When you’re looking for ways to keep the kids entertained, crafting projects are ideal. Screen Printing t-shirts is a great craft project that is safe for young kids, as long as they’re supervised properly. It’s perfect for this time of year because you can create some Halloween costumes out of some old clothes. You could make some custom Christmas t-shirts in time for the holiday season as well. If you’ve never tried screen printing before, here are a few tips to help you get started.
Gather Your Materials
Firstly, you need to gather your materials, and you only need a few things. The two main pieces of equipment that you need are the screen and a squeegee to spread the ink. You can make your own screen by getting some mesh and stretching it over a wooden frame if you want to save a little bit of money. You’ll also need some screen printing ink as well. Make sure to go for the ready-mixed ones to start with so you can be sure that you have the right consistency. If you go on sites like http://www.screenstretch.co.uk/, you can get all of the screen printing supplies that you need. Make sure that you are getting good quality equipment from a proper screen printing supply company if you want the results to be good.
Decide On A Design
You will need to use a craft knife to cut your design out of paper. It’s important that your stencil doesn’t fall apart when you are printing it, so it’s best to choose something simple for your first few attempts. You can get the kids to help you choose the design and draw it on the paper but the craft knife is very sharp so make sure to do that bit yourself. A simple design with basic shapes like triangles is a good choice for your first attempt. Once you have mastered the technique, you can start going for more complicated designs.
Prepare For Printing
When your stencil is ready, lay it over the top of your t-shirt and then put the screen on top of that. Make sure to put some masking tape around the edge of the screen so the paint doesn’t seep over the edges. Now, take a blob of ink and spread it in a line across the top of the screen. Take the squeegee, apply some pressure, and pull it slowly down the screen. This is a great part of the process for the kids to get involved with. You need to make sure that the ink is distributed evenly across the stencil so the design is equal. Once you are satisfied, you can peel the screen slowly upwards from the bottom and see your amazing new design. Just like that, you’ve turned a cheap t-shirt into something great.
Make sure that you clean your screen off right away once you are finished because once the ink dries, it will be incredibly hard to get the stencil off.
As you practice more, you can start making some more complicated designs on your t-shirts.
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