About

Cost: $ $ $ $ $

Difficulty: • • • • •

Time: 35 mins

The Crafter's Guide to Patterns
Silk-screening can seem intimidating with talk about exposures and
emulsifiers and dark rooms; it’s not the most inviting process for a newcomer
to pattern making. This method, though, couldn’t be easier. Totally
gratifying and satisfying, it’s foolproof screen printing for all.

Before you begin
Leave about 5 centimetres (2 inches) of room around your motif at each edge of the screen. This is to leave room for squeegee and ink.
If any ink dries in your screen, the screen will be ruined. Be sure to rinse out your screen gently with cool water immediately after you have finished printing to keep it clean
and unclogged.
Scrubbing your screen could cause
the screen filler to fade and become damaged. Always rinse your screen gently, and it should last a long time.
Be sure to paint your screen filler onto the recessed side of your screen – this will ensure nice, flat contact between the screen and the surface when you
start printing.
The areas that are painted with screen filler fluid will not print.
The areas that are not painted
with screen filler fluid will print.

Print • Embed

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Step 1
Draw your motif onto the screen with a pencil or apply using transfer paper.
Step 2
Before painting the screen filler fluid onto the screen, think through which areas of your motif will be printed with ink and which areas will be negative space.
Step 3
Shake or stir your screen filler fluid. Holding
your screen and using a paintbrush, fill in all the areas of negative space around your motif with a very thin coat of screen filler fluid. Remember: Everything you coat with screen filler will not print.
Step 4
Lay the screen flat, evenly propped around the frame so it doesn’t stick to your surface, and let this layer dry; you can speed this process by using a hairdryer or heat gun. Paint two to three thin layers of screen filler, letting each dry before applying the next.
Step 5
Hold your screen up to the light. Any areas or pinholes that were missed within the screen filler areas will print through. Fill
in any missed areas with a thin layer of screen filler. Let the screen dry overnight
before using.