"I'm more of an idea man, myself..."

[bluegargantua]

Hi,

So I have an upcoming craft project.

It does not involve knitting.

It does involve soiling my lily-white aristocratic hands with the muck of the physical universe.

Here's what I want to do:

I want to take a piece of fabric (here, I'm thinking something sturdy and outdoors-y like canvas) and print a grid pattern on it. Assume I'm making a portable checkerboard (not actually true, but close enough for example's sake). What's an efficient way to do that? Assume that in the Good/Fast/Cheap triad, I pick Good and Fast, but will sacrifice some Good to improve the Cheap.

Go forth, Internet Minons, and bring me answer!

later
Tom

Comments

[mikecap.livejournal.com]

If it's cloth-like, maybe an iron-on transfer. You can print out iron-ons from any printer, then iron it on.

[bluegargantua]

Yeah, my Google-Fu got a bit stronger and I ran across that. I think that's going to be my fall back plan. I feel like iron-on transfers tend to wear off pretty quickly.

Still, it's quick and that's nothing to sneeze at.

later
Tom

[mrpet.livejournal.com]

If you want to make more than one just get a silk screener to make them. Any place that makes tshirts can do it.

[bluegargantua]

How much would something like that cost?

I think this is the high-end solution. I was kinda hoping to do a lot of this myself. Having a silk screener do it means it hits the good and fast mark, but that might be pricier than I was expecting for a little crafty project.

later
Tom

[mrpet.livejournal.com]

Screen and cleaning fees could hit $25-50 just for a simple setup. After that it's really cheap to screen them one after the other.

[drwex]

I'm relatively certain that mizarchivist still has a silk-screening rig from her runs of making Serenity shirts.

[qarylla.livejournal.com]

Here is an option I haven't seen in too many places:

1. Buy dark fabric (unless you want your blocks to be negative spaces).
2. Mark out your grid with painters tape.
3. Use light permanent fabric paint to paint everything else.

Of course, this is assuming that you want a grid of lines rather than alternating dark and light colored blocks.

[mrpet.livejournal.com]

hell, he could just mask off and then spray paint the lines.

[mrpet.livejournal.com]

Nice Julia set in your icon :)

[haywireshobbies.livejournal.com]

How precise does the grid need to be?

I know some people purchase a mask and spray paint the grid for hexed terrain.

[bluegargantua]

I'm leaning towards something a bit more precise than...hmmm...actually, that might not be too bad....well...there'd be a bit of bleeding around the edges though...hrm...

Tom