Getting professional silk-screening work done is expensive, and it can be a complicated process involving a lot of machinery. But for basic single-color designs, it's relatively easy to make a simple silk screen at home and apply the design yourself. You can even attempt multicolor designs, if you are ambitious.
Instructions
1. Stretch the sheer curtain into the smaller embroidery hoop as tightly as you can and fasten it. Make sure there is no give in the fabric. Cut around the edges of the hoop and discard excess fabric, but leave a little extra to make sure it won't slip out of the hoop.
2. Print or draw your design onto a sheet of paper. Make sure the design is smaller than the hoop. Simpler designs work better, unless you are a skilled artist.
3. Place the printed design underneath the stretched sheer curtain. Tape it in place.
4. Trace the design onto the fabric, using the fabric pencil. Pay attention to which areas you want ink to go through and which should be covered. Try marking the areas that should not get ink with the pencil.
5. Using a paintbrush, carefully paint craft glue over the sections that are not intended to get ink---the white areas of your design. You will be leaving space for the ink to go through. Make sure all the white areas are completely covered.
6. Remove the paper, and allow the screen to dry completely. This may take a day or more.
7. Place a plastic grocery bag or any other thin, waterproof, disposable material between the layers of the T-shirt, then fasten the larger embroidery hoop around the bag and the top layer of the T-shirt. This is to prevent ink from leaking through to the other side, and to hold the fabric in place.
8. Place the silk-screen hoop on top of the hoop with the shirt in it. Make sure the silk screen is touching the fabric of the shirt, with the plastic layer on the other side.
9. Carefully dab screen-printing ink onto the shirt through the screen with the stencil brush. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for setting the ink.
