Author: handprinted

‘Screen Printing at Home’ by Karen Lewis, is a new comprehensive guide to screen printing onto fabric from the comfort of your kitchen table.

Karen, a textile designer and maker, began printing textiles as a way of making her work more identifiable as her own. You can find her gorgeous printed fabric panels at www.karenlewistextiles.com.

The book explains the minimum equipment and space needed to start screen printing onto fabric and sewing your new creations – perfect for anyone wanting to start printing and making at home. Step by step instructions show you how to screen print using stencils as well as how to use screen filler to create designs on your screens.

‘Screen Printing at Home’ features 12 simple sewing projects including egg cosies and bucket bags, as well as 4 no-sew projects like printed pillow cases and tea towels. Karen’s design templates are in the back of the book to get you started.

To get your hands on this book, or to have a closer look, click here

…and finally, a few things we think you will need to get going on some of Karen’s projects:

• Aluminium Screen with 43T mesh
• Squeegee
• Drawing Fluid
• Screen Filler
• Screen Tape
• Fabric Screen Printing Inks
• Fabric to print onto
• …and other things to print onto!

We’ve always know that our dog Fletcher is a one off but we didn’t realise that he had hidden talents!

We’ve always know that our dog Fletcher is a one off but we didn’t realise that he had hidden talents!

Devoré is a fabric technique used on mixed fibre material where a paste is used to burn through cellulose fibres, leaving woven fabric behind in a pattern
or design. We have used devoré to make a scarf from silk/viscose velvet:

Measure out and draw the shape of your scarf down the centre of your freezer paper – ours is 140cm x 30cm. Cut the paper roughly to length but don’t cut
out the rectangle as you’ll need the excess paper around the sides to hold the stencil together.

Draw out your design. Remember that the areas you cut out are going to be the areas burnt though with the devoré paste. The areas you leave in your stencil
will remain velvet.

We are starting to feel pretty wintery down here on the South Coast and it seems to be showing through in our designs… here is one end of our stencil
for our scarf:

The stars above our wintery tree line extend all the way along the scarf to another wintery tree line at the other end!

When you’re happy with your stencil, lay out your silk/viscose velvet flat on your table. Now listen because this bit’s important – the velvety pile side
must face down. That way, the devoré paste will burn through the loops of the pile, letting it rub off. This means that you are printing on the reverse
of the scarf.

Lay your freezer paper shiny side down on your scarf. Iron the freezer paper onto the fabric. The shiny side of the paper has a light coating of plastic
which will stick it to the fabric. This will hold your stencil in place whilst you apply the devoré paste.

When your freezer paper is stuck you are ready to print your devoré paste.
Make sure your fabric is laid flat and on a padded surface if you have one. Lay your screen over one end of the scarf and put a line of devoré paste
along the top. Wear gloves when using devoré paste as contact with the skin can be harmful.

Use your squeegee to drag the paste down the screen.

Bring the squeegee back up to the top and pull it down the screen again, applying more pressure this time.

Lift your screen and move it along to the next section of the scarf. Repeat the process until the entire scarf has been coated. Wait for the devoré paste
to dry (speed it up with a hairdryer if you’re too excited to wait like me).

When your paste is completely dry, remove your stencil. Iron the fabric on the reverse side (the side the paste is printed on) with the velvet on the under
side. Wear a mask for this and use it in a well ventilated area. The devoré paste is going to burn through the loops of the velvet when the heat of
the iron is applied. This will allow you to rub off the velvet pile.

Iron the fabric until the areas with devoré paste turn a pale caramel colour. This may take a little while but be careful not to hold the iron on the fabric
for too long or it can scorch the silk.

When the devoré areas are ready, turn over and gently rub the fabric together to remove the velvet pile. Keep your mask on so as to not breathe in any
fibres.

If there are areas that wont rub off easily, re-iron the fabric on the reverse and try again until it is all removed.

When all the velvet pile has been removed, you are ready to mix up your dye!

We used the Rapid Dye method with Procion MX dye in Indigo.
Again, you need your mask for this so not to breathe in any tiny particles of dye powder. Dissolve 1 tsp of dye into 100ml of warm water. Separately,
dissolve 1 tsp of soda ash in 50mls of hot water. The soda ash will fix your dye. Mix these two solutions together and use straight away (the mixture
will lose its ability to react with the dye over a period of 1-2 hours).

This method is very simple and quick! You can find other methods for dyeing here.

