How to Print on Fabric With an Inkjet Printer Inkjet fabric printing greatly expands quilters' choices. Quilters love to collect fabric, and being able to print their own makes a great personal statement. Printable fabric can be purchased or prepared at home. Making an entire quilt from fabric printed on an inkjet printer isn't practical, but customized small portions of a quilt add a special touch not to be found anywhere else. Print on fabric to reproduce photographs, add text, or make your very own fabric design and color. Before investing time and money, it's important to understand that an image printed on fabric will probably not look the same as the same image printed on paper. Commercial Inkjet Fabric Sheets There are two sources for fabric already prepared for printing. When choosing which fabric to print, consider what the finished product will be. Always follow the directions carefully for the specific product. Homemade Fabric Sheets for Inkjet Printers Dyer's Muslin vs. Mounting Fabric for Printing
Reverse Tie Dye Scarves First of all, we’ve got a secret to share. A jersey-knit scarf is also known as a quarter yard of jersey-knit fabric available at your local fabric store. Jersey is the same as t-shirt fabric, and comes in a variety of blends and softnesses (just like that scarf you bought at American Apparel). Next up, the bleach. We’ve used the bleach dye method before for our denim cocktail napkins, but now we’re getting a little more stylish with it. Materials: - jersey-knit fabric (each scarf we made was a quarter yard) - bleach - spray bottle - plastic drop cloth - plastic bucket or bin Your setup for this is key. First, we got into it with our painter’s tape. And spray! For our second scarf, we decided to go a little nuts with the spray bottle to create a solar system-inspired look. Lay your scarf out on your table (still protected by a drop cloth). Love the combination of rustic earthy tones with nerd space-age designs. Last, the tie dye! Plus, this scarf just happens to match these grapes.
Mod Podge Photo Tile Transfers After reading several blogs about photo transfers with Mod Podge, I was committed. The only problem was I didn’t have any random wood or canvas, and I try my hardest to not buy anything unless I absolutely have to have it. I did have some tile magnets on my fridge that could be much cuter, and there I had it! Want to make your own? Here’s how: Supplies:Mod Podge Paint brush or spongePicture printed off a laser jet printer, or a photo copy of a picture, cut to size Tile, or wood or canvas Spray bottle or squirt gun, or something that can spray small amounts of water Patience!!!! 2. 3. If the picture starts tearing, stop and let it dry. 5. My tile of C has white fabric Mod Podged on first, then the image was Mod Podged on, and dried. This magnet had paper already Mod Podged on it, and I just layered this picture on top for sake of time and sanity, which is why it has a terraced look.
Tutorial: Homemade Bubble Jet Set *Edited with new recipe* *Edited using inks* I made this bag last night (the pictures show each side of the bag - the pictures are of my gorgeous boys!!!) using a homemade bubble jet set recipe I have been experimenting with. I was so excited that it worked, I want to share it with all you gorgeous craftsters: I also made this cosmetic bag using the same process: ****Now been edited to change the recipe - the new one is better!! Here's how I did it. Firstly choose your fabric. Then get your equipment. Here's the recipe (the percentages are by weight - NOT volume): 85% hot water10% washing soda (the crystal type - it's also known as Soda Ash)5% fabric softener Here's the new recipe (the percentages are by weight - NOT volume): 85% hot water10% alum4% washing soda (also known as Soda Ash)1% fabric softener So, as an example, if you wanted to make 300g, you would mix: 255g hot water30g alum12g washing soda3g fabric softener In this next photo you will see I have added the ingredients (but not stirred them):
DIY Alcohol Inks, Mod Podge and more As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been experimenting with some more cost effective alternatives in the crafting/scrapping/art journaling area and I want to share some of those with you. 1. Alcohol Inks and Spray Inks. They are easily and cheaply made with every day ingredients. They may not be of the highest ingredients, but they work for what I need them for! The first one I want to show you is the cool aid spray! Get yourself an empty small spray bottle either from the dollar store or from Target (Pharmacy department.) Place the cool aid powder in the bottle, fill it up almost to the top with rubbing alcohol. Of course you can add more or less powder, depending on how intense you want the color. The other option is the RIT dye alcohol inks. And of course, food coloring, egg dye and re-inkers can be used too! And then there is the Gelato way! Incidentally you can also use the gelatos to color modeling paste. 2. Love the stuff, but after a while it can get quite expensive. 3. 4. Water
DIY Picture Tiles - You Will Never Buy a Photo Frame Again Lately I’ve been having this huge urge to decorate the house. This is big news. I do not decorate. Arguably, one of the reasons why is because I. absolutely. hate. to. buy. mass. produced. decor. Anyway, this extends to photo frames. Nope. Long story short, I discovered this method of transferring my photos cheaply, quickly, and beautifully to something uncommon and unique. Tiles. The only thing that’s not particularly crunchy about this is that it uses Modge Podge or similar (and I’m not sure what’s in Modge Podge). It’s just grainy and doesn’t dry clearly. Boo. BUT, if you can overlook that one minor issue, I think you’ll love this. And it will be glorious. Here’s how you do it. First, you need to go to Home Depot, Lowes, or something like it. (FYI, I found that Lowes prices on tiles were cheaper than Home Depot. I like the stone tiles, because they have texture. So you pick out your tiles in the sizes you want. And then you get home and gather what you need. Cut them out. Go go go! Love me?
Reusable Lunch Containers | Easy Crafts for Kids -- Quick Arts and Craft Ideas -- Kids' Crafts This photo originally appeared in FamilyFun Magazine Say buh-bye to those little plastic bags. With just a few snips, you can create a set of cool, eco-friendly, reusable snack and sandwich containers from juice cartons and milk jugs. They're food-safe, easy to rinse clean, and absolutely free, so it's no biggie if they get tossed accidentally. What you'll need SANDWICH BOX: 1-gallon milk jug Marker Scissors Thumbtack Adhesive-backed Velcro dot SNACK BOX: Juice or milk carton, in any size from a half-pint to a quart Scissors Adhesive-backed Velcro dot How to make it SANDWICH BOX: Mark a clean 1-gallon milk jug as shown.
Dyeing Jeans It is officially jeans weather and I got a little surprise. Turns out the Kidney Stone Diet followed by the My Dog Has Cancer Diet followed by the Grief Diet (I do not recommend these diets At. All. I need a pair of temporary transitional size jeans. Thanks to a thrift store sale and a Michael’s coupon, I made a pair of purple denim jeans for $5.00. You can too! Here’s how. How to Make Colored Skinny Jeans Does this tractor make my butt look big? You will need: White 100% cotton jeans Washing machine and detergent Fabric dye Non iodized salt (Warning: ALL of my fabric dye failures happened because I used iodized table salt. Water Metal sink Stir stick (I reused take out chopsticks) Kitchen timer Dryer Optional: rubber or plastic gloves Optional: plastic bag Optional: Fabric paint pen or permanent marker (if the jeans have non cotton thread) Make it: 1.Wash the jeans in the washing machine. 2. 3. Swish! 4. 5. Rinse until its clear! 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.