Photo on fabric

I've enjoyed computer printing photos on fabric for all sorts of things;
potholders, quilt labels and such. While not having quite as much fun as
John taking the temperature of his irons, I've tested the bargain brands of
sheets and the very expensive ones. A big difference, methinks, is the
grade of the weave of the base fabric.
Wow. Finally. I've found one that appears to be just perfect.
You can press fabric to a sheet of freezer paper (no steam, please),
trim it very carefully (no stray threads) and run it through your computer's
printer just fine.
If you are bent on real perfection, it is possible to double the freezer
paper by pressing one sheet to another (turning one sideways). Somebody on
Simply Quilts was sure that freezer paper stretches in one direction. I
haven't decided that's true but it's sensible enough to consider.
The next brutal tests will involve putting one photo experiment in front
of a south facing window. I guess I'll stitch one to a dishtowel and see
how many trips through the laundry it can survive. The fabric I'm using is
cream solid by Kona Bay. I'm not a fanatic about pre-washing but it's
probably a good idea for the best possible print results.
Don't know if I enjoy spending money or saving money the best but the
price of transfer sheets really causes my frugal self great pain. If any
of you have thoughts to add to this experiment, speak now. . . or forever
hold your peace. Yes. Like that's going to happen. Polly

Do you treat the fabric first? Like with bubble jet set?

Thanks.

"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
I've enjoyed computer printing photos on fabric for all sorts of things;
potholders, quilt labels and such. While not having quite as much fun as
John taking the temperature of his irons, I've tested the bargain brands
of sheets and the very expensive ones. A big difference, methinks, is the
grade of the weave of the base fabric.
Wow. Finally. I've found one that appears to be just perfect.
You can press fabric to a sheet of freezer paper (no steam, please),
trim it very carefully (no stray threads) and run it through your
computer's printer just fine.
If you are bent on real perfection, it is possible to double the
freezer paper by pressing one sheet to another (turning one sideways).
Somebody on Simply Quilts was sure that freezer paper stretches in one
direction. I haven't decided that's true but it's sensible enough to
consider.
The next brutal tests will involve putting one photo experiment in
front of a south facing window. I guess I'll stitch one to a dishtowel
and see how many trips through the laundry it can survive. The fabric I'm
using is cream solid by Kona Bay. I'm not a fanatic about pre-washing but
it's probably a good idea for the best possible print results.
Don't know if I enjoy spending money or saving money the best but the
price of transfer sheets really causes my frugal self great pain. If any
of you have thoughts to add to this experiment, speak now. . . or
forever hold your peace. Yes. Like that's going to happen. Polly

Polly, how are you fixing the ink into the fabric? I've used the
technique you describe more than once, but find that the image just
washes straight out.

Sunny

I'm willing to play Mad Chemist. Anything you think I should try? Polly

"Sunny" wrote Polly, how are you fixing the ink into the fabric? I've used
the
technique you describe more than once, but find that the image just
washes straight out.

and

Lenore asked
Do you treat the fabric first? Like with bubble jet set?


"Polly Esther" wrote I've enjoyed computer printing photos on fabric for
all sorts of things;
potholders, quilt labels and such. While not having quite as much fun as
John taking the temperature of his irons, I've tested the bargain brands
of sheets and the very expensive ones. A big difference, methinks, is the
grade of the weave of the base fabric.
Wow. Finally. I've found one that appears to be just perfect.
You can press fabric to a sheet of freezer paper (no steam, please),
trim it very carefully (no stray threads) and run it through your
computer's printer just fine.
If you are bent on real perfection, it is possible to double the
freezer paper by pressing one sheet to another (turning one sideways).
Somebody on Simply Quilts was sure that freezer paper stretches in one
direction. I haven't decided that's true but it's sensible enough to
consider.
The next brutal tests will involve putting one photo experiment in
front of a south facing window. I guess I'll stitch one to a dishtowel
and see how many trips through the laundry it can survive. The fabric I'm
using is cream solid by Kona Bay. I'm not a fanatic about pre-washing but
it's probably a good idea for the best possible print results.
Don't know if I enjoy spending money or saving money the best but the
price of transfer sheets really causes my frugal self great pain. If any
of you have thoughts to add to this experiment, speak now. . . or
forever hold your peace. Yes. Like that's going to happen. Polly

