| With the recent recession that hit the world's most | | | | follow include spray painting, brush painting and |
| influential economies, people are not rushing towards | | | | bleaching. These do not require too many tools and |
| spending for the holiday season. They will surely try | | | | materials. |
| to save money with the gift giving and holiday | | | | For spray painting, all you need is a spray bottle, a |
| dinners. Wrapping up the gifts yourself is a way to | | | | set of textile inks (preferably water-based), some |
| save money this holiday season. Another way is to | | | | stencils, and thinner to mix with the ink and to clean |
| make the gifts on your own. One of the best gift | | | | it off your work area. You can also choose to use |
| ideas for friends and family is a custom printed t-shirt. | | | | ready-made stencils for spray painting and brush |
| This is easy enough to do using t-shirt printing | | | | painting. |
| methods. | | | | Brush painting is simply printing the image by hand |
| Printing T-Shirt Designs Using Screen Printing | | | | using paintbrushes like an artist. The t-shirt is your |
| Screen printing t-shirts require a fine mesh covered | | | | canvass. You can use ready-made stencils and |
| with photoemulsion that has been hardened through | | | | cardboard cutouts, or you can use nothing but your |
| exposure to ultra-violet light. The hardened emulsion | | | | imagination to paint the image directly on the t-shirt. |
| forms the stenciled image of the t-shirt's design. | | | | Bleaching, on one hand, is easy when you use bleach |
| Ready-made stencils can be bought from stores or | | | | pens that are premixed. The bleach is strong enough |
| online. Brands like PhotoEZ and StencilPro are made | | | | to print patterns and lines on the fabric without |
| for silk screening and can withstand repeated use. | | | | hurting your skin or ruining your t-shirt design by |
| They are easy to use and perfect for children. | | | | bleeding through or down the fabric. |
| Place the silk screen with the stenciled image on top | | | | T-Shirt Printing With Thermal Transfers |
| of the t-shirt's fabric where you want the design to | | | | Thermal transfers are easy to apply, especially |
| be printed. Be careful to put enough screen printing | | | | ready-made heat transfers that you can iron on |
| ink for a consistent color throughout while being | | | | t-shirts. Use Teflon sheets to prevent transfers and |
| careful not to bleed through the t-shirt printing | | | | decals from slipping or moving, and to protect the |
| process. | | | | transfers from the heat of your iron. |
| To avoid bleeding of the print, hold the squeegee at | | | | You can make your own heat transfer design using |
| a 40 to 50 degree angle while applying the right | | | | either an inkjet printer or a laser jet printer. The type |
| amount of pressure. Also, make sure the rest of the | | | | of printer will determine what type of thermal |
| t-shirt is protected with a cardboard. | | | | transfer paper you should buy. |
| If you are using water-based inks, the ink from | | | | You also need to be careful in weeding out the extra |
| screen printing stencils is easy to wash off with | | | | plastisol coating at the back of the vinyl. Use a scalpel |
| water. However, if you use plastisol ink, you must | | | | or small knife to peel off the coating. |
| clean the mesh with thinner or acetone, or a special | | | | These three choices for t-shirt printing projects for |
| textile ink remover. You must be careful not to let | | | | the holidays are easy to do. In fact, you can watch |
| any ink dry up on the screen. | | | | online hundreds of how-to videos that demonstrate |
| Printing T-Shirt Designs Using Spray Printing, Brush | | | | how the processes were done. Just be careful in |
| Painting Or Bleaching | | | | executing the steps and using the tools in t-shirt |
| Screen printing is not the only method that you can | | | | printing, especially when you have kids around. |
| use in t-shirt printing. Other methods that are easy to | | | | |