work in progress: screens

A background in graphic design is what turns textile print design into my true passion, a gusto steered by creativity, design process, knowledge of materials, techniques and, most certainly, a point of view (or if you prefer, the why). I have always been mystified by how a stencil on a screen translates so flawlessly and artistically onto paper or fabric (or any substrate, for that matter) and by the perfect sound of the squeegee on the mesh as the pigment is "pulled". Screen printing demands knowledge of the methodologies and required equipment. It all depends on what one wants to do with the medium and what one wants to accomplish through it.
The task at hand is silk screening images onto fabric with the use of heat setting pigments. The first step then, is to determine what technique will be used to transfer the images onto fabric (open screen, paper stencils, photo stencils, etc.). This endeavour requires a photo emulsion stencil on a 110 mesh, which is  the  mesh count ideal for printing on cloth when the image does not have many small details (click here to learn more about mesh counts--you will find it as 109).
The next step is to acquire the necessary paraphernalia. The official supplier for all things "images on textiles" here in Toronto (from screens to squeegees, to pigments or dyes, some fabrics, and everything in between) is G&S Dye, on Dundas and University. It has everything, including the nicest people behind the counter.
The following steps add up to the many methodologies that already exist regarding photo emulsion and its preparation, application and exposure. It is a personal record of how I recently worked with Saati Chem emulsion from scratch, which was really not different of how I went about when using Ulano, and Speedball in the past.

1. Sensitized the emulsion following the manufacturer's instructions and mixed it well.
2. Allowed the emulsion to set (gave it an hour).
3. Coated the screen--there are as many different coating techniques as there are printers. In the end, it is a matter of finding what works for you. My MO includes two coats on the outside, after the first coat the screen is turned 90 degrees to apply the second one.
4. Dried the screen infront of fans for about an hour and gave it a last blast of hot air with a hair dryer to make sure all humidity was gone (careful with this step, too much heat may "set" the emulsion on the mesh, and removing it, later on, can turn into a laborious task).
5. Exposed it for 3 minutes and 45 seconds--my original was on vellum. Note that each light source hast its own, very specific instructions.
6. Washed it to remove the unexposed emulsion, until the design on the screen was fully visible, with nice, sharp edges.
7. Let it dry and then, with the aid of some emulsion (in the dark room I put a tiny bit of emulsion in a very small container, maybe a quarter tea spoon), covered the pinholes left on the screen. After they dried, the screen was re-exposed at 3 minutes, to harden the recently applied emulsion.
8. Taped the screen on both the ouside and inside.

From left to right: 1-Vellum has a translucent quality that easily differentiates it from regular paper, Curry's (Dundas and University) carries a great selection of vellum and mylar at very reasonable prices. Above Ground (McCaul) does as well. 2-A chop stick is a favourite tool of mine, it is mostly used to apply ink on mylar, or in this case, to carefully touch-up the screens with a bit of photo emulsion. 3-Pinholes are covered, and the screen is ready for the next step.

Once the screen is completely dry and patched-up, it is all set for "masking". From left to right: 1-Blue tape is used to mask the outside edges where the screen mesh meets the wood. This is not regular blue masking tape, this one is of higher quality, and will last for the whole print production. If it is not left for a very long time, that is, more than a month, it will come out rather easily without leaving any glue behind. 2-The inside edges and corners are covered with regular masking tape. It is usually removed after each print run, as it is not convenient to leave it on for a while as it may damage the screen with adhesive and pigment residue.

The ultimate screen test is through printing, which will be documented in another post. Just in case, you are very new to screen printing, click here for comprehensive introduction to the medium, courtesy of Dharma Trading Co. An excellent resource as well.