One particular DIY project we did was about screen printing. As one person from Soie Rouge had seen this technique once at a festival, we searched for a possibility to learn how to do it. In the lead time, some of us did some internet research about the procedure itself, and as it became clear that we would need access to various tools to fabricate a screen, we searched for a screen-printing workshop in Leipzig to help us doing it. Fortunately, we found a very nice professional workshop that liked our project and gave us an introduction! It was amazing being able to transform our drawings into screens, and then print them to our clothes…
We did everything on our own: We spent many hours drawing different drafts and modifying them so that they could be printed. It’s quite special which kind of drawing you can print – you can use rough hatching, but you have to clearly distinguish between black and white. You cannot work with different colours, or draw shades, unless you want to use several screens in a row for the same picture (which is very complicated to handle).
In the workshop, we first of all stringed our screen. Therefore, you have to follow a precise procedure, because the screen has to be very tight.
Then, we coated the screen with a special, UV-sensitive layer. We scanned and printed our drawings negatively on plastic sheets, put them on the coated screen and exposed the composition to a strong UV lamp. After washing out the screen meticulously, it had the shapes of our drawings!
Finally, we could start screen-printing our drafts to our clothes. Therefore, we had to work very precisely, and use lots of pressure to get the paint through the screen. It worked out amazingly well!
After printing, you have to clean the screen immediately with water. You can use it as often as you want to, the only things you need are some tools, special paint, and water to clean. This is why screen-printing can also be done during festivals 🙂
If you want to change the drawings of the screen, you can go to a workshop, re-coat it with the UV-sensitive layer and add other drawings.
It is possible to use the screens very long time, and you can even choose the size of them freely. The screens we made remain at the German group, and the drawings we made remain at all our clothes and are traveling all over Europe at the moment!