Review: Lumi Silkscreen Kit

Today I am sharing with you my new Lumi Silkscreen kit.

lumimugrugs

But let’s start at the beginning. Before I could receive my Lumi silkscreen kit I needed to upload an image. I spent quite a bit of time thinking about what image I wanted and finally decided on a fern. After surfing the web with no luck, I opened up my Silhouette Designer software where I found my Australian-inspired image I had drawn awhile back. After many tries, I decided against the dots and made them into leaves. Once I was satisfied with my fern, the only thing left was to decide on the size and then email the jpg to Lumi.

Here are the first and last drawings. It always amazes me what I end up with!

ferndrawings

It wasn’t long and my silkscreen kit arrived. But before that happened, they emailed me a picture of my screen. Pretty neat!

mylimiscreen

The kit includes the unframed screen, black or white screen printing ink, and a squeegee. So I test drove the screen with their black ink on some scrap fabric. I taped up the screen with painters tape. My duct tape would not hold up for some reason. After using the screen, I tried another roll of tape and it worked fine.

Lumiwithblack1And here is the image as I pull the screen up.

Lumiwithblack2

So after the test run it was time to make my mug rugs. I used some of my dyed fabric from my stash and assembled it on my padded surface.

Lumiscreen1

Next I mixed some textile paints to get the green I wanted. I love mixing paints because I always have the color I need.

Lumiscreen2

I then tested the color on a piece of the fabric to make sure it was the green I wanted.

lumiscreen3

Once I was happy with that color, I took my new squeegee and pulled the paint over the screen.

Lumiscreen4And here is the result.

Lumiscreen5Then I added fusible fleese and the backing, and serged the edges.  Here they are again.

mug rugs using Lumi Silkscreen kit

These silkscreens are similar to thermofax screens although they feel a tad thinner. I used a different roll of duct tape and it’s framed and safely stored away until my next use. However, you don’t need to add a frame, but I feel better having that stability.

The image really turned out perfect. I pulled a lot of prints and they all came out clear and clean.

I received the kit so fast. Within a couple days from emailing my art, it was in my mailbox ready for me to play with.

The prices are reasonable: $15 and $25 (depending on size) and that includes black or white screen printing ink, and a squeegee. I can see using this squeegee with my other screens. I would be happy if they’d offer an option of screens only with a reduced price.

Their website also includes images you can use for your screens if you don’t want to create your own, step-by-step instructions, and a video on how to use these screens.

Great product!

 

Disclaimer: I received this kit from Lumi. The opinions expressed here are 100% my own. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review and received no monetary compensation.