Screen Printing ...

Before Screen Printing I dyed samples of fabrics in various colours of procion dyes. Once dry I pressed the fabric for 20 seconds to set the colour at 180 degrees on the heat press. I then rinsed out the fabric to get rid of the chemicals and excess dye. Finally I let them dry so that they were ready to screen print onto. Health and Safety: Be careful when handling the machine as the machine is very hot. 

On some backgrounds I used batik which is melted wax to create flower shapes. This is a very effective technique but it doesn't work as well with printed pigment on it. Once the wax has dried and you have added colour to the fabric, it will act as a resist technique so you need to iron off the wax revealing the finished pattern. Health and Safety: be careful when handling the tools in the hot wax, can cause burns if drips on skin.

I mixed most of my pigment inks and procions dyes to create the colours I wanted. I had 3 separate screens, 1 large and 2 small screens. Mixing the pigment to the desired colour is a very easy process, I dropped a couple of pigment ink drops into pigment paste and mixed thoroughly. I used a squeegee to drag the pigment through the screen when screen printing.

I dabbed some of my mixed pigment onto the top of the image using a stick, I placed my fabric underneath the screen and secured  it onto the table with masking tape. On some screens there was two parts to it meaning I had to line them up correctly to get two colours.

I got my squeegee and dragged down the pigment firmly a couple of times making sure the fabric was properly printed on. Unfortunately my screens didn't line up correctly but somehow it looked quite effective. Once I finished screen printing I sponged down my screen and washed it using a water jet. I then placed it in the drying cupboard. Be careful when screen printing with pigment because it can block after 5 prints. When using puff binder it can block after 2 prints. Finally permaset pigment can block after 1 print because if kept in warm temperatures it can bake onto the screen as it is very thick. Once the fabric and print has dried you put it back onto the heat press for 20 seconds at 180 degrees to set the colour. Puff binder cannot be washed or heat pressed as it will effect the design. Health and safety: wear gloves and apron to avoid staining of clothes and skin, also protects you from harmful chemicals.

Pigment: is a paste that soaks into fabric to create a pattern from your screen when screen printing.
Permaset: is a pigment that sits on top of the fabric, mainly used for darker fabrics. (quite thick and shows up better.)
Puff binder: a paste that puffs up when heat is applied ( can be hand painted on on screen printed on, if too thick it can bubble up and burn.)

Health and safety : using a heat gun for puff binder can be dangerous because it is very hot, keep hands out of the way when directing heat towards the fabric.