The other day I spent all afternoon screen printing shirts for tour with Em. I think they came out great with 3 different designs and a few different colours. When I arrived the screens had already been prepared, but the design needed to be exposed onto it so we could start printing. This involves putting the prepared screens on a UV light box with the design on top and leaving it for 7-9 minutes.
You can then pressure washer the screen and the areas with the design exposed onto them wash away, leaving the design as "gaps" on the screen. This is where the fabric ink can get through the screen and get onto the shirt. The detail possible from screens is really impressive and we used some with a really fine mesh, offering even higher detail.
The actual process of pulling the paint through the screen requires a certain technique and we spent a long time practicing on paper and fabric scraps. Too much ink, or too many pulls with the squeegie and the design will look too heavy and detail will be lost. Too little paint or not enough pulls with the squeegie and the design will look patchy and thin. I was rubbish at it, so Ema did them all. It takes a pretty steady arm and a lot of pressure to do it clean. I like how every shirt came out just slightly different to the last and I thought they all looked great.
We have a few more to do tonight, all black shirts with a few different designs on them. These will be available on our page pretty soon, but probably not till after tour, so if you want one quick, come see us play.Dan
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