I've been working on a wall hanging as a gift for my cousin's wedding. I thought it would be a nice touch to use their wedding invitation as a label. A while ago I had purchased this sew-in computer printer fabric from Joann's and it has been sitting in a cabinet ever since. Time to pull it out.
There are 4 sheets for printing. I can't remember the exact price. Maybe around $7-$10. Certainly not on the cheap side.
I read the directions. The main thing I hadn't noticed was the blurb about printer ink being water soluble. Hm, glad this is a wall quilt that will never be washed. If you are making a quilt that will be thrown into the washing machine, this is not the product for you.
Step 1: Print. I was a little worried that my printer might not be happy about the fabric sheets. The photo shows the paper being fed in from the top. No bending. My printer has the lower tray, the paper gets sucked in, and rolls back out the same way. I'm happy to say that there was no issue. It fed in and out with no problems and printed just fine.
Step 2: Remove the paper backing. Are you kidding me?! This stuff is practically fused on. I was poking it with needles and trying to pry it off with my non-existent finger nails for ages. Fusible web products like Steam-a-seam and Wonder Under are a breeze compared to this. I did manage to get it off in the end, but the whole edge of fabric frayed badly in the process.
Step 3: Fuse to the back of the quilt. It did say on the back of the packaging that this could be easily done. So I whipped out my Steam-a-seam and went to work. The sticky web fused to the back of the photo just fine, but when I pressed it from the front to fuse it to the quilt, there was some discoloration. The nice light blue sky, looks a bit more stormy now. Not too bad, but not great either.
I checked to see if my iron had residue, but that looked fine. I think that the white printing fabric is not quite the quality it should be.
All in all, I give this product a 2 out of 5.
I think I'll be trying out the freezer paper printing technique that everyone is raving about. With some high quality Kona.
Love the review! I have printed special labels including a picture for my sisters wedding quilt through spoonflower for about the same price.
ReplyDeleteGood deal sharing your results
ReplyDeleteActually, what you want is Bubble Jet Set and 200 count cotton which is much softer than Kona. I buy all my supplies from here: http://www.cjenkinscompany.com/Creative_Fabric_Kits_s/4.htm Their freezer paper doesn't curl like the stuff you get from the grocery store. There are different formulations for different kinds of printers. I've also found that it helps to iron an second 1" strip on the leading edge that goes through the printer.
ReplyDeleteglad it finally worked out and nothing horrible happened. looks great.
ReplyDelete