WIP Wednesday - And now for something completely different...

Too tired to sew? Can't decide how to quilt that pesky WiP? What's a very pregnant soon to be momma of twins to do? Screenprint two dozen onesies, of course! I know, I know... it's not exactly quilting and this is a quilt blog. But I also love to use my Yudu. I've even done some quilting/Yudu projects and would love to do more.

I've been having some technical difficulties with my machine for a while and I'm just so darned pleased to have it up and running again. For those of you who don't know much about Yudus, I'll give you a quick primer. It's a device that allows you to make professional level screens using light sensitive emulsion and then use those screens to print anything you'd like on fabric, paper, wood, etc. If you can create it on your home computer and make an overhead transparency of it, you can screen it on fabric. Fun, huh? I won't go into all the steps, but here are the basics of how to print something once you have a screen made.
First apply your ink... I use primarily Yudu or Speedball brand inks.

With the screen not touching your item to be printed, flood the screen with ink using a sharp edged plastic tool. The open areas are going to be what show up on your printed item. You want to make sure you fill them with ink.
Then pull the tool over the flooded area, pushing the ink onto the fabric under the screen. Sorry, no pic of this step. It's too tricky to hold a camera and pull ink at the same time. But, voilà! A finished printed onesie!

Onesies are a little trickier than big people sized t-shirts because you have to position them so carefully. That said, I normally can only do one image per screen for t-shirts. For onesies, I can fit three in the same space! Here's a sampling of what I made today...

Cute, huh? They won't all be for Double Trouble. I plan to tuck a few away in the present box for future baby shower gifts. I have about a million more ideas, but may run out of time (and energy!) before they're done!

I'm linking up today with WiP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced and Let's Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts. I hope they don't kick me out for lack of quiltiness this week! ☺

J

P.S. If you're interested in screen printing, but some of these links offer DIY techniques on a simpler scale to achieve similar results. Warning - I haven't used any of them!
Technique using an embroidery hoop, organza & Martha Stewart decoupage glue
Technique using a freezer paper stencil
Technique using embroidery hoop & pantyhose

You can also check out Speedball Art for info on their screen printing system. They've been around forever!

***We will now return to our regularly scheduled quilt blog!***