Screen Printing on Fabric with Stencils

Properties & Qualities

Application

Accessories Art Sample making

Qualities

2D Colourful Flexible

Colour

Blue Green Orange Pink Yellow

Sample Information

Date of Creation

December 17th, 2022

Culture & Context

Screen printing using paper stencils is a technique that can be used on its own or with other screen printing techniques such as exposed screens and mono printing to create interesting designs. You can also simply mask areas with newsprint and take on the fabric before printing colour through an open screen. Paper can be cut with a craft knife or ripped to give different outlines. I would suggest newsprint as the paper of choice for screen printing with stencils.

Process & Production

Here I am creating a print design for a cushion cover. Cut out your shapes in the paper. Consider the thinness of the line, with newsprint you can get a clean crisp thin line with stenciling but too thin and it can bleed or rip. Secure fabric to your printing surface. Lay paper stencil/cut shapes on to your fabric then place your screen on top. There is no need to tape newsprint paper onto your screen. Put weight on the screen so it does not move. Add printing paste in a bead along the top of the screen. Put squeegee into the paste, move it to a 45 degree angle then pull paste through, pulling down then back up. Do this 3 – 4 times for medium cotton. Put the squeegee aside. Lift the screen from one side slowly to reveal the pattern. The paper will be stuck to the screen. If the print looks like it has bled then there may have been too many pulls and if the print looks patchy/not fully covered then there may have not been enough pulls or print paste.

Recipe Details

You can sometimes use a stencil a couple of times but the more you use it the less likely that there will be a successful outcome. If using newsprint paper for your stencils you can cut a few of the same stencil at once. I leave the used stencils to dry and use them for collage at a later date.