screenprinting advice please

[purplehippos.livejournal.com]

i've decided to try my hand at screenprinting. i did this in high school once years ago but, of course, that was with nice expensive equipment. i bought a Speedball kit and had no problem preparing the screen or buring the image. however, i can't seem to get a decent print. my setup is thus: i have a bit of cardboard on a table, piece of cotton fabric on that, screen on that. i have had to put registration marks on the fabric so i know where to place the screen as i didn't get a kit with a base and hinges (wish i had). whenever i try to make a print it either is too light or far too heavy and not crisp (looks more like a blob than my image). if the image is too light and i try to do another pass it generally isn't lined up with the first print as, like i said, it's a ghetto setup. i've seen some places where they say to do a pass with the screen off the fabric to load the image with ink and then do another pass with the screen on the fabric to do the print and i've seen places that say to just do one pass (skip the flood step). i've tried both with equally disappointing results. i assume i just need practice with getting the right speed and pressure. anyone have any advice? i was thinking about putting a stack of magazines under my fabric to both raise it off the cardboard and allow the edges of the fabric to hang down so i could weight them down and make the image area of the fabric tighter.