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I have always enjoyed being crafty. I remember getting really excited about stickers and fun stationary when I was little. Well its good to know that some things in life never change!

I was introduced to scrapbooking in 2005 and have been hooked ever since. My love of crafting has branched out to include DIY, projects, gardening, baking, and canning. I hope to share my projects here.

Friday, April 8, 2011

My new Yudu, and my first not-so perfect shirts.

Hello All!

Last August, I went to the Circle meet-up in Wisconsin. At the meet-up we used the YUDU machine and made shirts and tote bags there with the Circle Logo on it. I was immediately smitten and I had flashes of all the fantastic things I could make with the YUDU. This was the beginning of my obsession with getting a YUDU. It took a while to convince my hubby that I needed this machine. He wasn't really buying it, but when I found out that Michaels was having a special on the YUDU for 100 bucks...well he finally gave in. Yipee!

So I parked my booty outside Michael's a full 30 minutes before they opened on Thursday, just to be sure that I got one! I laughed all the way home from the store on the super high you only get when you know you scored a great deal on a toy you really wanted!

Well fast forward 36 hours after coming home with my new treasure and some of my euphoria has worn off. Sigh..

Well I watched the entire DVD that came with the machine as well as numerous videos on YouTube. I felt like I could attempt a project. I was scared of using the emulsion sheets because they are pretty pricey, so I tried to use vinyl.

WELL...that didn't go so well. My vinyl's adhesive wasn't strong enough to stand up to the ink.

OK..Second attempt with a different vinyl...NOPE...

Okay, for my third attempt I used one of the emulsion sheets....ummmm... NOPE, and let em tell you..THAT HURT! Wasting an entire $10.00 sheet of emulsion because I didn't have the screen wet enough. I figured out that I didn't have it adhered to the screen well enough, so it just washed right off. I have since learned that my screen needed to be much wetter than I had it the first time so....

Attempt #4...Second and last sheet of emulsion. It appears that I correctly adhered the emulsion and burned my image on it OK. At least mostly OK.

I attempted to pull a screen onto some scrap material I had and the ink bled all over. I think the material was not absorbent enough for the ink to stick to it to well. When I tried to pull another screen on the back of a old tshirt, the image came out better, but there was some haloing effect in certain areas that had bled in the first attempt. I think, now that the screen had extra ink on the material side from the first attempt, so I washed offthe screen and re-dried it in the machine.

Well over an hour later, and I again tried to make a shirt. The same thing happened, but to a lesser degree. I have come to the conclusion that my emulsion wasn't perfect and some of the edges are loose. I pulled a few shirts as a trial and I am only getting a small halo effect in the loose areas. Luckily these were meant to be sleep shirts anyway, so the girls don't really care, but I obviously need to practice some more.



My friend, Missie, over at Created By Missie, also just got a YUDU and she used an outdoor vinyl to make her screen, and it worked perfectly, so I have ordered some GT5 Vinyl and as soon as it arrives I will be trying that technique.

Also as I was washing the ink off of my screen for the second time, some of the Emulsion was starting to peel up, so it really cinfirmed that the emulsion wasn't on that great.

I will say, my first attempt was very much a let down, but I am certainly not giving up on screen-printing just yet.

I welcome any tips or techniques anyone has to offer, as I am beginner, but I really want to make the most of the YUDU.

Thanks

Have a Great and Crafty Day

17 comments:

  1. The shirts are super-cute...ALMOST as cute as your kids! hehe.

    Your favie sis-in-law

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  2. Thanks for the sharing your experience - you are SO brave. My YUDU is still in the box - shhhhhhhhh!!!

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  3. I think they are cute and I bet the girls love them.

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  4. Hey, I'm impressed. I went to M's tonight and bought the Vagabond and it is still in the box. Trying to justify the cost even though it was $100 off!

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  5. Jan, I think the shirts look great! If you hadn't told the story I would not have known by the photos that they were anything less than perfect!

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  6. Thank you for sharing this story. I myself had thought I should go buy the Yudu but I am still trying to justify the purchase of the imagane. I think until I really have a need for this, it's just one more expesive toy that will need lots of add on's.

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  7. Oh by the way, your shirts do look great!

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  8. Your shirts look really cute! But, I know how you feel when something comes out less perfect than you expected. Especially when you are so excited about it in the first place. I bet with a bit more practice, you will have it down to a fine art!

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  9. Thank You for posting information and photos. You did a wonderful job. I need to learn more about the Yudu.

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  10. I think it looks awesome!!!! My first was a total disaster, but it was during demo, so I was able to "practice" before I got my own..hahhahahah!!

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  11. Remember, everything has a learning curve.... looks like you have learned! The t-shirts look great!

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  12. Your shirt looks great but your story is scary! My Yudu is still in the box... I have to build up my confidence. I cannot wait to hear how the outdoor vinyl works!!!

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  13. Jan-
    I think they look stinkin cute. I'm sure the girls love them.

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  14. Congrats on the yudu:) Your shirts look great:)

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  15. Well I think they look great! Please keep trying and showing us more!

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  16. I think they look great! I got my yudu during the Michael's sale and I'm so scared to use it! LOL I didn't buy any extra emulsion sheets because of the expense (a pack of 2 is $29.99 at m's in Canada - crazy right?), but I did buy some liquid emulsion that I am hoping to figure out YIKES!!!

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