Screen Printing onto Pillowcases

Skill

Screen printing onto cotton pillowcases

Approach to Learning

Carrying on from the refresher screen print workshop I decided to experiment with different material etc.

Key Tips from the Learning Process

1. The images looked 'smudgy' after I printed them. I think that this was due to either the cheap cotton pillowcases so the paint bled more than expected, or, I didn't clean my screen properly. From this I learnt that I should carry out a test print on a scrap bit of material first before printing. I should also wipe down my screen properly after each use, even if its the same colour because I found out from another student that it keeps the image looking sharp.
2. Put some newsprint in between each layer so that the paint doesn't soak through. I found this out the hard way and forgot the first time...
3. Iron out any creases before printing so there are no glitches once the image is printed.
4. At first I found the image smudged once printed. This was because the I should have pulled the pillowcases taught before pinning to the table and the put the pins in tighter.
5. The image that I had on my screen was only two of the three trees. I printed the two right hand trees first and learnt that if I covered them with newsprint I could print the third straight away. This made lining them up difficult as I couldn't see them. I had to measure distances out and mark where the third had to go in pencil.

The faint, smudging around the edge of the print-

Overall...

I feel I have learnt a lot from my mistakes. Although this made the entire process twice as long, it means I am unlikely to forget and make the same mistake again.