Learning from Mistakes: Screen Printing Success

Last week I botched an attempt at screen-printing the thrifty way because I didn't buy the right ink (see February 21 entry) .

This weekend, I tried again, this time with Speedball ink, and ta-dah! Success! It's not without flaws, but I had fun with it. Out of insecurity, I printed onto the bottom of the old shirt, then cut it out and sewed it to a new shirt for a different look. (You won't find this style anywhere in the mighty and cool CafePress!)

I think I'm hooked. I'm always dreaming up crazy thoughts to put on shirts. My husband is already making requests. If only the screens didn't take so long to paint with ModPodge...

Thrifty Screen Printing Experiment Ends in Failure

Thanks to CraftGrrl's awesome, step-by-step tutorial, I have been jonesing to try screenprinting for some time now. A snow day offered me some unexpected time to dedicate to crafting, so I enlarged the groovy logo painstakingly designed for me by the amazing artist, Jelene, then traced it onto filmy fabric. Pencil did not show up very well, so I re-traced with ink.
The teensy, delicate paintbrushes I purchased with this project in mind were nowhere to be found (until about ten minutes after I was finished), so I used a ten cent toy brush instead. It worked out, but was difficult to maneuver with any delicacy. In fact, glue-painting the negative areas took me about an hour and a half, including breaks to re-assemble toy train tracks for young Mister Booper.By this morning, I was ready to risk ruining a shirt. I sponged dye onto the shirt, and the design seemed to emerge beautifully.Unfortunately, the dye also seeped through the glue, leaving me with this mess on a comfy old favorite shirt. Lesson learned: use ink, not dye. Once I recover from the failure, I'll buy the proper supplies and try again.