You don't need to buy expensive equipment to do your own silk screening. Learn how to silkscreen with common materials that you may already have at home.
A plastic card (like an expired credit card or something similar)
Staple gun
Ingredients
4stripswood for a frame (Or upcycle an old picture frame)
1loose weave clothslightly bigger than the frame
puffy paintsor Modge Podge or another acrylic paint
stickersor contact paper
fabric paintsfor the final prints
Instructions
Make the frame
Cut the wood pieces to the size you want your frame to be. The finished frame should be slightly larger than what you want your finished design to be.
Using a staple gun, staple the strips together into a rectangular frame.
Make the silk screen
Once you have the frame ready, staple a layer of light-weave cloth over the frame. To stretch it evenly, begin stapling it to the frame on one side. Then stretch the fabric and staple it to the opposing side. You can then stretch the fabric over the other two sides.
Cut off any excess cloth so it doesn't get in the way.
Choose the design you want to silk screen. Either use ready-made stickers or cut a design out of contact paper or another adhesive paper. (You could also probably use duct tape.)
Stick the cut design/sticker to the fabric in the center of the frame.
To block off the rest of the screen, painted around the design carefully with puffy paints, Modge Podge, or another scrylic paint. Be careful not to get paint under the edges, but cover the edges completely.
Set the frame aside to dry completely. If you can still see light coming in through the painted fabric, paint on another coat. You need to cover all of the holes in the fabric to keep the paint from going through while silk screening.
Once it is dry, carefully peel off the contact paper or sticker. If you need to, you can fix the details with a little more paint or Modge Podge.
To use the silk screen
Prepare the cloth or whatever else you want to silkscreen by ironing flat if needed. If using a pouch, slip a piece of cardboard inside to keep the paint from passing to the back side of the bag.
Place the screen over the fabric. Make sure the design lines up exactly where you want to paint it.
Make a line of fabric paint across the top of the screen, above the design.
Using an old credit card, or something similar, pull the paint across the frame, making sure it gets pushed into all areas of your design.
Pull the screen up off from the cloth, and admire your work! You can now repeat the process to print more copies of your design.
Clean up
Make sure to fully clean off any excess fabric paint from the screen while it is still wet. Any remaining fabric paint that dries in the design area will block those areas from printing in the future. You can use water and a microfiber cloth or toothbrush to gently, yet fully clean the design area.
Video
Notes
It's a good idea to practice first on a spare piece of fabric. It took me a few tries to get the process of silkscreening right!You can further embellish the finished designs with googly eyes, rhinestones, or whatever you like.