Immerse your fabric in the dye and then place into a plastic bag. Move the fabric around in the bag so the dye reaches all of the fabric, otherwise it
may be patchy. Leave for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, remove your scarf and rinse in cold water until the water runs clear.

Wash your scarf in the machine at 40 degrees with bio detergent, colsperse or metapex. Your devoré scarf is complete!

Devoré is a fabric technique used on mixed fibre material where a paste is used to burn through cellulose fibres, leaving woven fabric behind in a pattern
or design. We have used devoré to make a scarf from silk/viscose velvet:

Measure out and draw the shape of your scarf down the centre of your freezer paper – ours is 140cm x 30cm. Cut the paper roughly to length but don’t cut
out the rectangle as you’ll need the excess paper around the sides to hold the stencil together.

Draw out your design. Remember that the areas you cut out are going to be the areas burnt though with the devoré paste. The areas you leave in your stencil
will remain velvet.

We are starting to feel pretty wintery down here on the South Coast and it seems to be showing through in our designs… here is one end of our stencil
for our scarf:

The stars above our wintery tree line extend all the way along the scarf to another wintery tree line at the other end!

When you’re happy with your stencil, lay out your silk/viscose velvet flat on your table. Now listen because this bit’s important – the velvety pile side
must face down. That way, the devoré paste will burn through the loops of the pile, letting it rub off. This means that you are printing on the reverse
of the scarf.

Lay your freezer paper shiny side down on your scarf. Iron the freezer paper onto the fabric. The shiny side of the paper has a light coating of plastic
which will stick it to the fabric. This will hold your stencil in place whilst you apply the devoré paste.

When your freezer paper is stuck you are ready to print your devoré paste.
Make sure your fabric is laid flat and on a padded surface if you have one. Lay your screen over one end of the scarf and put a line of devoré paste
along the top. Wear gloves when using devoré paste as contact with the skin can be harmful.

Use your squeegee to drag the paste down the screen.

Bring the squeegee back up to the top and pull it down the screen again, applying more pressure this time.

Lift your screen and move it along to the next section of the scarf. Repeat the process until the entire scarf has been coated. Wait for the devoré paste
to dry (speed it up with a hairdryer if you’re too excited to wait like me).

When your paste is completely dry, remove your stencil. Iron the fabric on the reverse side (the side the paste is printed on) with the velvet on the under
side. Wear a mask for this and use it in a well ventilated area. The devoré paste is going to burn through the loops of the velvet when the heat of
the iron is applied. This will allow you to rub off the velvet pile.

Iron the fabric until the areas with devoré paste turn a pale caramel colour. This may take a little while but be careful not to hold the iron on the fabric
for too long or it can scorch the silk.

When the devoré areas are ready, turn over and gently rub the fabric together to remove the velvet pile. Keep your mask on so as to not breathe in any
fibres.

If there are areas that wont rub off easily, re-iron the fabric on the reverse and try again until it is all removed.

When all the velvet pile has been removed, you are ready to mix up your dye!

We used the Rapid Dye method with Procion MX dye in Indigo.
Again, you need your mask for this so not to breathe in any tiny particles of dye powder. Dissolve 1 tsp of dye into 100ml of warm water. Separately,
dissolve 1 tsp of soda ash in 50mls of hot water. The soda ash will fix your dye. Mix these two solutions together and use straight away (the mixture
will lose its ability to react with the dye over a period of 1-2 hours).

This method is very simple and quick! You can find other methods for dyeing here.

Immerse your fabric in the dye and then place into a plastic bag. Move the fabric around in the bag so the dye reaches all of the fabric, otherwise it
may be patchy. Leave for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, remove your scarf and rinse in cold water until the water runs clear.

Wash your scarf in the machine at 40 degrees with bio detergent, colsperse or metapex. Your devoré scarf is complete!

We are often asked for recommendations on books to get started on various methods of printmaking. Here is a round up of our favourites for anyone thinking
about learning how to print at home. 

Fresh Prints by Cristine Leech. 25 projects to make at home. Suitable for complete beginners. Good pics and clear instructions. Mostly
relief printmaking using found objects, safe print foam and even the odd sweet potato! Lots of info regarding colour mixing, inks and tools. Great
section of templates that can help to get you started.

