“Probably the most wholesome Saturday afternoon I’ve had in a long time”
When One69a invited us along to take part in one of their screen printing workshops I had 2 questions in mind, when is it, and will there be tea. Well it was Saturday afternoon, and there was.
Islington Mill is a great place, a veritable melting pot of artists & designers from all walks of life, I also spotted one tattooist, the guy who did my first ever tat 10 years ago! I first went down to the Mill a year or so ago and it’s amazing what you can do in 12 months, on a presumably limited budget but with people who are committed to the cause.
“The bar wasn’t here, and we even have proper toilets these days”
So to the task at hand – silk screen printing. I thought I’d take the opportunity to make myself a Manchester’s Finest bag, not only will it look good, but I can use it every time I go to the COOP and I’ll be saving the planet, win win.
Sally and Aliyah (who also owns her own fashion label Rag Clothing) go through the process with us all as a group, the part with the sewing machine is bringing back memories of making a cushion once in school, it ended badly. But luckily for me there’s a guard, an ‘idiots guard’ I guess, to stop the less able of us sewing our fingers to the material. The process here involves the use of a large roll of applique iron on “wonder paper” and layers of simple shapes to create patterns.
This looks great, however given my past experiences, I opt to concentrate on the one thing I’m really looking forward to, the screen prints. So it’s out with the stencil and get cutting. Once the stencil is completed it’s on to the bit that’s away from sharp objects, but closer to tubs of ink, if you’re anything like me there are aprons and Sally informs us it’s water based, so no clothes were harmed in the making of this article. Method taught, ink down, and voila!
Much to the surprise of both myself, and Ed who came along equally excited about cutting and printing, the stencil works, I had actually done it, and to be honest, it feels pretty good removing the screen to see your creation printed perfectly on a bag! I can see why artists love this process. I’ll let the images do the rest of the talking but all I can say is get yourselves down there, get in-touch with the guys at One69a, book in for a workshop and I promise you now it’s a great way to spend a couple of hours of a Saturday afternoon. Check the end of the article for more information on booking.
If you’d like to head down to Islington Mill for a screen printing workshop with One69a then check out their website for more details at one69a.com the next 2 workshops are Saturday 19th March & Saturday 16th April.
Download the flyer here.
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