It was my less-evil-twin-sister’s birthday the past Monday, and I decided to make her something very cool as her birthday present. She’s a pretty easy person to gift — she loves ultimate Frisbee, she loves cooking good food, she loves gardening, and she loves smart pale looking guys with glasses. She’s also a good gifter, together she and a few friends bought me a set of screen printing kit for christmas last year and I had been wanting to try screen printing for FOREVER!
So I had the greatest idea ever! A very comfortable T-shirt with a cool print in the back for her to play frisbee in. Inspiration stroke and after some looking for cliparts on the internet + manipulation in Window’s painter program, I came up with this:
With some help from my husband, I eventually got it onto a screen ready for screen printing. It was pretty decently easy, but you have to do it in the middle of the day in order to catch a direct sunlight. To see how to create a template for screen printing, you can check out these youtube videos.
Then I made a very simple Tshirt from the most comfortable bamboo jersey ever! Luckily, my less evil twin sister is about the same size as me(duh!), so I used one of my Tshirt as a template and traced off the shape of my creation. Since this bamboo jersey rolls on the edge, I did not have to hem it. All I needed to do is to serge the sides and shoulder seam! I wanted a no set in sleeve shirt, so that the sleeves flutters casually around the shoulder. It is easier and I actually like it better than the regular Tshirt sleeve.
Then it was screen printing time! That part was a little hard. Perhaps this jersey is more furry than normal, but the paint had a hard time sticking onto it clearly. The first time it looked so terrible that I immediately washed the paint off to try it again.
I think it looks really cute! I really love the softness and comfort of this material, and I LOVE the print! This is one of those rare instances when I actually feel motivated to make something for a non-family member! My less-evil-twin-sister really loves it!
JuebeJue 
that is such a cute gift idea! i love it!
i didn’t know you had a twin sister!
chie
Awesome! So what is the “staying power” of this type of screenprinting? Is it basically like the ones you would purchase from a normal store? Or do you need to wash it more carefully?
hmm! that is a good question — I have no idea! i think my friend would actually wash it normally, so I will ask her after a few washes if the pattern still looks good!
Your shirt turned out great! Love the shot jumping in the air.
Cute! How easy was it to use the kit? I’ve always wanted to try screenprinting.
I thought it was going to be tedious after watching the video (linked in post). But it wasnt too bad at all! You need a printer that can print stuff onto transparency, a sunny day, and a toothbrush to wash off the screen, the rest should be in the kit!
Yes! I love the t-shirt! It’s awesome! Can’t wait to go play frisbee wearing it!!! And the bamboo cloth feels soooo soft too.
Thanks for making it for me. Seriously, I thought you had bought the t-shirt instead of making it from scratch!