Screen Printed Felt Pouches That Make You Say BOO!

Are you ready to get spooky (in a cute and crafty way)? These ghost-cat felt pouches are a lower-barrier way to try out screen printing just in time for Halloween. I can see a few mini chocolate bars tucked away in there nicely ;)

Traditional screen printing requires a lot of specialized tools and equipment that can make it feel inaccessible. I’m lucky to have access to a fully-equipped studio but for most people (including my screen-printing students) this is not the case. So, I’ve been experimenting with some newer tools and materials to make small frameless screens - screen printing is commonly done using screen stretched across a wood or metal frame - that make printing at home much easier. You will still need to make a modest investment in tools (around $100) but if you’re keen to do some printing, this is a great way to make that happen.

Speedball has a newish product called Speed Screens that are pre-coated screens ready for exposure using their UV LED light to “burn” your image onto the screen. I’m not going to go into the process in-depth here as Speedball provides a full tutorial on how to use these products online. If you are curious to know what types of felt work best for screen printing, you can check out my last blog here!

Materials:

• Rayon/Viscose Craft Felt in Yellow
• 100% Wool Craft Felt in Earth Gray (Optional)
• PDF Template (Click here)
• I’ve included my ghost-cat illustration with the downloadable template that you can use, or play around with making your own!
• Thread or Crochet thread
• Scissors
• Needles
• Pins
• Black Marker (the Faber-Castell Pitt Bullet Nib Markers work really well for this)

Downloadable PDF Pattern:

• Felt Pouch Template

In order to create your artwork, you can either print a black and white graphic on a clear acetate sheet or draw directly on the acetate using a black marker. I find that the Faber-Castell Pitt Bullet Nib Markers work really well for this (If you're in the Greater Toronto Area and want a suggestion, I got mine from ARTIculations Art Supply in the Junction).

To make the frameless screen, I cut out a small piece of the pre-coated screen to make my image following the instructions that Speedball provided. Once it was completely dry, I adhered a duct tape border around the edge by taping two pieces together sandwiching the screen in-between. This border gives you something to hold on to while printing and prevents ink from ending up where you don’t want it. Scale is very important when you’re making these frameless screens - you can’t make them too big or the screen will move around and create a blurry image. If you aim for playing card size, you should be golden.

Once you have your screen, you’re ready to start printing! For this project, I used the Rayon/Viscose Craft Felt in Yellow, but Wool Blend or 100% Wool Felt both work great for screen printing as well. The images included show how I printed with a small plastic card rather than a squeegee (using an old gift card works great) and some Permaset Aqua textile printing ink.

To construct my pouch, I used the template to cut out my felt then folded and sewed around the edges using some embroidery thread.

I folded the flap down to see where to cut a slit for the flap to tuck into keeping your snacks safe inside.

This could be an entirely no-sew project if you don’t like stitching, just use some Tacky Glue around your edges. Non-fraying edges is a defining feature of felt and one that makes it a go-to for me for these kinds of projects. Also, if you’re not interested in a printing deep dive, you can use the template to make the pouch of your dreams using another method - an embroidered ghost-cat would be adorable!

If you’re like me and you get a little perfectionista about things being lined up properly, I would suggest cutting one of your prints from another piece of felt and gluing it to your finished pouch like I did here. It provides a little more control over placement and I like the relief effect - you can also use a different color of felt for some added pizzazz (I used some 100% Wool Craft Felt in Earth Gray).

We’d love to see your creative screen printing projects! Share your masterpieces on social media and tag us @erinmackeen and @the_felt_store so we can admire your incredible prints!