How To Screenprint

Screenprinting is a method of printing ink to any surface, like wood or fabric, but most commonly used with tshirts, sweaters, bags, etc.

To screenprint, you need a silkscreen, which is oddly named now that most of them are made of nylon now. It is best to get a 1/10 mesh. You then need emulsion to coat the silkscreen with, so that you can burn the image onto it. You make a black and white image and print it on a transparent sheet to use for the printing. The light will burn the emulsion and what's not burnt - the part covered by the black of the image - will be what is ready for printing. After burning the emulsion from exposure to light, you hose off the emulsion and put an equal coating of ink over the screen. Put this screen onto the shirt/bag/etc. you are printing on and wipe off the ink, then let it dry. The end result will be a properly printed silkscreen image.

Another method of screen printing which is much easier is defined in this video, by simply making a stencil and using fabric ink through the silk screen to put a design on your shirt/bag/etc. You can make a stencil by drawing out an image, or tracing an image with pencil onto the silk screen, and then painting around the areas that you don't want ink to get through with a glue like Mod Podge Glue, so that it doesn't get messy while you're inking. Another method of stenciling is simply to draw it out or print it on contact paper, and cut the paper with scissors or an exacto knife.