this post documents my journey making this shirt. writing this in greentext because its easier. >2 months ago >watching frieren >get idea for a shirt >frieren_vaping.png >call friend who makes clothes (named Mrfister) >tell him idea >"how hard can screenprinting really be?" >remember i have no screenprinting experience >remember im low iq >remember i fell out of crib when i was 3mo old forever stunting my intellectual development >make shirt anyways Do not expect efficiency or a smooth process. Many easily preventable mistakes will be made.
hardanimeshirts.com
"happy to be here, happier if i find a hard anime shirt" - kian
1owroller No.1
upgraded exposing rig. using a friend's UV grow light instead. friend was using it to grow plants (:3) but stopped so they dont need it anymore.
>draft design with dingboard.com >has segmenting feature that lets you snipe and crop easily >takes literally 5 min
this is the final draft. used an ipad to draw out the picture, and then overlayed it onto a t-shirt to see what it would look like. we decided to make it a full graphic print. imo, it looks harder that way. also, the geek bar is an elf bar now.
screenprinting process: >coat screen with light-sensitive emulsion >print stencil on transparency paper >make exposure calculator stencil >place stencil on screen >expose screen >wash screen, emulsion hardens where exposed >recoat screen with emulsion >place actual stencil on screen >expose again >wash screen, print reveals itself on mesh >coat screen with ink >use squeegee to press ink through mesh onto shirt >profit??? what i need: 1. a screen frame 2. mesh for the screen 3. an exposing unit (light source) 4. a shirt 5. a squeegee 6. ink 7. emulsion remover 8. transparency paper 9. an inkjet printer
>need exposing unit >use really shitty lamp from a friend >takes 30min >super shit, inconsistent >buy worklight >nowhere to hang it up >need to build a rig >use pvc pipes, make abomination rig >holyshit.jpg >it works >accidentally leave light on overnight >bulb burns out and breaks >buy new bulb >can only find 1000w, not the 2000w we need >fuck it >works anyways
first attempt at building a frame for the screen. >it's shit >didn't measure the cuts properly >also used wood that was warping handicap_screen.png
the frame might be super ass, but at least it's good to use the exposure calculator on. super disposable, but it has sentimental value because it's the first screen we ever built. this thing looks so stupid.
this is the second screen we made. >dont want to use nails >buy woodglue >no clamps >woodglue gets everywhere >screen is falling apart >edges unevenly cut >end up nailing screen anyways definitely an improvement though.
exposing the screen. transparency papers are only 8.5"x11" and the print itself is 20"+ so we needed to print on four of them and tape them together.
>6 weeks in >finally can print a shirt >comes out super shitty >screen not properly exposed >defects everywhere honestly at this point i think we'd failed so much, and made so many mistakes, that failure doesn't feel like anything anymore.
this is how we went about fixing the screen errors. good ol painter's tape.
final product! if you are interested in acquiring this shirt: dm me and I can make one for you! @1owroller on x.com
Saw your post on twitter— I like the concept of this website. Did you make it with vichan? Additionally, do you plan on making more than just t-shirts? I would really like a hoodie.
holy shit you’re the first user. i need to add tagging and a better system for post ids so i can actually >> you lol. the site isn’t built on vichan, just vanilla react + node. thinking of doing a svelte rewrite sometime in the future tho, this site is jank af. but yeah, someone else asked about a hoodie too. im pretty enthusiastic about the idea. the screen is kinda fucked up rn so it might take a while. just dm me on twitter