You should go for it, but be prepared to experiment with your designs and allow flexibility in your methodology because every piece has its own challenges. If you want to go for the look in your link you would obviously have to use multiple color separations, plates, screens, etc to get your desired look. The tutorial you linked to isn't half bad, but if you want to scale it up simply make a large square wooden frame instead of using the loop. After you get one to a perfect state you can see how much work would be required to scale up a design in multiples. Also, it can be quite messy. Hope you have a good workbench area to contain your damage!

Wow, ico. You are ambitious. If you decide to go for it, post pictures of the finished product, kay?

And appidydafoo, I love your name.

Thanks, appidydafoo - a wooden frame is a great idea! I love the idea of each t-shirt having its own unique look and personality.

jrossi, I definitely will. I'd like to make a batch of them with my daughter when she comes home for Thanksgiving break.

Those are screen printed. It's possible they could be a mix of stencil or applique, but they have detail that's too fine for your average stencil.

AskMe: one two three and this other one i did.

Also: The tool most frequently used by pro screen printers is a hammer. The 2nd most used tool is some kind of solvent or hand cleaner or both.

Whoa, thanks for the links, aptly-named one! You're obviously the go-to guy if I ever have any questions about this. I'm still not 100% sure I'm even going to do it, but I am sorely tempted.

What if I wanted to hand paint a shirt - what kind of paint or ink would you recommend?

ymmv, but all the people I know who can silkscreen T-shirts insist that it's not as simple as it may seem -- not exactly brain surgery, OK, but still tricky

Everything you ever need to know about stenciling, and didn't even know to ask about.

And from the same forums, Everything you need to know about DIY silk-screening.

I did this with an xacto knife, some cardboard, and the (oft maligned) Speedball screenprinting kit. It was pretty painless, actually, and the shirt has held up very well.

≡ Click to see image ≡

I tried the craftgrrl tutorial once, using two layers of tulle and plain white acrylic fabric paint - got a nice sort of pixelated abstract effect, but I stretched the fabric too much while painting and the paint drying caused it to wrinkle. Will try to post some pics later today. Will use actual nylons next time.

I thought that shirt looked familiar, cortex.

≡ Click to see image ≡

P.S. Iconomy, let you know when you're done, I might buy one from you.

I love you guys. This is just the kind of stuff I needed to know.

cortex, that looks great, and it looks great on you. The color's bright and even, and you got some pretty clean edges with a piece of cardboard! Is the kit you bought one of the kits on this page? I'd like to see what's included.

P.S. Iconomy, let you know when you're done, I might buy one from you.

If I do this, I definitely will.

ymmv, but all the people I know who can silkscreen T-shirts insist that it's not as simple as it may seem -- not exactly brain surgery, OK, but still tricky

I don't say this lightly but it's a black art. It's a really weird mix of tech and art and things not ever really working the same way twice.

I did this with an xacto knife, some cardboard, and the (oft maligned) Speedball screenprinting kit. It was pretty painless, actually, and the shirt has held up very well.

I've seen that print in person, and it is extremely well done for a Speedball kit, which was my first uttered response was after he revealed it was indeed done with the Speedball kit. It benefits from the clean, simple design - and that's really the way to approach non-technical screen printing anyway.

The Speedball kit has very serious problems, and here's why:

There's a few very important basic tricks and concepts for getting a clean screen print with a detailed image.

One: Stencil. When using emulsion on mesh you need a good "stencil". (Stencil being the term used to describe the artifact itself of the image on the mesh w/ emulsion) The stencil should be properly exposed and cured and comprised of an appropriate thickness of emulsion. This gives the stencil sharp, vertical (but nearly microscopic) walls, good adhesion to the mesh, etc. The walls need to be vertical and crisply exposed because you can think of the "stencil" part of the screen print like a mold or a cookie-cutter for the ink.

Two: Mesh tension. High mesh tension, in particular. High mesh tension gives your stencil a dimensional rigidity, so it doesn't distort too much as you print. High mesh tension also provides "off contact", which is point 3...

Three: "Off contact" is the space between the screen frame/mesh face and your shirt or substrate. It's usually millimeters for fabric, give or take, and much less for flatstock stuff. As the squeegee passes over the screen, ink is forced into the mesh and the mesh is distorted down towards the shirt or substrate. The point where the squeegee touches the shirt, ink and mesh creats a sort of rolling "mold" between the mesh and shirt. With proper pressure, off contact, ink viscosity and screen tension you get a perfect "mold" of ink on the fabric, like a very thin cookie cutter cookie.

So. The off contact and mesh tension pull the screen away from this "mold" of wet ink. If everything is in balance, the screen pulls away cleanly and doesn't smudge the ink or otherwise make contact again.

(This gets even more complicated and arcane when doing multiple colors, or god forbid four color process on shirts.)

Anyway, the Speedball kit offers very few of these qualities. It's pretty flimsy stuff. Yes, it works, but goddamn those things are expensive, but I was used to industrial equipment in commercial/production quantities. We used to get huge 30x44" prestretched wood screens for $15-20 each or less.



What if I wanted to hand paint a shirt - what kind of paint or ink would you recommend?

Liquidtex acrylics work for air-dry on cotton. They can get kind of painty/stiff but you can also thin with water for a more dye-like effect. Also look at the more modern fabric paints available in craft stores. Consider also using montages or appliques of those inkjet/bubblejet t-shirt transfers, or even better color or b/w laserjet heat transfers. You could combine paint and precisely cut transfer pieces to good effect.

loquacious has The Knowledge.

For perspective: yes, it was one of those kits you linked—probably fifty bucks or so, and we knew going in that they weren't lauded but we wanted something easy to start with.

I used thin cardboard (I think it was from a manila business folder), cut with the xacto, stretched the shirt around some corrugated cardboard, placed the illuminatus stencil on the shirt, the screen over that, and squeegeed ink.

I did a few test prints on paper that came out sort of meh, did another test print on a black shirt that came out not so well, and then finally did that shirt, which came out surprisingly awesome. Beginner's luck, mostly, and I had my wife helping with the handling—I may not have gotten so good a print working with just two hands.

Some links from the fabulous Make Blog for quick 'n' dirty T-shirt designs:

MAKE: Blog: Freezer paper stencil with bleach

Bleach spritz clothing

makezine.com: Controlled Bleaching with Discharge Paste

MAKE: Blog: Weekend Projects: DIY T-shirt Designs

I have not tried any of these. If you do, let us know how it works!