Simple Printmaking by Elizabeth Harbour. Elizabeth Harbour is a printmaker, illustrator, teacher, designer and maker. She very
much believes in using products that are readily available and trying to make printmaking inexpensive. The printmaking techniques covered in
this book are vast covering Monoprinting with a Gelatine Plate (these are the original Gelli Plates), Marbling, Stencilling, Block Printing,
Screen Printing and Coca Cola Litho Printing. The surfaces that are printed vary hugely from lampshades, cushions, greeting cards through to
table cloths, china and bags.

Print Collective by Jenny Doh. Jenny is an American Artist and Author. I love this book. It is a great guide for anyone wanting
to set up there own dedicated Screen Printing space. She writes in depth about the various options and even gives a simple step by step on
how to create an exposure unit. She also gives brief instructions on other types of printmaking such as cyanotype. The downside is that the
suppliers listed are only to be found in America so unfortunately we didn’t get a mention! The projects within the book are all created by
different designers and photographed within their studios. There is also a CD within the book that contains 200 downloadable motifs to get
you started.

 

Making an Impression by Geninne D. Zlatkis. Geninne is a fantastic illustrator living outside Mexico City – her blog was always
a constant source of inspiration for me – unfortunately she doesn’t appear to be blogging that frequently anymore 🙁 but it can be viewed here:
http://blogdelanine.blogspot.co.uk/ – the photos are always great too. This book is focussed on relief printmaking using rubber stamp carving
blocks – we stock Moo Carve and Speedy Carve for this process. The projects are mostly for fabric and paper and she shows the versatility of this kind
of stamp making. Great in depth instructions.

 

 

Carve, Stamp, Play by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. Julie is a self taught mixed-media artist based in the US. The techniques taught in
this book is similar to Making an Impression but the end results are quite different. I would recommend this book for people more interested
in mixed media, who love layering and collage. Making an Impression has a cleaner, more graphic design than Carve, Stamp, Play. This book again
uses Speedy Carve but unlike Making an Impression focusses more on pattern
making and creating repeat patterns.

 

 

The Print Making Book by Vanessa Mooncie. Loads of different techniques including sun printing, relief printmaking, screen printing,
monoprinting, stencilling and image transfer. The Printmaking Book contains 23 projects for the home. The instructions are illustrations with
a photo for each of the finished projects. The items printed are very varied from fabric, paper through to shrinkable plastic and mirrors.

Print Workshop by Christine Schmidt. Another author from the US, Christine runs Yellow Owl Workshop a great design led giftware
and craft supply business. This book was first published in 2010 so a little older than the other books in this review but the designs are
still really current. Great in depth instructions and advice. Techniques covered are relief printmaking, stencil printing, screen printing,
sun printing and image transfer printing. A really good starter book for any potential printmaker.

 

Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin. This book is a ring bound book and as such opens flat so is great if you are following the step
by steps! Mostly aimed at people wanting to print on textiles, the book covers block printing, stencilling, screen printing. Unfortunately
although the book talks about using photographic screens it doesn’t instruct you how to do it but directs you to a ‘screen maker’. (We can
do this for you but it can easily be done in your home/studio with very little equipment here is our instruction sheet on how to do it). Pictures are lovely though so would be a good introduction to printing home wares.
Again it is a American author so some of the products used are hard to find.

 

 

 

 We have also written an indepth review of Jenny Mcabe’s The Handprinted Home – another book perfect for a person wanting
to start printmaking – the full blog post can be read here!

We are often asked for recommendations on books to get started on various methods of printmaking. Here is a round up of our favourites for anyone thinking
about learning how to print at home. 

Fresh Prints by Cristine Leech. 25 projects to make at home. Suitable for complete beginners. Good pics and clear instructions. Mostly
relief printmaking using found objects, safe print foam and even the odd sweet potato! Lots of info regarding colour mixing, inks and tools. Great
section of templates that can help to get you started.

Simple Printmaking by Elizabeth Harbour. Elizabeth Harbour is a printmaker, illustrator, teacher, designer and maker. She very
much believes in using products that are readily available and trying to make printmaking inexpensive. The printmaking techniques covered in
this book are vast covering Monoprinting with a Gelatine Plate (these are the original Gelli Plates), Marbling, Stencilling, Block Printing,
Screen Printing and Coca Cola Litho Printing. The surfaces that are printed vary hugely from lampshades, cushions, greeting cards through to
table cloths, china and bags.

