Showing posts with label printing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label printing. Show all posts

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Printing

I posted picture of a fabric print I did at the bottom of my last post and on Facebook, and have gotten a few questions about it. So I thought I would attempt a run-down at my favorite methods of printing in a series of blogs. I just did a quick silk-screening project (also called screen-printing, because silk is rarely used in the screens anymore), so I'll blog about that today.
The manufacturer of most every tool I have for screen printing and block printing is called Speedball. They make a starter kit which I think might be about $50 or $60 with a screen and squeegee and a few types of acrylic ink for paper and fabric. It's a good value and makes it all very convenient. Ray got me the kit for our first anniversary and I was sooooo excited, but it still took me over a year to do anything with it because I was really intimidated and thought it was complicated. It's not! I'll simplify it as much as I can.
The basic concept is to pull ink through a screen which allows ink to flow through, except in areas which are otherwise blocked off. So if you cut a 4x4 inch square out of a piece of paper and laid it down under a screen and pulled ink through the screen, there would be ink everywhere except where the square is. So you need a stencil. So get yourself a 8.5x11 piece of paper and a cutting mat and an exacto knife and cut something out. Let's say a sunburst, since that's what I did today. I used a transparency so I can re-use it (the ink will soak your paper and so it's not re-useable.) Here is my sunburst stencil:
You can trace an image or create your own. I drew something I liked then laid my transparency on top and traced it with a sharpie, then cut it out. Don't forget to think about positive and negative space! The holes you cut out are where you'll get ink on your shirt.
To set up your printing, you need a pretty good work space. I'm lucky enough to have this old tool bench in our basement as my permanent set-up. Paper towels, tape, ink, plastic cups and spoons for mixing, a screen and squeegee, a bag for trash, and you're all set. It's also good to do your printing on top of a soft surface so you can apply pressure as you're pulling your squeegee down your screen and the screen can give a little. I have 2 layers of felt on the countertop, covered with newsprint. Give yourself at least an hour to do your first print and get a feel for set-up, printing and clean up. You can use color right out of the pot, but usually I add some white and a tiny bit of black for more depth. I also added a little yellow to my blue to mellow it.
So tape up the sides of the screen so that no paint can get into the edges of the wood and so that there is no open space for ink to flow through, other than where you've cut out.
Here's the screen ready to go. The stencil is underneath the screen next to my fabric. Scoop some ink across the top of the screen and hold your squeegee at an angle toward you and pull the ink down toward you across the screen. You'll want to do one or two test runs on a scrap piece. I have a piece of muslin I use to test everything. It's fun to look at things I've done in the past!
Yes, that's a Streetcar and a red bean! It takes a few runs across the screen to bring the ink all the way through the stencil. But it only takes one time dragging the squeegee across the screen for the stencil to stick to the screen. So you won't need to reposition your stencil every time you lift the screen. Since I rarely do many multiples I don't worry too much about "flooding the screen" but if you're doing a bunch of prints, you should learn more about this. I think it's basically putting some ink on your screen to keep it wet between prints. Once I'm done I always hurry to wash the screen off so I can reuse it. I've don't at least a dozen prints using this screen and hope it'll last me awhile longer. Here's the outcome of today's project. I'm thinking about adding another color and image on top of it, but don't know what that'll be yet.

I hope this is helpful! Screen printing is definitely not the simplest printing to do, but it does give nice crisp images and you can do a nice run of a lot of images in one session. But it's difficult to use a large piece of fabric. I hope you have enjoyed this and it's clear enough for you to follow. I'd like so answer any questions or see pictures of projects you try.
Also, I recommend anyone who is interested and doesn't know where to begin to buy Lena Corwin's book Printing By Hand. It is completely amazing. I will blog next about block printing, which is a super-easy fun project to do.

Monday, June 29, 2009

New books, new projects!

Happy Monday! I've been having sooo much fun reading my new books by amazing designers. Simple Sewing for Baby by Lotta Jansdotter, Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross and Alabama Stitch Book by Natalie Chanin. They are inspiring, have projects that are practical and not horribly time consuming, and I am learning some new techniques. I can't remember the last time I bought books with patterns and projects with such good instructions. I am so happy with them!
So far I have made one dress from Ross's book and a bib using a pattern from Jansdotter's book. Here's Margot's dress, the Smocked Sundress from a Heather Ross patter. (Thanks to Mom for buying this awesome fabric from G Street Fabrics in Bethesda! FLOWER POWER!) I've never done smocking before, and am amazed at how easy it was. This instructions said to measure an inch below the knee and hem it there, but as I was trying it on Margot for width I knew I wanted to keep it long and flowing for my little flower child. Started it yesterday, finished it today. Maybe only two hours or so to make!

And here is the design by Lotta Jansdotter for a bib. I wanted to do something a little different what she instructed, but I liked the shape she provided. She had one piece of fabric hemmed with a pocket. I like a poofier look so I used some fusible fleece between two pieces, and skipped the pocket. (Who wants to go fishing old food out of a pocket?)
This is also fabric Mom picked up for us at G Street! The reverse side of this bib coordinates and it really just as pretty as the front. Oh, also, I think it's a little huge. I think I'll trim the pattern down a little.

I am really in love with this house button.

I was also inspired by Lotta to do some printing this weekend. I used easycarve blocks and went to work Sunday morning. But Sunday afternoon this is what I had:
Ray likes it. That makes me happy.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Crawfish

This weekend was our 4th annual crawfish boil, and I had lots of things to prepare for it. I was upset and delighted at the same time that I was unable to find any cool invitations to a crawfish boil online. What? So, of course, I made some. I do love to silkscreen.

Then there was Margot's outfit to consider. I thought a good Southern Girl (which she unquestionably is, though she was born in St. Louis) would wear her finest seersucker. So here's what Margot wore:


Then there were the bibs, since friends from Nashville said they would only come if they could wear matching lobster bibs. So not only did they have the matching bibs, they had matching monogrammed bibs.


What's next on my list? Hmmm I think I'll finish a few little projects. It's sew rewarding to sew the last two buttons or last seam on a project that's been sitting for weeks or longer! Sometimes I save those up so I can feel productive :)

Around St. Louis - Bowood Farms

The Central West End is half an hour from my house, so I don't often go, even though my favorite store in St. Louis is there. About twic...