This week I finally started screen printing for Spring/Summer 2018. I had been itching to start ever since the boxes of shirts started arriving on my doorstep a few weeks ago, but I have been sick and germy.
I’ve ordered more shirts and onesies than ever this year; I’m doing more markets than usual, and am hoping to sell more in shops. All very optimistic you say, but also ever so slightly terrifying. It’s all fun and games when you are tapping away, ordering all the lovely shirts online. But then they actually arrive: the sheer physical mass of them, the space they take up in my living room, dining room, every room, is downright overwhelming!
Urged on by a desperate need to start reducing the size of those gigantic piles of plain clothes, I started printing with a frenzy on Monday.
The SS18 collection is full of juicy colors: orange, sunshine yellow, emerald green, aqua, and ultramarine. I’ve also got a slogan tee in this collection, just for fun; the ‘told you so’ tee pretty much says it all for the times we live in.
It has been so enjoyable figuring out which colors to print on these shirts. I’ve been printing on the yellow shirts with a beautiful blue-violet that made me do a happy dance, and have been pairing bright orange with cream, and pale green with raspberry pink.
Screen printing is instantly gratifying, each fresh print is a revelation and a treat for the eyes. However, by Thursday, the non-stop, frenzied printing and washing had left my hands sore and raw, and I had painful calluses on my thumbs. The day was murky and heavy on the head, and a dance class had left my muscles sore. So I decided to put down my squeegees, and take a day off to do some super exhilarating inventory and write this (even though it will only be posted on Friday).
I’ll be back at the print table on Friday. I can hear those shirts whispering to me…
