I always like to start the working week with some inspiration and I love to waste a few minutes each day browsing Flickr because there are so many beautiful images to inspire.
Today enjoy this amazingly beautiful image from Eddi 07, and the accompanying quotation which has been on my mind lately.
Be like the bird that, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight,
feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings.
Victor Hugo
Continuing the series Printing on Fabric 101, today let’s look at printers and the best feed path when printing on fabric.
One of the most common problems when printing on fabric is having the fabric jam when feeding through your printer. This problem can be alleviated in part by ensuring that the fabric is properly adhered to a paper backing so it feeds through your printer smoothly. Additional information about adhering your fabric to a paper backing can be found here for using freezer paper and an alternate method can be found here for using sticky labels .
Paper jams can also be avoided by using a printer with a feed path that better supports the thickness and texture of fabric, and ideally a straight through feed or an L-shaped feed are the best options for printing on fabric. If you’re not sure about your printer’s feed path, check your user manual.
Best Choice – Straight-Through Feed
The paper feeds from the back (or the front) of the printer and exits at the front (or the back) in a straight line. This ensures that the fabric remains securely bonded to the paper backing and feeds smoothly through the printer.
This type of printer offers the best solution for printing any type of material from very thin to quite thick.
Next Best Choice – L-shaped Feed
The paper feeds from a tray located at the back of the printer in a downwards angle, curves slightly and then exits at the front. Because the fabric feeds through with only a very slight curve, the fabric remains securely bonded to the paper backing.
This type of printer is probably the most common and should work well with most types of material except the very rigid.
Least Preferred Choice – U-Shaped Feed
The paper feeds from a horizontal tray located at the front or on top of the printer, feeds into the printer and makes a curve in order to exit.
This is the most difficult type of printer to work with as the fabric has to make (an often) sharp u-turn in order to feed through, and this can cause the fabric to form wrinkles as it bends, and then it peels away from the paper backing which in turn increases the risk of a paper jam. This type of printer will limit the types and thicknesses of materials that can be printed.
PS If you’d like to follow this series, you can have my blog posts delivered to your inbox. The sign up form can be found here.
I’m always on the lookout for great textures to use when working with Photoshop Elements as I tend to use layers upon layers upon layers of different types of textures and images to create visual depth and complex texture when making my digital art.
There are so many wonderful free texture downloads on the web for using in Photoshop such as these fabulous fabric fold textures. PS – If you don’t know how to use textures, this link also has a quick tutorial on how to use textures.
And recently I stumbled across this link that lists more than 230 great fabric textures.
You can never have too many textures so download and go nuts!
Finally getting things back to normal after the Arts on Stage event which was a fabulous by the way.
Here’s a visual of what you all missed if you didn’t make it to the event …
My colorful little corner of the main room …
Some fabulous art pottery by Rudy Pacarro. Stop by his Etsy store for more.
Then there were beautiful paintings by ARTBYTONY…
And more traditional art …
And even more traditional art …
I sat next to a Grand Master Sand Sculptress (who knew there was such a thing?) who did amazing sand sculptures throughout the weekend …
And the local restaurants set up on the patio for when you got the munchies.
And we also had live performances by local musicians and performance artists. I was soooo lucky to have my booth set up right beside the door to the auditorium so I had beautiful and sometimes “interesting” music to listen to right throughout the weekend.
And there was so much more fine art in the way of jewelry, fiber, photos and paintings … I’m still on visual overload!
I’m so sorry if you missed the event – it was just wonderful! And as this was the first year and proved so successful I think they plan to do it all again next year. I just loved being in the air conditioning.
Well I’m off to clean up the sewing room and try to regain some order in my world – or maybe I’ll do it tomorrow; it’s such a mess!
Continuing the series Printing on Fabric 101, today let’s look at ways of making your inkjet prints washable.
One of the most common questions when printing images on fabric is … can I wash the prints? And of course you can .. but you do need to use fabric that has been pretreated with special solutions that make your printer inks permanent.
It’s worth noting that some printers use inks that are water-resistant however this doesn’t guarantee that your prints will be washable; this only guarantees that the inks will be water-resistant. This will be discussed in depth in a later article.
The most common ways to get washable prints on fabric is to use a product called Bubble Jetset 2000, or purchase fabric sheets that have already been pretreated and precut to size.
Bubble Jetset 2000 has been around for some years and has proven itself to be the best diy solution for making your inkjet prints washable. You can get around 40-50 sheets of fabric from one bottle of solution which costs around $16.00 so this is quite economical if you plan do lots of prints.
The process is extremely easy to do and you can find detailed instructions on the manufacturer’s website, as well as lots of other useful information about printing on fabric.
Bubble Jetset only works with fabrics that are 100% silk or cotton, and you need to iron your fabric onto a paper carrier to be able to print on it. Refer to The Basics for information about attaching your fabric to a paper carrier.
Very important things to remember about using Bubble Jetset …
… don’t wring the fabric – lift the fabric from the solution and let it drip dry or place on a towel to dry.
… once the print is dry, rinse with a mild detergent such as Bubble Jetset rinse – this removes any excess ink.
I’ve been using Bubble Jetset for almost ten years with excellent results so I am always happy to recommend it. Poor results are usually caused by not following the directions correctly, and in particular, ignoring the two steps mentioned above. It’s important that all the directions are followed exactly for the best results.
