Inkjet printing on fabric

I was watching B Original the other day and the very unique and talented Michele Beschen showed a quick and easy technique using your ink jet printer to print on fabric, such as table napkins, remnants, etc. It is pretty easy. You just need the following materials: freezer paper, iron, ironing cloth, fabric to print and of course your inkjet printer. You can get freezer paper at your grocery store, it is just standard freezer paper. You will want to cut it down to the typical size of printing paper which is 8 1/2 x 11. If your printer can take larger paper than you can obviously make it bigger. Next, take your fabric and cut it a little larger than the freezer paper. Make sure the fabric isn't too thick of a fabric. Keep in mind that the fabric will be adhered to the freezer paper so they will need to go through the printer. Lay the freezer paper on an ironing board, with the shiny side up. Be sure the shiny side is up or else it won't adhere properly. Place your fabric on top, with the wrong side facing down; the side facing up will be the side that is printed. Cover with a piece of thin ironing cloth, muslin works well. Using a Hot Iron (no steam) press over the piece for about 45 seconds. The fabric should be securely adhered to the freezer paper. Make sure to get the edges and corners to ensure that they're stuck tight. You don't want the fabric to get jammed up in the printer. Trim away the extra fabric so it is the same size as the freezer paper before you try to print on it. Now you are ready to print your desired image on the paper. One extra tip that Michele didn't mention is that you may want to change the paper setting on your printer to something a little thicker vs. the default plain paper setting. Every printer is different so it may be under page setup or you may find the option to change the paper source once you hit print. You could pick a matte photo or anything else that is thicker than plain paper.

I think it would look really cool to take white cloth napkins and put a black and white image on it. This technique is an easy and inexpensive way to create some art work for your walls. Just add a frame and you can have a unique piece of art!

Happy crafting,
Madame Craftsalot

Photo Transfer Technique

We have all seen different types of photo transfers done, but this technique really caught my eye. I thought it was very cool and easy. This project came from Craft Lab on HGTV guest Josie Cirincione joins host Jennifer Perkins to create a story box collage. You can click on the title above for a direct link to the entire project. But, I am just going to highlight the photo transfer portion. Josie took a regular piece of packing tape and placed it on top of a black and white copy of a photo. She used a bone folder to burnish the tape on the photo, meaning just really rub it on there and get out any bubbles, etc. Be sure to cut off the excess paper not covered by tape, she said it was easier to work with. Submerge the taped image in warm water until the paper is saturated and can easily be rubbed off with your finger. Take the image out of the water and slowly roll and rub the paper off until it is all gone. Be gentle. Once the paper is gone, just blot it dry to remove any remaining water. The beauty of transferring the image on tape is that the tape still stays sticky! You can add it to your new surface. Josie used a playing card to adhere it to. Trim the excess and voila you have a cool new transferred image. If you have a larger object to transfer she said you could use clear transfer paper. You will have to experiment with different copiers. You can't use an ink jet printer since you are submerging it in water, the image would run. A "fresh" copy would work best rather than one that has been sitting around for awhile. I can't wait to try this technique.

Happy crafting,
Madame Craftsalot