Printing miniature fabric: a tutorial
by Anna-Maria C Sviatko
What you'll need:
- Cotton fabric (I used a light white poplin)
- Freezer paper
- A piece of A4 sized card to draw around
- General craft supplies: a cutting board, a pencil and scissors
- A metal ruler and rotary cutter (or just use the scissors and a steady hand)
- An iron and ironing board (if you use one)
- A piece of old clean wood (or similar flat surface: I use an old art board) and an old pillowcase or length of fabric to cover it
- Your computer, the internet and word
- An inkjet printer
Step One
Gather your supplies.
Step Two
Using the piece of A4 card as a template, mark off an A4 sized piece of your freezer paper on the matte size. (I use the edge of the paper as one of the edges of my piece, saving extra cutting.)
Step Three
Roughly cut around the outside of your marked out areas.
Step Four
Set the iron to cotton and dry.
Step Five
Iron the fabric smooth (use a spray bottle if necessary, but ensure the fabric is completely dry before proceeding to the next step)
Step Six
Place the wooden surface on the ironing board and cover with the old pillowcase or fabric.
Step Seven
Iron the freezer paper onto the fabric, shiny side towards the fabric.
Step Eight
Cut along the marked lines.
Step Nine
Clean up any dangling threads.(You don't want to kill your printer now, do you?)
Step Ten
Iron the edges of your pieces to ensure they are attached firmly. Focus particularly on the leading edge.
Step Eleven
Choose and harvest your images (I don't need to remind you about copyright and personal use only and stuff, do I?)
Step Twelve
Create a new Word document, inserting your images and resizing them to the correct size (I left plenty of room around my images to use as seam allowances on my "vintage tea towel" cushions.)
Step Thirteen
Insert your fabric/ freezer paper piece into your printer, making sure the fabric is the side that will be printed. Set your printing preferences to best quality printing and hit print.
Step Fourteen
Carefully peel the fabric off the freezer paper backing.
Step Fifteen
Heat set your print by ironing on the wrong side for approximately three minutes (or the length of one pop song. Or until you get bored.)
That's it! You're done!
(By the way, I would suggest not testing the colour fastness of your print by washing it or using liquid glue on it.)
(For the finished cushions see here. The same method was use to produce the bunting here)