Hi Polly, I recently experimented using Bubble Jet Set - so far, I
have 20+ fabric sheets ready for printing after treatment and only
used about 1/3 of the bottle. The "I love my dog" wallhanging is the
first of my projects using home-treated fabric and I am pleased with
the results. My lqs was selling 2 types of 'ready-to-dye' fabric and
I bought both for testing purposes: one, they were recommending for
label making and this was a dollar cheaper, whiter and finer than the
other which was cream coloured (I didn't make note of the
manufacturers but both were name-brand). I did find that there was a
slight aroma to the Bubble Jet solution which didn't cause me too much
trouble considering my environmental allergy situation.
One tip regarding freezer paper: I ironed the paper to the fabric
sheets using a very hard surface (a piece of scrap melamine shelving
material) - I found this created a good bond and had no trouble
feeding the sheet through the printer.

I didn't prewash the fabric before soaking it in the solution - I did
cut it to printer paper size to maximize the number of sheets per
metre of fabric; cut the freezer paper sheets - weighted them to stop
the curl - the fabric sheets were air drying during this step and
finished using a hair dryer when I was ready to press them to the
freezer paper - I have a large number of sheets ready now for printing
and playing.

After printing, the photo fabric has to be gently washed to remove any
residual solution and I have used a liquid hand soap for this purpose
although I do have a bottle of Bubble Jet Rinse for the day when I
have a large number of photo sheets to prepare.

The company that makes Bubble Jet products also retails treated fabric
by the yard which is a consideration for the non-mad-chemist as well
as packages of pre-cut and treated fabric sheets.

I have more playing to prepare for Xmas now that my machine is home
again!

jennellh (change the 'mail' to news)
http://community.webshots.com/user/barnyowl

On Dec 9, 8:01 am, "Polly Esther" wrote:
I'm willing to play Mad Chemist. Anything you think I should try? Polly

"Sunny" wrote Polly, how are you fixing the ink into the fabric? I've used
the

technique you describe more than once, but find that the image just
washes straight out.

and

Lenore asked
Do you treat the fabric first? Like with bubble jet set?

"Polly Esther" wrote I've enjoyed computer printing photos on fabric for
all sorts of things;



potholders, quilt labels and such. While not having quite as much fun as
John taking the temperature of his irons, I've tested the bargain brands
of sheets and the very expensive ones. A big difference, methinks, is the
grade of the weave of the base fabric.
Wow. Finally. I've found one that appears to be just perfect.
You can press fabric to a sheet of freezer paper (no steam, please),
trim it very carefully (no stray threads) and run it through your
computer's printer just fine.
If you are bent on real perfection, it is possible to double the
freezer paper by pressing one sheet to another (turning one sideways).
Somebody on Simply Quilts was sure that freezer paper stretches in one
direction. I haven't decided that's true but it's sensible enough to
consider.
The next brutal tests will involve putting one photo experiment in
front of a south facing window. I guess I'll stitch one to a dishtowel
and see how many trips through the laundry it can survive. The fabric I'm
using is cream solid by Kona Bay. I'm not a fanatic about pre-washing but
it's probably a good idea for the best possible print results.
Don't know if I enjoy spending money or saving money the best but the
price of transfer sheets really causes my frugal self great pain. If any
of you have thoughts to add to this experiment, speak now. . . or
forever hold your peace. Yes. Like that's going to happen. Polly- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Oh great, Jennell, thank you. I was hoping to avoid a trip to ToysRUs to
choose a chemistry set. Thank you for sharing your research with us.
Bubble Jet is next on my list for experimenting. Polly

"jennellh" Hi Polly, I recently experimented using Bubble Jet Set - so
far, I
have 20+ fabric sheets ready for printing after treatment and only
used about 1/3 of the bottle. The "I love my dog" wallhanging is the
first of my projects using home-treated fabric and I am pleased with
the results. My lqs was selling 2 types of 'ready-to-dye' fabric and
I bought both for testing purposes: one, they were recommending for
label making and this was a dollar cheaper, whiter and finer than the
other which was cream coloured (I didn't make note of the
manufacturers but both were name-brand). I did find that there was a
slight aroma to the Bubble Jet solution which didn't cause me too much
trouble considering my environmental allergy situation.
One tip regarding freezer paper: I ironed the paper to the fabric
sheets using a very hard surface (a piece of scrap melamine shelving
material) - I found this created a good bond and had no trouble
feeding the sheet through the printer.

