Wednesday, January 26, 2011
#31 - Krista's chocolate beanie
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
tutorial tuesday - DIY sew-in labels
First, I should say that I thoroughly searched online for instructions for this one. I know that many, many places sell custom labels that you can order, but I wanted to save some $$ by making them myself Several of the sites I found suggested getting this special fabric that you run through your printer, but I didn't like that idea because my poor old printer doesn't like anything that doesn't "feel" like paper and rewards my attempts with giant bursts of ink in the most unfortunate places. I did find one tutorial over at http://www.patchworkpottery.blogspot.com/ that I really liked, mostly because the labels could be washed without losing the image and made with materials you can find almost anywhere. This tutorial is based on my trials and errors, and tips I found helpful along the way. Enjoy!
Materials:
Computer, image editing software (I use Adobe Photoshop CS4), printer
Printable iron-on fabric transfer paper
Cotton twill tape (or ribbon) 1/2-inch wide or 1-inch wide (depending on your preference)
Scissors, rotary cutter & ruler
Iron & ironing board
Dritz Fray-Check (available at fabric stores or Walmart)
Step 2: Follow the instructions on the transfer paper to make sure the images will show up properly.
I used these Light Fabric Transfers specifically because the transfer material is clear. Avery also makes another type called Dark Fabric Transfers which is great for printing iron-on photos, but the transfer material for those is white. This is great for the photos because the colors show up really nicely, but it doesn't work for making labels because the area around the letters in the design comes out white and the ribbon/twill tape gets covered up completely. Also, it may help to print the layout of the designs on a plain sheet of white paper to make sure you like the way it all looks before you print on the transfer paper. Just a thought -- like I said, trial and error.
Step 3: When your layout looks good and you've printed it on the transfer paper, cut them apart into strips. I used my rotary cutter and a ruler to get the strips straight and only 1/2 inch tall.Apply a thin line of the Fray-Check along both of the cut edges and allow to dry completely.
Step 6: Sit back and admire your new little labels! Then sew them into your projects:
This little guy happens to be a coffee cup cozy for an upcoming post. Stay tuned!The labels pictured in this tutorial are made with the 1/2 inch wide twill tape. I also made some with 1 inch wide labels using the same instructions and 1 inch wide twill tape, and was able to fit 40 of that size onto one transfer sheet.
Give it a try, and let me know if you have questions!