An alternative to using Bubble Jetset, is to purchase fabrics that have been pretreated. This is a super quick and convenient way to get fabulous printed images and is a good option if you only plan on printing a few images. Pretreated fabric sheets can be found in most craft stores or purchased online and come in a wide variety of fabrics including twill, canvas, silks and organza.
You can generally use these types of fabric sheets with any inkjet printer and they already have a paper backing attached so they are ready to go through your printer. They are slightly more expensive than using Bubble Jetset, but the convenience of having the sheets precut and ready to print may be worth the extra expense.
Also, make sure you read the directions on the pack; different manufacturers have slightly different instructions.
It’s worth noting here that some of these pretreated sheets also result in prints that are extra vivid in color; Bubble Jetset does not affect the color of your prints, it only makes your prints washable.
PS If you’d like to follow this series, you can have my blog posts delivered to your inbox. The sign up form can be found here.
Some new digital art designs I’ve been working on …
I couldn’t make up my mind which color I liked better, so I like them both …
Let’s start the week with one of my favorite inspirational poems by Robert Frost together with a beautiful accompanying photo taken by buksy4free. This week some time, consider taking the road less traveled and see where it takes you. It sometimes takes courage to do things that take us out of our comfort zone, but … ohhhh my!! … what a journey it can be!
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
My sewing machine has been working overtime this last couple of weeks as I’ve been preparing for the upcoming Arts on Stage Event which is happening … YIKES!!! … next weekend … where did the time go???
I finally got round to making up some little coin purses using the flex frames I recently bought. Don’t you just love having special and beautiful little pockets and pouches to hold all your small things? To some it might seem a trifle self-indulgent or maybe a little eccentric – but isn’t it mainly just fun?
The designs of course are my own digital art designs printed on fabric. Which reminds me, if you love to print on fabric as much as I do, don’t forget to join me every Wednesday for a new Printing on Fabric 101 tutorial.
Self-indulge a little this weekend – you deserve it!
As well as printing on fabric, I also love to work with water soluble stabilizer and today I’ve rounded up some of my favorite tutorials and projects using water soluble stabilizer.
If you’ve never tried using water soluble stabilizer before, you’ll love it! It’s so much fun. And to help you along, you’ll find links and information about water soluble stabilizer in the resource section, and you’ll find lots of fabulous techniques for using water soluble stabilizer in my instructional DVD Titivations, (visit the store for details).
Otherwise, enjoy and have fun!
Fun with the Flower Stitch Foot
“Decorative Stitch Art Lace” Book Wrap
Making Fabric Using Water Soluble Stabilizer
I love to print on fabric and I know that you do too! Today begins the series Printing on Fabric 101 which will help to demystify the process.
Today we begin at the beginning with The Basics – this is the very least you need to know and do in order to print on fabric.
So let’s get started …
If you need to resize, adjust or touch up your photo or image in some way, you will first need to scan your image or photo into a photo editing program such as Photoshop Elements or similar.
Alternatively if you have an all-in-one printer, you can simply place your photo in the copier and use the copy option to print it out. With this option remember – wisiwyg – what you see is what you get. If you have a poor or fuzzy photo to start with, your printed image will also be poor and fuzzy.
If you’re using commercial fabric sheets then you don’t need to do anything to prepare them – they’re all ready to go.
If you’re using your own fabric, then you’ll need to adhere it to a paper carrier so it feeds through the printer easily. The easiest way to do this is to iron your fabric onto a piece of freezer paper.
Please note:
If you want your printed image to be water resistant or permanent and washable then you’ll need to treat the fabric with a solution called Bubble Jetset 2000 or use special printer inks, and we’ll discuss this is another lesson.
To adhere your fabric to freezer paper …
1. Cut a piece of freezer paper to standard copy paper size. In the US it’s 8.5″ x 11″.
2. Next, cut a piece of fabric slightly larger than the freezer paper.
3. Iron the wrinkles out of the fabric so it’s absolutely wrinkle free, and then iron the fabric onto the waxy side of the freezer paper.
4. Once the fabric is ironed onto the freezer paper, trim the edges of the fabric even with the paper. You can do this with scissors, but it’s much easier to do it with a rotary cutter and ruler.
Make sure there are no threads hanging over the edge and that the fabric is perfectly adhered to the freezer paper otherwise you risk jamming your printer.
You can find additional information about using freezer paper here and an alternate method using sticky labels here.
Now you can feed your fabric through your printer in exactly the same way that you feed paper.
Note: If you’ve never printed on fabric before, you may want to do a test first or use an old printer so you don’t damage your good printer. You should be able to print on fabric using most inkjet printers but there are some that work better than others. More on this in a later lesson.
Every printer is different so before printing you may need to adjust the Paper Type Setting on your printer to allow the printer to print on thicker paper and you may need to adjust the Quality Option Setting to Photo. It’s always a good idea to do a couple of test prints to see what settings work best.
If you’ve prepared your fabric properly, your fabric should feed through the printer without jamming.
Peel the fabric from the backing paper and you have a lovely print that you can then use in your projects.
PS If you’d like to follow this series, you can have my blog posts delivered to your inbox. The sign up form can be found here.
I'm Linda Matthews and welcome to my website. My current passion is creating digital collage and then printing my artwork onto fabric. You'll find lots of information here about printing on fabric as well as other textile and art quilting techniques. Enjoy!
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