🎙️ Laser-Etched Screen Printing: Turning My Friday Grits Radio Show Logo Into a T-Shirt

My name’s Jane, and I host a college radio show called Friday Grits — it’s basically a chaotic blend of good music, sleepy Friday energy, and a lot of southern charm. After a few months of broadcasting, I wanted something tangible to represent the show. A t-shirt felt perfect — something wearable, comfortable, and just the right amount of homemade.

But rather than uploading my logo to a website and ordering a batch of generic shirts, I decided to take a much more hands-on approach. I wanted to actually make the print myself, combining digital fabrication with an old-school printing technique.

So this project became a mashup of art and engineering: I laser-etched my radio show logo directly into a silk screen and then used that etched screen to hand-print my own t-shirt.

The laser cutting part gave me precision, while the screen printing part gave me texture and character. The process turned out to be incredibly fun — a little messy, a little experimental, and extremely satisfying once I peeled back the screen and saw my design appear for the first time.

If you’ve ever wanted to make your own custom shirt with a technique that feels half maker-lab, half art studio — this is for you.

Here’s the full list of materials and tools I used for this project. Some of them you can substitute depending on what your makerspace or art studio has available.

Tools:

1. Laser Cutter — I used a Glowforge (any model that can adjust power/speed precisely will work).
2. Computer with Glowforge and Inkscape Software — Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW work great too.
3. Heat Gun or Iron — for curing the ink.

Materials:

1. Silk screen frame (110–160 mesh count works best).
2. Fabric ink (I used Navy Blue).
3. Squeegee (excluded from photo) (a small or medium one depending on your design size).
4. Plain cotton t-shirt (mine was pre-washed).
5. Masking tape (for blocking the edges).
6. Popsickle sticks (to apply ink)

Optional but encouraged:

1. Water + soft sponge (for rinsing after etching).
2. Cardboard insert (to protect the back of your shirt).
3. Good music (preferably your own radio show).
4. Snacks.
5. A friend to hold the shirt steady or cheer you on when you pull your first print.

Before you touch the laser cutter, you’ll need to prep your design.

I started with my Friday Grits logo — a simple, bold graphic I designed earlier for the radio show. I opened it in Inkscape, switched it to black and white, and cleaned up all the edges. The black areas will be the etched parts of the screen — that’s where ink will pass through. The white areas will stay solid and block ink.

Then, I made sure to center the design. This is an important step because when you’re printing, the image transfers exactly where you put it. If you forget to align it, your logo will end up sideways (and trust me, that’s a heartbreak you don’t want).

Once I was happy with how it looked, I saved it as a .SVG file (attached here) and brought it into the laser cutter software.

💡 Tip: Keep your design bold and simple. Fine lines and tiny text can get lost when the laser hits the mesh.

This is where things get futuristic.

I took my clean silk screen and placed it face-down in the laser cutter bed. You want the side that will touch the fabric to face downward so that when it’s etched, the design aligns properly when you print.

Before engraving, I carefully focused the laser height so it would skim just above the mesh — close enough to burn the design, but not so close that it melts or warps the fibers.

Then I ran a few test etches on the edges of the screen to dial in the settings. For my setup, 30% power and 100% speed was the sweet spot. It burned away the emulsion cleanly without damaging the mesh.

Once I was confident, I hit “Start” and watched the laser slowly carve my radio logo into the screen. You can actually see the image forming as the mesh opens up in precise little dots. It’s mesmerizing — like watching a printer, but with light and smoke instead of ink.

After the etching finished, I carefully rinsed the screen with water and a soft sponge to remove any leftover debris. The result looked professional — crisp lines, perfect edges, and my Friday Grits logo glowing faintly against the silk.

With the laser work done, it was time to switch gears from tech to tactile.

Once the screen was dry, I flipped it over and used masking tape to block off any open mesh around the edges. You want to make sure that ink only goes where you want it to.

I set up my printing station:

1. T-shirt laid flat on the table.
2. My screen positioned perfectly on top, centered where I wanted the logo to go.

Here comes the most exciting (and nerve-wracking) part.

I scooped a small line of fabric ink along the top edge of my design, just above the etched area. Holding my squeegee at a 45-degree angle, I pulled the ink firmly and evenly across the screen in one smooth motion.

Instantly, I could see the ink saturate the mesh and fill the pattern. I did one more light pass for good measure, then lifted the screen — heart pounding.

And there it was: the Friday Grits logo, perfectly printed in bright white ink on my black t-shirt.

There’s something genuinely thrilling about that first reveal. The combination of digital precision and human messiness creates this perfect hybrid — not as sterile as a machine-made print, not as unpredictable as freehand art. It’s just right.

After letting the shirt air dry, I used a heat gun to cure the ink and make it washable.

If you don’t have a press, a regular iron works fine — just set it to medium-high, cover the design with parchment paper, and press each area for 3–5 minutes. The heat sets the ink so it won’t peel or fade over time.

Once the shirt cooled, I gave it a gentle stretch test — no cracking, no smudging. Just smooth, permanent ink.

The finished shirt looked like something I’d buy from a real merch table — clean, bold, and full of personality. The etched screen created super crisp edges, and the ink soaked beautifully into the cotton.

Now I’ve got an official Friday Grits uniform — and the satisfaction of knowing it came straight from my own two hands (and a laser).

When I wore it to the studio the next week, people actually asked where I got it. There’s no better feeling than saying, “I made it myself.”

Always test your laser settings on a scrap screen first.

Don’t rush the drying process — patience gives cleaner prints.

Simple, bold designs work best for laser etching.

A lint roller is your best friend for clean prints.

Once you print one shirt, you’ll immediately want to print five more.

This process opened up a lot of creative possibilities. Next time, I want to try multi-color layering with separate screens — maybe a white logo on top of a bright yellow or pink underlayer.

I also plan to make a few more shirts for guests and listeners of Friday Grits — maybe even do a small giveaway.

If you try this yourself, tag your project! I’d love to see how other makers adapt this laser-etching method for their own designs.

Screen printing can feel intimidating, but combining it with laser precision makes it surprisingly beginner-friendly — and wildly rewarding.

So go ahead — grab a screen, fire up that laser, and make something worth wearing.

🎙️ Friday Grits out.