Screenprinting Weekend

It was a wonderfully mild November weekend. Sunny, bright, and full of inspiration to get busy and make some work.

I went into the studio this weekend to screenprint the fabric that I will sew into my pleated tote bag. I thought I'd take some photographs of the process that I find so magical. I prepare the screen so that ink comes through the mesh according to the design I am working with. It doesn't matter how familiar I am with the image, I am ridiculously excited each time I get the ink onto the fabric! It makes me sound pretty goofy when I am squealing in the studio amongst the super cool and mellow printmakers. Oh well...

What you see here is me putting my screen into place for my design, "joie et bonheur," French for "joy and happiness."


The screen is on a hinge so I can keep it in one place in between each print. And finally, you see that the image has been transferred from the screen to the fabric by me pulling a squeegee of ink across the screen about seven or eight times. Unlike paper screenprinting, fabric needs a lot of ink to get a nice, thick, and juicy layer that will soak into the cotton and give a great print.














The next step will be to post my first finished bag on emmalinedesigns.etsy.com. But I have many more ideas and products coming, like printed kitchen towels and little zipper bags to hold small stuff like knitting needles, lipgloss, or that spare change hanging out at the bottom of your purse. It's a race between me and the holiday season to get my designs on Etsy!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I'll let you know as soon as I'm ready to open my "doors" for business!