Assignment 17 Sieve Print

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The Return of the Lightbulb

I decided to to some printing on fabric. I wanted to do something else fabric related but our stitching machine ist currently broken. Therefore I will use a technique called sieve printing.
To do this a template with little holes is attached to the fabric to the paint only reaches certain areas of the fabric when applied. I made the template with our laser cutter and applied the color by hand.
The template for the sieve-template is again the lightbulb from the 3D-cutting Assignment. Because it has convex and concave shapes, sharp angles and multiple parts so ist perfect to test new methods.

One thing I learned the hard way: Always put on a lab coat (or old clothes) and gloves when handling paint!
This technique is similar to the silkscreen technique with the vinyl cutter but the PET-Foil I used is a lot thicker than the one you usually use with the vinyl cutter. Therefore it is mor likely to tear when cut. But if cut with the laser the template ist more sturdy and can be reused more often then the one from the vinyl cutter.

What you need

  • Some fabric (preferably white)
  • textile paint
  • Foil for inkjet and laser printers (thick PET foil)
  • Tape
  • a plastic ruler
  • Glove and a lab coat


To get this grid-like pattern you have to use the the grid-engrave that visicut provides. You can access it via Options -> Profiles -> Engrave -> Engrave -> Edit -> Default Dithering Algorithm. For the template I use copier-Foil for Laser and Inkjet printers.
For the setting of the laser I had to fiddle around some time because the foil melts very easily. I ended up with a speed of 100 and a power of 30.



Your template should look something link this.
It does not matter if the grid is not perfect as long as all parts hang together and there are enough holes it should still work.



Next get some tape and attach the template to the fabric. It works best if you use wide tape because it prevents paint staining the surrounding area. Then put some paint next to the sieve onto the foil.



To apply the paint to the fabric use some thin peace of plastic like a ruler. Make sure that you covered every area and the "scrape away" the additional paint. Remove the foil directly afterwards.



Lastly fix the unpainted areas swith a thin paintbrush or leave them as they are depending on your taste

Just black tea to stay awake and maybe to hunt some Wyvern