craftgrrl | I am *SO* proud!! ~A Shirt~ (Reply)

This is my first attempt at screen printing a shirt, and I love it!!
It is a picture of Robby the Robot from the old Sci-Fi movies ;)

The only part that messed up was on the letter "Y" there is a glob... I didn't run the ink over the letters well enough the first time, so I just went ahead & laid it back down & did more over that spot. I knew it was risky, but figured I would either fix it or not have lost anything. I even like the little blob... like the shirt has its own battle-scar from all of the trouble it took me to get all the supplies! (Stupid Hobby-Lobby)

I know I had a lot of questions when I was getting all of my supplies together, so, after much reading, here is what I decided to use~

I mainly used this tutorial for the whole thing, except I took the advice of a few people & did not stipple the paint on with a brush. I used an old phone card, which worked wonderfully & I think it was easier to handle than an actual squeegee or more official tool would be.

I did use the embroidery hoop, but I think I will build my own screens like CraftyDame talks about in this and this post. I liked the idea of using the hoop for multiple projects, but it was hard to keep the fabric taut... I think that is actually what happened to my "Y" since there were a lot of ripples down there. I plan on using the light-sentsitive emulsion as well, but wanted to try the cheap technique first.

I used Organza fabric (the tutorial mentions tulle, but don't get the kind with wide holes, like bridal tulle)... and Mod Podge to block out the negative space. I bought the Ceramcoat Textile Medium mixed with their Acrylic Paint. I have not heat set it yet, but don't think that will be a problem.
I like using the Textile Medium & am planning on buying some white paint to mix with it too ;) Oh, and I got the shirt on clearance at Target $4!

For the picture, I found an old toy illustration that I liked the position of him the most & then used my photo program to rotate & reposition the limbs a little. I like his arms reaching up, like he's asking for a hug! ;) I printed this out the size I wanted it & used it to trace a general outline. I wanted to do most of the drawing myself so I re-drew it with a sharpie & stylized it more ~ making sure to use thick lines.

My only questions ~ I saved the left over Medium & paint I had mixed in a little tupperware that I have used for acrylic paints before. I am wondering if anyone knows how well this keeps? I guess I will just see how smooth it is when I pull it out again, but it was all pretty cheap so I don't really mind if it doesn't keep.