Print Collective by Jenny Doh. Jenny is an American Artist and Author. I love this book. It is a great guide for anyone wanting
to set up there own dedicated Screen Printing space. She writes in depth about the various options and even gives a simple step by step on
how to create an exposure unit. She also gives brief instructions on other types of printmaking such as cyanotype. The downside is that the
suppliers listed are only to be found in America so unfortunately we didn’t get a mention! The projects within the book are all created by
different designers and photographed within their studios. There is also a CD within the book that contains 200 downloadable motifs to get
you started.

 

Making an Impression by Geninne D. Zlatkis. Geninne is a fantastic illustrator living outside Mexico City – her blog was always
a constant source of inspiration for me – unfortunately she doesn’t appear to be blogging that frequently anymore 🙁 but it can be viewed here:
http://blogdelanine.blogspot.co.uk/ – the photos are always great too. This book is focussed on relief printmaking using rubber stamp carving
blocks – we stock Moo Carve and Speedy Carve for this process. The projects are mostly for fabric and paper and she shows the versatility of this kind
of stamp making. Great in depth instructions.

 

 

Carve, Stamp, Play by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. Julie is a self taught mixed-media artist based in the US. The techniques taught in
this book is similar to Making an Impression but the end results are quite different. I would recommend this book for people more interested
in mixed media, who love layering and collage. Making an Impression has a cleaner, more graphic design than Carve, Stamp, Play. This book again
uses Speedy Carve but unlike Making an Impression focusses more on pattern
making and creating repeat patterns.

 

 

The Print Making Book by Vanessa Mooncie. Loads of different techniques including sun printing, relief printmaking, screen printing,
monoprinting, stencilling and image transfer. The Printmaking Book contains 23 projects for the home. The instructions are illustrations with
a photo for each of the finished projects. The items printed are very varied from fabric, paper through to shrinkable plastic and mirrors.

Print Workshop by Christine Schmidt. Another author from the US, Christine runs Yellow Owl Workshop a great design led giftware
and craft supply business. This book was first published in 2010 so a little older than the other books in this review but the designs are
still really current. Great in depth instructions and advice. Techniques covered are relief printmaking, stencil printing, screen printing,
sun printing and image transfer printing. A really good starter book for any potential printmaker.

 

Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin. This book is a ring bound book and as such opens flat so is great if you are following the step
by steps! Mostly aimed at people wanting to print on textiles, the book covers block printing, stencilling, screen printing. Unfortunately
although the book talks about using photographic screens it doesn’t instruct you how to do it but directs you to a ‘screen maker’. (We can
do this for you but it can easily be done in your home/studio with very little equipment here is our instruction sheet on how to do it). Pictures are lovely though so would be a good introduction to printing home wares.
Again it is a American author so some of the products used are hard to find.

 

 

 

 We have also written an indepth review of Jenny Mcabe’s The Handprinted Home – another book perfect for a person wanting
to start printmaking – the full blog post can be read here!

We’ve been having a lot of interest in Gelli Plates recently so thought it was about
time we posted a few of our own Gelli Plate experiments for you to have a look at. If you haven’t already heard of Gelli Plates, they’re reusable,
durable printing plates that allow you to mono-print without a press. Intrigued? Read on…

These plates feel and work like gelatin plates but there is no gelatin or any animal products in the plates. Hooray! With good care, they will last years
and can be kept at room temperature.

There are loads of ways to use Gelli Plates to make prints. Here is one way we used our 8″x10″ plate to make a print.

Peel off the plastic layer from the Gelli Plate and lay it flat on a wipe-able surface. Squeeze a little acrylic paint onto the plate. We used System 3 acrylic paint which worked very well as it didn’t dry out quickly. Use a roller to spread out the paint evenly all over the plate. You really don’t need to use much paint here – a thin layer is better
than a thick one.

At this stage you can draw into, press into or paint into the paint. You can use anything to do this as long as it won’t scratch or damage the surface.
Scrapers, stampers or the ends of paint brushes work very well for this. Place your paper on top of the plate and press all over with the flat of your hand.

Peel the paper off to reveal the first layer of your print.

If there is paint left on the plate you can use a sheet of scrap paper to pull it off in the same way as you take a print. For our next layer we rolled
out pink.

We then used a piece of bubble wrap that we had inked up with red acrylic paint. We used this bubble wrap to stamp onto the plate on top of the pink…

…and then placed this little paper bear on top to act as a mask.

When the print was taken, the mask left this little bear in the brown from our last layer.

We felt he needed a little detail so rolled out a darker brown and used the bear mask and the negative cut out of the bear to print some darker lines.

