How to Print on Fabric

Happy Monday!

A couple weeks back I wrote a post about the Care Bear goody bags I made using one of the techniques I found through Pinterest HERE.

There are a lot of different techniques out there (several I have personally pinned!), but I ultimately chose this one because it only involved ONE "ingredient" needed to create and was SUPER easy to do. Pretty important for this super cheap and lazy gal :)

To begin, I created the images and text I wanted to use for my goody bags on a basic computer draw program (I use CorelDraw). The one downside I see to creating projects by printing on fabric is that you are limited to the size that you can print from a home computer . Luckily for me, this project worked perfectly as a full 8.5 x 11 sheet (half used for the front; half used for the back).

After you have designed the image you want to print, here is what you will need:

To begin, cut down you fabric so that it is just slightly larger than your cardstock.

For the next step, you will want to go outside. Just trust me :) Spray your cardstock evenly with all purpose adhesive. Quickly place your fabric onto the cardstock and smooth out any wrinkles or bubbles.

Once dried, cut your fabric so that it is the same size as cardstock. (you don't want any hanging off the sides. When you are done it should look like a thick piece of cardstock).

Once this is done, you are now ready to print! Just place in your printer making sure to place the correct side down so that you are printing on the fabric side. I forget which setting I set my printer to, but I just chose a setting that was made for thicker paper.

Next, watch in amazement as you print on paper! My printer messes up constantly when I print on iron-on transfer paper, so I expected many problems to arise, but I swear to you, it printed up perfectly every single time. Color was crisp, and the fabric looked beautiful!

At this point, this is what I had:

(sorry for the horrible pictures; I didn't make these until the night before the party, so by then it was late and dark.)

As you can see, the left side is designed to be the front of the bag and the right is the back. This size allowed for me to sew with a small hem and was the perfect size for the goody bags.

Next, gently peel off the fabric from the cardstock. It curls up a little on the edges, but this wont effect anything when you sew them.

You are now ready to use your fabric!

One of these days I may have to try out some of the other methods, but I am pretty happy with this one :)

Hope your Monday was a good one!!

xo,

Rachel