I didn't prewash the fabric before soaking it in the solution - I did
cut it to printer paper size to maximize the number of sheets per
metre of fabric; cut the freezer paper sheets - weighted them to stop
the curl - the fabric sheets were air drying during this step and
finished using a hair dryer when I was ready to press them to the
freezer paper - I have a large number of sheets ready now for printing
and playing.

After printing, the photo fabric has to be gently washed to remove any
residual solution and I have used a liquid hand soap for this purpose
although I do have a bottle of Bubble Jet Rinse for the day when I
have a large number of photo sheets to prepare.

The company that makes Bubble Jet products also retails treated fabric
by the yard which is a consideration for the non-mad-chemist as well
as packages of pre-cut and treated fabric sheets.

I have more playing to prepare for Xmas now that my machine is home
again!

jennellh (change the 'mail' to news)
http://community.webshots.com/user/barnyowl

On Dec 9, 8:01 am, "Polly Esther" wrote:
I'm willing to play Mad Chemist. Anything you think I should try?
Polly

"Sunny" wrote Polly, how are you fixing the ink into the fabric? I've
used
the

technique you describe more than once, but find that the image just
washes straight out.

and

Lenore asked
Do you treat the fabric first? Like with bubble jet set?

"Polly Esther" wrote I've enjoyed computer printing photos on fabric
for
all sorts of things;



potholders, quilt labels and such. While not having quite as much fun
as
John taking the temperature of his irons, I've tested the bargain
brands
of sheets and the very expensive ones. A big difference, methinks, is
the
grade of the weave of the base fabric.
Wow. Finally. I've found one that appears to be just perfect.
You can press fabric to a sheet of freezer paper (no steam, please),
trim it very carefully (no stray threads) and run it through your
computer's printer just fine.
If you are bent on real perfection, it is possible to double the
freezer paper by pressing one sheet to another (turning one sideways).
Somebody on Simply Quilts was sure that freezer paper stretches in one
direction. I haven't decided that's true but it's sensible enough to
consider.
The next brutal tests will involve putting one photo experiment in
front of a south facing window. I guess I'll stitch one to a dishtowel
and see how many trips through the laundry it can survive. The fabric
I'm
using is cream solid by Kona Bay. I'm not a fanatic about pre-washing
but
it's probably a good idea for the best possible print results.
Don't know if I enjoy spending money or saving money the best but
the
price of transfer sheets really causes my frugal self great pain. If
any
of you have thoughts to add to this experiment, speak now. . . or
forever hold your peace. Yes. Like that's going to happen. Polly-
Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Do you use any product like Bubble Jet Set to pretreat the cloth so as to
"fix" the ink?

Jane in cold & rainy NE Ohio


"Polly Esther" wrote in message
...
I've enjoyed computer printing photos on fabric for all sorts of things;
potholders, quilt labels and such. While not having quite as much fun as
John taking the temperature of his irons, I've tested the bargain brands
of sheets and the very expensive ones. A big difference, methinks, is the
grade of the weave of the base fabric.
Wow. Finally. I've found one that appears to be just perfect.
You can press fabric to a sheet of freezer paper (no steam, please),
trim it very carefully (no stray threads) and run it through your
computer's printer just fine.
..---
snip
----
Don't know if I enjoy spending money or saving money the best but the
price of transfer sheets really causes my frugal self great pain. If any
of you have thoughts to add to this experiment, speak now. . . or
forever hold your peace. Yes. Like that's going to happen. Polly