We tried to get our bear down in the same place but ended up with a slightly mis-registered print. We’re still quite fond of him though.

We tried lots of other techniques with our Gelli Plate too, such as drawing into the paint with the end of a paintbrush, graduating the paint in stripes
on the plate, and overlaying lots of different textures on top of one another. Working with Gelli Plates is really addictive! Here are some photos
from more of our experiments:

We even printed some Christmas present tags using our Gelli plate textured with bubble wrap!

We used a 8″x10″ Gelli Plate, but they’re also available in 3″x5″, 6″x6″, 5″x7″, 8″x10″ and 12″x14″! You can find them all here.

We also now have a starter kit that we have put together you can find that here.

You will also need:

• A roller
• Various tools such as these scrapers and these stampers to create textures
• Scraps of materials such as bubble wrap, sequin off-cuts and lace
• Paper stencils and masks cut out with scissors or a craft knife
• Acrylic paint
• Papers to print on

There are lots of books out there on Gelli Plate Printing – This one has to be one of our favourites: Gelli Plate Printing: Mixed-Media Monoprinting Without a Press by Joan Bess.
This book is the ultimate guide. Joan Bess is one of the founders of Gelli Arts who designed the Gelli Plate. The book contains lots of step by step projects,
on how to use your Gelli Plate in numerous ways plus a great section focusing on Artists working with Gelli Plates. Loads of pictures – really inspiring.

 

We’ve been having a lot of interest in Gelli Plates recently so thought it was about
time we posted a few of our own Gelli Plate experiments for you to have a look at. If you haven’t already heard of Gelli Plates, they’re reusable,
durable printing plates that allow you to mono-print without a press. Intrigued? Read on…

These plates feel and work like gelatin plates but there is no gelatin or any animal products in the plates. Hooray! With good care, they will last years
and can be kept at room temperature.

There are loads of ways to use Gelli Plates to make prints. Here is one way we used our 8″x10″ plate to make a print.

Peel off the plastic layer from the Gelli Plate and lay it flat on a wipe-able surface. Squeeze a little acrylic paint onto the plate. We used System 3 acrylic paint which worked very well as it didn’t dry out quickly. Use a roller to spread out the paint evenly all over the plate. You really don’t need to use much paint here – a thin layer is better
than a thick one.

At this stage you can draw into, press into or paint into the paint. You can use anything to do this as long as it won’t scratch or damage the surface.
Scrapers, stampers or the ends of paint brushes work very well for this. Place your paper on top of the plate and press all over with the flat of your hand.

Peel the paper off to reveal the first layer of your print.

If there is paint left on the plate you can use a sheet of scrap paper to pull it off in the same way as you take a print. For our next layer we rolled
out pink.

We then used a piece of bubble wrap that we had inked up with red acrylic paint. We used this bubble wrap to stamp onto the plate on top of the pink…

…and then placed this little paper bear on top to act as a mask.

When the print was taken, the mask left this little bear in the brown from our last layer.

We felt he needed a little detail so rolled out a darker brown and used the bear mask and the negative cut out of the bear to print some darker lines.

We tried to get our bear down in the same place but ended up with a slightly mis-registered print. We’re still quite fond of him though.

We tried lots of other techniques with our Gelli Plate too, such as drawing into the paint with the end of a paintbrush, graduating the paint in stripes
on the plate, and overlaying lots of different textures on top of one another. Working with Gelli Plates is really addictive! Here are some photos
from more of our experiments:

We even printed some Christmas present tags using our Gelli plate textured with bubble wrap!

We used a 8″x10″ Gelli Plate, but they’re also available in 3″x5″, 6″x6″, 5″x7″, 8″x10″ and 12″x14″! You can find them all here.

We also now have a starter kit that we have put together you can find that here.

You will also need:

• A roller
• Various tools such as these scrapers and these stampers to create textures
• Scraps of materials such as bubble wrap, sequin off-cuts and lace
• Paper stencils and masks cut out with scissors or a craft knife
• Acrylic paint
• Papers to print on

There are lots of books out there on Gelli Plate Printing – This one has to be one of our favourites: Gelli Plate Printing: Mixed-Media Monoprinting Without a Press by Joan Bess.
This book is the ultimate guide. Joan Bess is one of the founders of Gelli Arts who designed the Gelli Plate. The book contains lots of step by step projects,
on how to use your Gelli Plate in numerous ways plus a great section focusing on Artists working with Gelli Plates. Loads of pictures – really inspiring.