Screen Printing Over Seams

[melano]

Hi there

I am fairly new to screening and have very simple and basic questions. I had taken a basic course, but am encountering problems in that I am trying to screen fabric tote bags and tea towels. I am trying to work from a home set-up. I have visited many sites and forums and all very informative, but don't touch upon my basic questions. When I was trying to screen, the seams in tote bags and towels interfere in that I do not get a sharp image and when I start, as it "bleeds" a bit and then is sharp. Perhaps I am not putting on equal pressure, or I need to put something a bit more raise underneath to work better. I am using dyes (G&S Pigment System) - a water-based fabric paint system that requires a neutral BASE and colour concentrated pigments. The pigment colours are added to the base to produce brilliant colours. This is a transparent system so the paint are for "white" or "light coloured" fabrics.

this is driving me nuts

I have used plastic-based inks in my course and worked with flat items, but it was very simple. I am just wondering if I should cover my main board with felt or "build it up" with something, so it would be more pliable and not as cumbersome when trying to print on things that have folded seams and don't lie flat unless somehow raised. (even work with t-shirts).

thanks ahead of time

emilie

[Catspit Productions]

Normally we would avoid printing over seams but today people demand it. No matter what you do, there will be resolution loss over any seam depending on the 3 dimensionality of the seam we could say. You could try using as layer of the smaller, thin bubble wrap or some thin rubber foam that will allow for some give when you run the squeegee over the seams.

I have never really done this as I prefer to avoid “four wheeling” over seams and buttons but a very experienced printer named Lon Winters does this with success and I would imagine it requires some trial and error to get the results you desire.



So you can give it a go as described in the video but I’m afraid I can’t be of much help myself.

I hope that video helps some. Maybe someone else can add their experiences with this. Thanks for joining the forum and posting!