Making your own screen printing frame

There are a few tutorials around explaining how to make your own screens....this is how I do it.

Rule #1 - make sure little fingers and toes are attached to little bodies taking a nap.  Staples guns are not for little people to be around - and staple results are severely hampered by a case of the "Mommeeeeeee"s.

I used a little wooden picture frame - overall size about 15x20cm which will hopefully allow me a printable size of around 10x15cm.  Hubby has made me nice big A4 printable sized frames before with lovely smooth and flat wood screwed together - I used the exact same method to stretch net on those too.  They are my favourite frames, and I have a few.

So here is my little 'how-to'.  If you are lucky enough to get a frame that hasn't got the glass fixed behind annoying battens like mine was, it is all a whole bunch easier and quicker to do - just skip out steps 2-4 and remove the glass at step 1.

{More after the jump}

This is what a case of the "Mommeeee"s does to me and my staples.  If you have a hammer, gently knock them in with that, otherwise, I suggest that you widge them out with a screw driver and do them again. 

I forgot to mention after step 8 - put in a whole bunch more staples to make the net nice and even and tight. 

When you are finished going banana's with your stapler, fold the fabric at the corners nice and neatly and staple it down.  Then trim all excess fabric off.

 I still have to go dig in our overfull garage to find our waterproof PVA glue to paste the net down.  But, this is what one of my other screens looks like after the net has been glued to the wood.  The glue stops the net from fraying and also helps stop paint get stuck between the net and wood - which becomes tricky to clean off.

I hope that makes sense...there were a lot of toddler and baby interruptions during the typing up and assembly of this....

happy thoughts

Keri