Screen Printing on Fabric

Yesterday, I did some screen printing on fabric with my friend Mary.  Previously, I had made a padded cover for my cutting table to print on.  Here it is in it's first use where I tried screen printing ink with a thermofax screen.

I rolled the table out and set up our printing area in the garage.   This time we were using thickened dyes instead of paint or ink.

Here's Mary getting her screen ready.

I have the Screen Printing: Layering Textiles with Color Texture & Imagery book by Claire Benn & Leslie Morgan marked with lots of sticky notes.  And I have done some screen printing on fabric at Linda McLaughlin's studio.  But this was the first time I did it "on my own", so to speak, with a frame screen.  (But I wasn't on my own since Mary was there.) And I admit, I have no idea what I am doing!

We tried different temporary methods of making prints with the screen.  I wouldn't say we were very successful, but we did learn some things.  For example, I don't think I made the dye thick enough.  I used sodium alginate as a thickener.

The first time I tried to use the sodium alginate some years ago it turned into a big blob.  There are no instructions on my package on the amounts to mix.  This time I mixed it according to the instructions I saw on a package in the art store.  It was a little too runny, a syrup-like consistency. So next time I make it, it should be just perfect.

We carried on and tried some different things.  Then, I ended up going back to using my thermofax screen because I was able to get better results with it.  It is also smaller and easier to work with.  Here are a few of the fabrics I printed. I am exploring lines.  I think I will experiment with some mono-printing today since I still have some of the dye leftover.