your colors onto different sheets. Have less than four colors, especially if this is your first time screenprinting, because you will need a layer for each color.
3. Print out your design in black and white on a clear transparency. A transparency is a clear plastic sheet of paper.
Burn Your Image
4. Attach a silk mesh screen to a frame that fits the size of the transparency. Any type of fine window screening will work--just cut it down to size. Leave a minimum 2-inch border around your transparency, so a 10x12-inch frame works best.
5. Take the screen to an unlit room, with no lights. With a photo-safe, dim red light, use a stiff rubber squeegee to apply an even application of photosensitized emulsion to the mesh. Allow the emulsion to dry for 1 to 2 hours.
6. Put your artwork transparency on the emulsioned screen and place a sheet of glass on it to weight it down.
7. Shine a bright light through the transparency onto the emulsion. The brighter the light the shorter the wait time for the emulsion to harden. It should be about 20 to 25 minutes for a normal room light.
8. Take the transparency and glass off and soak the screen in cold water so the emulsion that is unhardened washes off. The remaining covered areas will not allow ink to pass through, only allowing color to be where your artwork showed.
Printing the Design
9. Place a large piece of cardboard shaped like a shirt inside the shirt to keep it flat and smooth.
10. Lay the screen on top of the t-shirt, to the exact spot you want it printed. Make sure the bottom of the stencil frame is parallel to the bottom of the shirt.
11. Put the ink you want onto the end of the screen at the top of the shirt.
12. Drag the ink down towards you firmly with a squeegee. Repeat this so the ink will sink through the screen and soak into the t-shirt.
13. Take the screen off the fabric. Dry the ink using a heat source of at least 360 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
