Screen Print Direct

Today we share an interview with a master interviewer himself, Dylan Gilligan owner of Upstate Merch and founder of the Shirt Show Podcast. Dylan’s origins in the screen-printing industry are a bit different than the typical garage printer. Dylan was in a band and had a button company, he sold his buttons to friends and other bands. He then added on T-Shirt merch and stickers to his business, this path would eventually lead to a permanent place in the printing industry. Dylan has been in the industry since 2006. He truly lives and breaths screen printing. From running a screen-printing shop to hosting a screen-printing podcast Dylan’s is incredibly passionate about our industry. Read our interview with Dylan to gain a wealth of knowledge in all things screen printing and entrepreneurship.

To screen print a design onto a t-shirt you need to create a stencil for your artwork. A stencil can be made in several ways but in this blog, we are going to discuss how to make a silk screen stencil using two different methods. There is a DIY method using a vinyl cutter, often referred to as Cricut screen printing, and there is a traditional screen-printing method that uses screen printing emulsion and light. These two methods vary greatly, however, they result in the same finished good, a printed design on your desired substrate. Below we will break down the materials you need for both Cricut screen printing and traditional screen printing and the directions to complete each method. We hope that by the end of this blog you will feel confident in one of the methods and be able to create your very first stencil.