Step 12 -- fill the pin-holes. It will probably take 2-3 coats of screen filler on the inside and 1 coat on the outside to fill all the holes in the screen. To see if you have enough filler, hold the screen up to a light and look for pin-holes of light shining through. Be sure to cover all your tape with screen-filler, especially if you're not using waterproof tape!

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Rebecca Burch (mamallama) > Step 10 -- Trace your drawing onto the screen with a pencil(staple-side up.) This is really easy to do because the screen is transparent, like tracing paper. It is difficult to erase on silk screen, though, so take your time with this step. You can correct mistakes when you paint the screen filler on in the next step.

Rebecca Burch (mamallama) > Step 11 -- screen filler
Flip the screen over, and paint everything you DON'T want inked with screen filler. In other words, you're painting a negative of your design. Whatever you paint won't be inked, and whatever is left blank will let the ink through.

It is almost impossible to erase screen filler. You can scrub areas out with either bleach or Greased Lightning, but I've never had much luck getting full erasure of boo-boos. Be very careful at this stage and use a tiny brush for detail work. It is time-consuming, yes, but the more time you spend being careful, the better your design will print.

DO NOT get screen filler on your clothes.
DO work in a well-ventilated room. This stuff is not nice to breathe!

Thanks, Simone, for taking this photo!

Rebecca Burch (mamallama) > Step 12 -- fill the pin-holes.

It will probably take 2-3 coats of screen filler on the inside and 1 coat on the outside to fill all the holes in the screen. To see if you have enough filler, hold the screen up to a light and look for pin-holes of light shining through.

Be sure to cover all your tape with screen-filler, especially if you're not using waterproof tape!

Rebecca Burch (mamallama) > Step 13 -- wait 24 hours to allow the screen filler to cure. Then place a piece of cardboard or matte-board inside the shirt to prevent the ink from going through.

Rebecca Burch (mamallama) > Step 14 -- Center the screen on the shirt, then make a line of screen printing ink across the top of the screen. (Some acrylic paints can be used for screen printing. It should say so on the bottle.)

Rebecca Burch (mamallama) > Step 15 -- It is a good idea to have someone hold the screen and press down, firmly, during printing. This prevents the screen from moving and messing up your print.

Wipe the ink smoothly across the screen. At this point, you don't want to squeegee it off, but simply smear it evenly across the surface of the screen.

Thanks, Robert, for taking this and the next 4 photos.

Rebecca Burch (mamallama) > Step 16 -- Your goal here is to distribute the ink evenly across the screen, not wipe it off.

Rebecca Burch (mamallama) > Step 17 -- once you get the ink even across the surface of the screen, you want to work in the same direction and wipe the ink off with the squeegee.

Rebecca Burch (mamallama) > Step 18 -- Carefully lift the screen straight up. If you want to print more shirts from the same screen (and with the same ink) be sure not to let the screen surface touch anything -- prop it up against something and print again very quickly. If you are finished, you need to rinse your screen out very well and wash the squeegee thoroughly.

Step 12 -- fill the pin-holes.

It will probably take 2-3 coats of screen filler on the inside and 1 coat on the outside to fill all the holes in the screen. To see if you have enough filler, hold the screen up to a light and look for pin-holes of light shining through.

Be sure to cover all your tape with screen-filler, especially if you're not using waterproof tape!