While designer fabric is available at most fabric stores, creating and printing out your own fabric can be cheaper, and much more fun! This craft is perfect for unique quilting projects! Unlikescreen printing, all you need is an inkjet printer and some printable fabric.
Steps
- Buy some printable fabric. Look at office supply stores, craft stores, or online. Popular brands include Avery Printable Cotton and Colorfast products. You can usually get five 8.5" x 11" pieces for around $10.00.
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Create your fabric design. You can simply print a preexisting image from your computer, or you can create a design with a program such as Photoshop or Paint.
Feel free to edit your image or create a unique design. - Follow the printing instructions for your printable fabric. Most will tell you to set the printing controls to "Best" or "Highest Quality."
- Allow your fabric to dry. Do not handle it immediately or the ink may bleed!
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Iron it on. Your fabric may have come with an iron-on backing. If so, you can now iron it on. Do not use steam! If you would rather sew it, simply pull off the backing before sewing it.
You can iron or sew your fabric on.
Tips
- Printable fabic is expensive, so as a cheap, but equally sucessful alternative, spray plain fabric with a solution of 3 parts water to 1 part PVA, allow to dry and cut to A4 size! Printable fabric DIY!
Warnings
- Most printable fabric designs will fade if put into a machine washer or dryer. If you must use a washing machine, turn the clothing inside out and select cold water.
- Never, and again Never, ever use Laser-Printer to print your images. The fabric will ruin your Laser-Printer, so don't even think about it!
Things You'll Need
- An ink-jet printer with ink
- Printable fabric
- Scissors
- Thread and/or an iron
- Creativity!
