Print Your Own Fabric: Tutorial

I fully intend to try Spoonflower. It's on my to-do list. I would totally like to design my own line. But in the nearer term, I need Ghostbusters patches for our family costumes. (Our little one will be Slimer, in bright green fleece with little wriggly slimer arms. It's going to be so awesome.) I read somewhere that you can make your own printable fabric, and after paying a seemingly ridiculous amount for it and looking hard at it and thinking "there's not much to this" I decided to set out.

Stumbling block: my regular inkjet printer is out of ink. Frustratingly, it has two black tanks and one of them is empty and therefore the whole thing goes on strike. Uh, seriously, with two sick kids and not feeling so well myself, *I* still go to work, right? Sigh. Not the printer. So, I set out to try it with my little photo printer. It's a HP Photosmart 475, if you're into these details.

So I cut a piece of laundered scrap white fabric. Happened to be white, but it sure doesn't have to be. I plan on trying this on some assorted Kona cottons. My printer will print 5 x 7, so I go for that. I cut a piece of fabric that's a little larger than 10 x 7 and iron it flat with a little steam, then turn the steam off and iron until it's completely dry. (I'm ironing on this. It's a helpful little gal.)

I tear off a piece of freezer paper to fit on my ironed scrap. With no steam, I iron it on both sides. Why? Because you want nooooo curl to this at all. Curl will separate the two pieces in your printer and jam it up. I have photos of this. It makes quite an unpleasant crrrruinnnnklecruuun ch ch ch in the printer.

This picture makes me sad. But we must go on.

After it's super flat, lay it on your cutting board and trim down the two 5 x 7 pieces. The edges need to be nice and sharp and the fabric and the freezer paper cleanly adhered.

Carefully feed this through your printer. No matter whether you're printing in Word or from iPhoto or from the fancy interweb or whatever, it works just the same as paper, but the manual feed tray would be best on most printers because it involves a less complicated paper path. Definitely feed one at a time, I say.

So once it's printed, iron it again to set it. You can peel off the freezer paper and then sew it or attach it to fusible interfacing or whatever you like. I'm gonna make Ghostbuster arm patches. Who ya gonna call?

There are a number of things I like better about this than the printable fabric you buy:

1) It costs 1/20th as much.
2) You choose the base fabric.
3) You choose the size. Wouldn't be all that tricky to print legal or tabloid size, if your printer will do that on paper.
4) It doesn't automatically have fusible interfacing on the back. If you want to quilt with it, you can get on with your bad self.

Susan

March 11, 2010 Update: to make your fabric washable, see this.

No-Sew Projects

Normally I don't advocate this kind of thing.  I am a sew-it girl.  I don't do paper crafts, I don't do cut-a-hole-in-fleece-and-call-it-a-poncho, I don't do paint.  That's why I am only the co-owner of this blog (not that Susan would make a fleece poncho - that would totally negate our friendship.  But she does do tons of stuff that I can't/won't do and that makes for more interesting blogging).

However, tragedy struck last week in the form of a broken sewing machine.  Did we ever mention we don't live in America?  Well, we don't.  And finding a service shop and taking my machine there was not the easiest thing to do in this 2nd world country.  But it is done, and hopefully it will return to me in working order and never happen again.

In the meantime, here are some ideas for you in case your sewing machine ever goes kaput:

1.  Buy a second machine so you always have a back-up.

2.  Cut out a quilt you've been meaning to start and lay it out.  Stop there, as the rest involves sewing:

3.  Reluctantly try your hand at freezer paper stenciling.  Discover how easy it is.  Get carried away:

necklace shirt inspired by Samster Mommy (but not nearly as nice as the ones she has for sale)

4.  Finally copy make a scrap-busting pillow inspired by this Anthropologie pillow (now discontinued):

and write a tutorial on how you did it:

a.  Start with a length of plain fabric that will be your pillow top.  If the dimensions of your pillow are 18 x 18, for example, it is best to cut the fabric to that exact size.  Once you sew it up with seam allowances, the pillow should fill it up nicely without any saggy corners or edges.  Now unleash the full force of your scrap pile.  Or, in my case, about 1/10th:

b.  Use something round to draw a circle on one fabric.  Mine is approximately 1.5 inches diameter, but you could make it any size you want.  Trim around the circle, but not directly on the marked edge, like so:

 c.  Use 4 more fabrics to surround the circle with half moon/crescent shapes.  Again, don't cut the shape out, just trim around it:

d.  Place each of the scraps of fabric onto one of the sticky sides of Steam-a-Seam or other double-stick fusible.  Next, cut neatly around the shape, peel the paper backing off the reverse side, and place them exactly where you want them on the pillow top.  As long as you don't iron them down, you will be able to move them around until you are satisfied with the arrangement.  But try not to be as OCD perfectionist as me - this is supposed to be a fun and random scrap-buster, right?

