Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her official 90th birthday last weekend (covered here); her actual birthday is at the end of April, but the weekend in June is a public celebration in hopes that the weather is actually better. Sunday was the day of many of the festivities, and between rain showers, I found may way at Lamb & Conduit Street near Russel Square. A street party was happening here with a dog show. Thornback & Peel, a printing company, offered screen printing workshops. I signed up.
Thornback & Peel started in 2003 when the owners created screen printed clutches. This has now been expanded to pieces for the home and includes kitchen towels, artwork, hankerchiefs, aprons, placemats, and oven gloves. Their designs are based on wood engravings, Victorian illustrations, and other imagery to create a unique style.
We were shown how to screen print. We were given a design of a corgi and Union Jack flag to screen print onto a cotton hankerchief to take home with us. We were given a demonstration first. The corgi was printed with purple ink, and the flag was printed with dark blue ink.
First, the cotton was laid out flat on the table. The print screen was taped to a wooden frame to hold it in place and to enable us to line it up appropriately on the table.
Ink was placed onto the screen, and a scraper was used at a 45 degree angle to sweep down to the end of the frame without placing too hard.
When finished, the wooden frame was lifted to reveal the printed cotton underneath. These were hung up to dry for approximately thirty minutes.
We were told to return in thirty minutes, and our hankerchiefs were rolled up into a box to take away. We also received a small paper notebook with a printed Union Jack on the front cover.
Have you ever screen-printed before?
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