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PrintA lesson from the Craft Mafia
How to do your own Mod Podge screen printing.
The Craft Mafia
WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
- Fabric to print on (dish towel, tote bag, T-shirt, etc.)
- Inexpensive paintbrushes (2 foam brushes, 2 small plastic brushes)
- Embroidery hoop (approximately 2 inches larger than your image)
- Fabric screen printing ink (preferably Speedball brand)
- Mod Podge glue
- Silk chiffon or other sheer material
- Access to computer and printer
HOW TO MAKE IT:
- Find a picture you like and using an image-editing software, make the image black and white. Do not start with highly detailed images.
- Size the image to fit on your fabric. For dish towels or tote bags, 4 inches by 6 inches works well.
- Pull silk chiffon taut on the embroidery hoop and tighten the clasp so that the fabric is stretched and secured. Lay the hoop with the fabric directly on your image and trace onto the silk chiffon with a pencil.
- Turn the embroidery hoop over so air is between your work surface and the chiffon. With the Mod Podge, paint all of the negative space (the white of your image, where you will not want ink to print). This part can be tricky! Paint the Mod Podge to the borders of the hoop.
- After the Mod Podge dries completely, place the hoop on your fabric and align for printing. Stipple (shade by using small dots) ink over the image with a foam paintbrush. Make sure that it is saturated, but not too messy. You can sneak a peek to make sure your print quality is good by slightly lifting one edge of the hoop very carefully so as not to shift the screen.
- When you have inked the entire surface, carefully lift the embroidery hoop straight up.
- After the ink dries, you will need to heat-set your image so that it will be safe for washing. Different inks have different setting processes. For Speedball ink, place a piece of cloth or paper over the image and iron on medium for 3-5 minutes. Flip over and repeat on the backside.
- If you would like to reuse your screen, wash it with warm water and store flat.