 e.  Continue to put petals around in larger and larger circles until you are happy with the size of your flower.  As you go on, it will be easier to lay a scrap of fabric where you want a petal and then sketch a shape so you know it will fit perfectly.  At this stage, I started cutting out the fusible for each petal individually or I would forget what order I had them in.  Remember that you can make any shape petal you want:

f.  You will eventually get something like this:

I don't think I'm done yet, I may do another round.  But after this comes the pillow assembly, and once again, I would need a sewing machine for that.

some tips:  put the petals closer together to make a fuller flower more like the anthropologie pillow, or keep more space between them to make this project go faster!  You could also make this with a patterned background and solid petals, or all solids.  If you're using scraps leftover from a quilt, make a nice coordinating pillow to go with it on your couch or bed....use your imagination!  You'll end up with a free, unique, handmade creation that hopefully put a dent in your scrap pile and saved you $88.  Yes, $88 was the price of that pillow.  And after making one, you'll understand why :)

ps: sorry for the sad dark state of those tute pics.  I did this after the girls were in bed, so the house was dark and those compact fluorescents just don't work for photography lighting.  But it's called crafterhours for a reason, remember?


Update: I finished the pillow!  I scrap-busted even further by making the entire back out of scraps.  Check it:

   

Adrianna

Girlify a Boy Shirt: A Tutorial

My K looooves Spider Man. Knows the characters far better than I do. It's a good thing her Dad likes to keep up with those storylines for dinnertime conversation. But Spider Man shirts are always cut for boys. And while I can handle that it's not pink and purple.... can I girl it up a little?  I say yes.

One boy shirt.
Two scraps of ribbon.
Two scraps of fusible interfacing.
A stitch ripper or small scissors.
An iron, pins, thread.

Start by ripping out the seams around the arm holes and around the bottom hem. This will make a nice little mess.

Unroll and iron these flat.

Fold pleats into each arm, pinning and fiddling until the more or less match.

Stitch down the pleats to hold 'em still.

Tack a bit of ribbon at the top. Use fusible interfacing here if your ribbon doesn't stay put well on its own, depending on the weight and width of the ribbon.

Stitch down the ribbon, folding it under at the edge and catching it underneath. I used a zigzag stitch. I thought it looked okay at this point, having no more boxy arms, but I decided to fold the neck edge in half and pin it, and then zigzag all the way around.

Lastly, apply to a kid who looks like they'd like a girlified boy shirt. Like this one. Who now wears it with a tutu. Very fashion forward.

Susan

Peasant Blouse. Round 4.

Well, Adrianna has made this one three times already and looooves to talk about how easy and fun it is. And I'm ashamed to admit, but I was inspired to try it after a trip to... can I write it? McDonald's. Since we live abroad it's a nice little pseudo-America for an occasional outing, and the kids love the outdoor play area. So while we were there last night I noticed that the employees were wearing a rather cool shirt that had the arches applied down one side of the shirt. Theirs looked pieced with some sort of pique knit, but I thought it'd be quicker/funner to use a reverse applique. So I went home and did this in just over an hour and put K in it this morning. It's a little long for a shirt and a little short for a dress. I guess that makes it a tunic.

The grey fabric is a knit I had lying about. The bird print is Michelle Engel Bensko, Birds in Natural. Encased elastic at the neck. Unfinished hem. The reverse applique is soooo easy. Cut a large enough piece of the fabric you want to show through. Apply a lot of pins to keep both pieces smooth and still. Draw the shape you like, allowing a bit extra since it doesn't allll get cut away. Sew atop your sketched lines. Trim away the top fabric inside your lines while being careful not to clip either your stitches or the bottom piece of fabric. Done. Another project put to bed after the kids and before your own bad self.

Susan

My first ever quilt

This is a little out of order since I already posted my second quilt, but here you go anyway.  I made it using Amy Butler's Lotus Brick Path Quilt pattern and fabric.  I totally heart Amy Butler.  She is the one who got me addicted to fabric and got me sewing again in earnest.  Since then, I've found many other fabric/pattern designers to love, but I still think she sets the standard.

