| Alllllllrighty then! Heres a crash course on something that I have had lots of fun with. Printing tee-shirts. I love tee shirts because they are soft, cool in the summer if they are made of cotton, cheap, and make nice rags when they get worn out or dirty. The problem with white tee shirts is that well, they are white, and as you can see by this site, I like colors. I also like to wear neat or striking creations of my own artistic making. The fix for this issue is easy. Ready?? |
| Step 1 Find a block of styrofoam about 8 inches square and 4 inches thick at least. You can glue thinner peices together with white glue if you need to. Buy some at the hardware store OR find it in old packing materials. I found all I will need for a looooong time being tossed out at a construction site. It was scraps of foam panels used for mobile home roofing. However you do it, you should have a block 8x8x4. ok? |
| Ok, blockheads, got your block? One of the large surfaces should be nice and smooth and flat. Gently sand it on a flat cement patio or other area if you need to. |
| Step 3 Now you need to CAREFULLY carve out the lines of your image with a sharp exacto knife. Go slow. They need to be about 1/8th inch deep and about as wide at the minimum. Try to make the lines nice and even. Practicing on a scrap of foam is a good idea until you find a method thats good for you. I like to go along one side of the line, holding the blade at an angle, and then go back the other way, to make a vee shaped grove. Whatever works. One might even try a dremel tool if you have one ^_^ |
| Step 2 On the flat area, draw a nice line drawing. DONT try to get too detailed. Go for BOLD, SIMPLE art! A flower, a fish, a star, a heart. IF you choose to do any lettering IT MUST BE BACKWARDS or in "mirror writing". This is because when you stamp it on the shirt, the lettering will then be the "right way". Remember that when you carve out the lines, they will be much wider then the width of a pencil lead! So leave space. |
| Are you happy with the design? You will be able to re-use it many times if you want, so take your time. CHECK ANY LETTERING by holding the block up to a mirror to see that it looks ok. |
| Is everything good? Cool. By now, the design should look great and be nice and clear. There is probably lots of little bits of foam around you! If the design does not look ok now, stamping it on fabric WONT MAKE IT LOOK ANY BETTER! Fix any goofs with a small bit of strategically placed foam and glue, or if its hopeless, start over. |
| Step 4 Get your shirt ready. Use only 100% white Cotton. Place the garment on the floor with some form of protection for the area because youll be working with PERMANENT paint! In between the front and the back of the shirt, on the inside, place waxed paper, to prevent bleed-through. Make sure the shirt is facing up! (if you want to stamp the front) Fix it so there are no wrinkles anywhere. Place the block on the shirt to check for positioning. Dont try to stamp to low, or else the image will be obscures if the shirt is tucked in. REMEMBER!!! You only get ONE shot at stamping when your doing this for real!!! So make sure you know where you want the image to be!! Practice setting the block down on the shirt a few times ^_^ |
| Do you know exactly where you want the stamp, and can you place the stamp perfectly the first time? Ok, Juuussssst checking ;) |
| Step 5 Ok, ready for the fun part? Get your paint! Get your cruddy clothing on! Get your paint brush! If you want to use gloves, be aware they might negativly affect your dexterity. The paint will wash off easily if you do not wear gloves. Use ONLY water-based exterior grade latex. Any color will do. Dark colors look the best. The paint should be not too thick and not too thin...too thin is really watery. Dont use some old junky paint you found in the trash. It will probably be too thick and goopy. Also, ready some excess paper to make a practice stamp on before you try the real deal. |
| Ok, here we go! |
| Everything look ok? It wont look any better on the shirt, you know! Make any adjustments now...Need more or less paint? The grooves must be free from excess paint in order for the image to look ok. |
| Step 6 Carefully paint the paint on the face of the design with the paint brush. Cover the whole area evenly. Try to keep it out of the grooves, but if some does get in, gently brush it out. The idea is enough paint, but not so its all flooding and goopy. it should NOT be running off the edges of the block! Just enough to cover everything. Now, stamp the paper! Push down firmly on the back of the block but dont JIGGLE it because that will smear it. Push down all around the edges also. |
| Step 7 Re-prime the stamp with paint, and stamp your shirt!!! Gosh FINALLY!! Do the pushing on the back of the block bit to make sure you get an even transfer, and gently lift the block. Awesomeness! (hopefully) Let the shirt dry for few hours before moving it, and at least a day before wearing. (I have worn them an hour after printing on a hot dry day, but not recommended) Dont wash it for a week. The paint will fade a little after a long while, but the shirt might well be retired before then. With practice, multi-color stampings are possible. Experiment and have fun! |
| Block Printing made (really) easy |
