If you are looking for a fun rustic, farmhouse project that you can make with your Cricut or Silhouette, screen printing on burlap is a great DIY craft. We are getting ready to celebrate the 4th of July, so today I'm screen printing the US flag on burlap.

I love how screen printing ink looks on burlap.  The imperfections in the ink coverage gives it a worn and weathered look.

Supplies Needed for Screen Printing on Burlap

• Screen Printing Frame (I used the 16×20 size and 10×14 size)
• Squeegee
• Fabric Screen Printing Ink (I used blue and red)
• Oracal 651 Vinyl
• Cricut Maker
• Cricut Mat (I used the 12×24 size for this project)
• My Favorite Transfer Tape
• Painter’s Tape
• Burlap
• Photo Frame to fit your design
• Heat Gun (optional, this helps dry it faster!)

If you are new to screen printing with vinyl, I have more introductory steps for Beginners | Learn to Screen Print with Vinyl.

For this project, I used 2 screens.  You can do multiple color designs with one screen – just allow a little time for the screen to dry between colors. On the larger 16×20 screen, I put the vinyl design for the red stripes. On my 10×14 frame, I put the stars.

Keep in mind, when you are screen printing, you are weeding out the part of the design where you want ink to go through.  For the stars, this meant removing the rectangular background area and leaving the stars.

After screen printing the red stripes, I used a heat gun to quickly dry the ink.  You can let the ink air dry if you don't have a heat gun.

I used the edges of the red lines to line up my blue layer.  This works well if you are just making one print.

If you plan to make multiple prints, it will be hard to see through the screen to line up the second one.  I suggest using registration marks to line up the screen if you are doing multiple prints.

Once the print is dry, you can decide how you want to mount it.  I used a frame but you can also attach the burlap to a piece of wood to display it.

Tips for Screen Printing on Burlap

• You'll want to push through more ink than you typically do when screen printing a shirt.  The burlap takes a little more ink to fill in the crevices.
• For a more worn look around the edges, adjust the pressure you put on the squeegee.  Less pressure will allow less ink through the screen, while more pressure will allow more ink.
• Give it a little extra time to dry.  Because you are using more ink, it takes a little longer for these to dry (even with a heat gun).

Watch the Entire Process