I love how the shadow of my husband's arm looks like the stretchy lady in The Incredibles

This is a great first quilt to make because the construction is simple, the quilting is stitch-in-the-ditch, and there is no binding.  Of course, if it isn't your first quilt, go crazy - add binding, quilt it as crazy as you want (by hand even - the ultimate in craziness).  My favorite thing about this pattern though is that it really displays your beautiful fabrics so you can enjoy them for years.  And that is the main reason I picked it.

Can you ever get enough Wallflower in Cherry?  No you cannot.  

Adrianna

A Little Birdie Told Me

Oooooh, with a surname like "Bird" the jokes must get old by the time you're, say, 6. Or if you married into the family, probably before the vows were even said. But I could not resist making custom "Bird" gifts for a Bird mother-to be. First, a "Birdie Bump" shirt, which involved painstakingly cutting out lettering and a bird/branch with an Exacto knife. The image is cut into freezer paper, ironed on to fabric, and then painted with acrylic paint. While the paint is still wet you carefully peel the freezer paper off. There are lots of tutorials out there on it.

With the "negatives" left over, I decided there must be a second component to the gift. Those things are too time-consuming to cut out and not use for something. So I applied those to a scrap of black fabric and painted around them, so that when those peeled off they coordinate with the maternity shirt. I sewed that onto a burp cloth.

To wrap it up, a bird embroidered onto paper with a little button eye. Now to wait and find out whether this is a boy birdie or a girl birdie. Your guess is as good as mine.

Matchy-Watchy

My kids and Adrianna's kids hang out together a lot. So it's a good thing they all seem to like each other, alllllmost all of the time.

So when I saw khaki pants on clearance at Target for $4 and a bibbed shirt on clearance at Gap for $5... I bought two of each, because our three year olds need some matchy-watchiness.

The pants had embroidered hearts on the back pocket that I wasn't so fond of. My stitch ripper took care of that. We put fusible interfacing on some scraps of Pop Garden and trimmed some flowers and leaves. After ironing them on, I used the free motion foot (my favorite thing lately) to stitch around the edges. Then I made two quick belts with strips of the same fabric.

More easy peasy fun. Two three-piece outfits for under $10 each. That's some crafty fun right there, sure enough.

Susan

Easiest. Outfit. Ever.

I am in love with this tute from Blueprints.  So far, I've used it to make 3 different items of clothing, but really, the possibilities are endless.  I could solely use this pattern for the rest of my life and not get bored.

The tute shows you how to make a basic shirt with raglan sleeves and elastic neck and arm holes.  There are only 2 pattern pieces.  Easy peasy.

But here's where it gets fun.  You can move the elastic around to make either a casing or a ruffle, you can add elastic to the front and back bodice to make a gather or an empire waist, you can lengthen the body to make it tunic or dress length, you can make the sleeves long or 3/4 length, or cap sleeves, or no sleeves at all.  You can add a ruffle or a contrasting hem piece.

And those are just some of your construction options.  Don't even get me started on fabric!  You can use different fabric for the sleeves and the body, you could patch together strips for a funky colorful look, you can embellish like crazy with applique, buttons, ribbon, ric rac, ruffles, what have you.  Truly, it is one of the most versatile, fun, and practical pieces of clothing you can sew.  2 pattern pieces, people!

Given all those fun options, my versions so far are pretty tame:

Tunic length, ruffle sleeves, elastic around empire waist

Ruffle sleeves, contrasting sleeves & hem band, short dress length

Enclosed elastic neck and sleeves, contrasting sleeves and hem band, long dress length, Playmobil lumberjack boyfriend

Adrianna

Easy Flippy Fabric Basket

I love seasonal decor, but I don't enjoy pulling things out for a bit, putting them away for most of the year and often forgetting about them for a year because they got buried under other seasonal items. I'll put in the effort for Christmas and Valentine's Day, and I only do it for Valentine's Day to ease the pain of the emptyness when I put the Christmas decor away.

So... in thinking about Fall decor, I wanted a fabric basket and was inspired by this little guy. But I wanted my version of a fabric basket to be reversible. Not sooooo Halloweeny. Useable year-round without screaming "Why is this fall basket still out in March?!?"

So this is how it came out. I bought candy to fill it as a prop. That's right, it's not for eating. Nope, not for eating. Not for eating. Not for eating.....

Rag Letters

Not only did I love this tutorial and idea because I knew my three-year-old would love playing with the rag letters, I love that they make beautiful letters for short-term use banners. I could change them every day. I can announce K's 3rd birthday... and then announce Maegan's 30th. Except the 3rd is funner as a banner. So let's just make the -0 invisible? Maegan seemed to prefer it that way, too.

Susan