Denny Screens - Inexpensive Silk Screen Frames

Fiber Junkies had a wonderful day at Denny's house. We started by learning to make silk screens from inexpensive window screens purchased at a hardware store or Walmart.

 We arrived to find Denny had all our supplies laid out and organized for us.

 This is a nifty tool we used to push the spline into the slot on the back of the screen.

 The best screens to use are made with aluminum frames. They come as pairs with this plastic part on each corner holding the pair together. First thing we did was to remove these corner pieces, which was easy to do.

 Then, we wanted to remove the plastic screening. So Denny showed us to go to the corner where the black rubber spline had cut edges.

  We pried up the corner and the rest of it came off easily.

 After removing the screen, we placed a piece of inexpensive sheer fabric over the screen back. The we put the black rubber strip back in the spline slot. The first 2 sides went pretty well. It was a bit trickier for the last 2 sides as we wanted to keep the sheer fabric taut. It helped to have a friend help.

 This is what it looked like. Then we trimmed off the excess sheer fabric, leaving some to be taped into place.

 We started by putting fun colored duct tape along the back 4 sides, covering the entire spline and sheer edges. Then we turned it over to tape the front edges. This is mostly to keep the paint or water or whatever from getting trapped in the spaces.

 Judy brought this pretty floral duct tape for her screen.

 Val and Gen both brought this fun tape.

This screen made by Denny a few months before shows the extra strip of duct tape on the front to create a "well" to pour the paint, dye, or medium into before spreading across the screen. It also shows a circular design that Denny made for a project. It is made from the Iron on Vinyl, using the same method we had done a few months ago. So, she made the screen and then ironed the vinyl to the bottom side to create a permanent, inexpensive. silkscreen.