February 11, 2012

Make Your Own Printed Fabric Craft or Sewing Labels

Do you want fabulous labels for your craft or sewing products, but are totally discouraged by the price, wait time, and selection?  Make your own like it did.  It's too easy and they look so professional!


I sourced a lot of label companies, and yes there are a lot of choices.  There are woven and printed, satin and twill etc., but not only are commercial labels quite costly, but there is usually a minimum order quantity.  I don't know about you, but I'm not willing to fork out a large amount of my well earned crafting cash to order 500 labels that I may not like or use later on down the road.  The truth is, when I printed my own labels, it was mostly because I was too impatient to wait for a label order and needed a bunch for a market right quick, so I made my own and was very happy with the results.  If you are making something in a very large quantity, it still could be easier and cheaper (per label) to order them.  There are a lot of websites out there that handle woven labels, so do your homework and get a few prices.  But if you want to print your own, I can show you how.


What you will need:
An Inkjet Printer
Adobe Photoshop or
a word processing program
Inkjet Printable Fabric
Fray Stop or Craft glue

About Inkjet Printable Fabric:  I use Matilda's Own Inkjet Printable Fabric, it's 100% cotton, 200 count broadcloth and comes in a package of 5.  The sizes vary, but I choose the A4 size, which is the standard letter paper size in Australia and is slightly longer than the letter size in US and Canada.  You can use whatever size you like and there are many different brands available at most quilting and fabric stores around the world.  I just make sure I get the kind that says there is NO SETTING AGENT REQUIRED, because it is easiest, but if you use the kind that requires a setting agent and are comfortable with that then that works too.  I should mention that this particular fabric is quite hard to sew through if you are hand stitching, so may not be ideal for hand knitted items or baby items.  It can be done with a nice sharp needle and a thimble, but is easier with a machine. It's also not as soft as a satin label would be.

Let's get started:

1)     Decide what kind of label you want.  Do you want to sew them in an seam, or do you want to sew them flat on your item with the raw edges folded under?  I use both, depending on what kind of project I'm working on.  Figure out what name/logo you want on your label and how long and wide you want the end result to be.  For a single fold label, you need to make sure you have enough room under the name to be sewn in a seam allowance.  For a cut label, you need to make sure you have enough room around your name on all four sides so you can fold under the raw edges.  You can use a solid color background too, or even little colored pictures. 


 2)     In Photoshop, open a new document with the exact measurements of the printable fabric you are using.  I am using A4, which measures 210mm x 297mm, so I open a new document that size.  If you are using printable fabric that is 8.5" x 11", you open new document that exact size.

3)     I want to put as many labels on my page as possible, so I create a page with my labels as close together as possible.  I also put in cutting lines so I don't have to measure when I am cutting my labels apart after.  You will fiddle with your name and lines for a bit to get them all lined up just how you want, but spend the time and make it very accurate because this fabric isn't cheap so you don't want any mistakes!  I use my guides and show my grid marks to help me get everything straight.  These samples of how yours could look:

My cut labels, with cutting lines.


My single fold labels, with cutting lines.

4)  Remember that the area around your page (about 1/2") is not a printable area, so do not include that area in your measurements when you are created your labels.  You MUST print your labels on regular paper to make sure that you are not cutting off your labels or to make sure you are happy with the size.  Trust me, you don't want to waste this fabric, you only have 5 sheets!

5) To print:  When printing from Photoshop, ensure that "Scale To Fit Media" is NOT ticked.  Make sure your print quality set to the best.  Follow the step by step instructions on your printable fabric package.  Basically, this entails: print your labels, let dry for 20 mins and don't touch, then peel off plastic backing.

6) Finishing:   After they are dry, I press my labels on a cotton setting to set the ink.  I don't know if this is required - but it makes me feel better!  It says on the package that if better colorfastness is required, that you must rinse the printed fabric in a bowl of water for 10 mins to reduce ink.  I tried this and I really didn't need it.  I have a pretty good Epson printer and I use Epson ink and I tried to rub off the ink and I tried to see if it would bleed or rub off when immersed in water and it was completely colorfast.  It may have helped that I first pressed my labels.  I have heard of people using inferior ink having problems, so to them I would recommend rinsing.  Actually, the one sheet I did rinse, I had to reshape after because after it was wet it completely went out of square so I haven't done the rinsing again because I never had bleeding anyway.  I suggest you test for colorfastness though.

7)  Edges:  Dip the ends of your single fold labels in Fray Stop so they don't... fray!  I couldn't find this anywhere where I live, so I used a simple craft clue that dries clear.  I dipped the ends in the tiniest amount craft glue and smeared it a wee bit so that it wasn't blobbed and set it aside to dry.  This isn't required on the cut labels, because they will be folded under.  I press the edges of the cut label under 1/4".

And that is it!  You are done.  I really get so many compliments on my labels, and you will too!

If you found this helpful, please follow my blog and also, click over to my Facebook page and give me a like.  Make sure you say hi, I love to hear from other crafters and sewers.

Thanks for looking.
 


21 comments:

  1. Hi janelle! Saw you on the blogger zibbet group and came by to follow! Nice set up here! I'm a weaver and know just enough seing to line my bags but like following other sewers. Come drop by my place too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sandra and thank you for the visit! I haven't been by the zibbet group for a while, must go check it out!
      Janelle

      Delete
  2. Hi again! I will check out your friends blog but what is link followers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Apparently Google friends connect is going to be obsolete in March and everyone is getting Linky Followers. It's on the right hand side bar of my page. You can manage the blogs you follow with it and categorize them, and it's also free. I still don't know for sure if Google friends connect is really out the window in March, but I am going to use Linky Followers anyway, just in case. Just Click on my Linky box to go to the website and get more information.

      Delete
    2. I will add you to my blog list later tonight! j

      Delete
  3. I pinned this tutorial. This is fabulous! I need/MUST do this!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
    HUGS~
    Jenni
    kissedbyafrog.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jenni, isn't pinterest awesome? It's a new addiction of mine. Thanks for reading! Janelle

      Delete
  4. Great tips for the tags...they look great! Would love for you to link up to the Tuesday To Do Party if you haven't already! http://blackberryvine.blogspot.com/2012/02/tuesday-to-do-party-50-and-49-list.html
    Smiles~
    Jami
    www.blackberryvine.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jami. I would love to! Great blog, btw, can't wait to delve into it. Janelle

      Delete
  5. How very creative.. I had no idea about this thing..
    Thanks for linking up at Friday fun party
    Love
    Hani
    Http://craftionary.net

    ReplyDelete
  6. I will try these hopefully soon since my life is a bit hectic right now. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you so much for this. I have been looking for a way around creating labels for my designs. You are amazing :)
    xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Janelle! I like the font style of your label. It’s very elegant and easy to read. I really think it’s important to relate the kind of font you’ll use to your label and to the product where you’ll put it. That way, the product and the label will go perfectly. Your labels totally match those pretty bags. Great job!

    Jessie Henn

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you so much for this tutorial. I am a new follower!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Nice I also share with you something hope this helpful for you my friends. At present time sticker printing has turned out to be fruitful for companies. It is easy to print and take in use. There are some important points to make your sticker perfect and awesome. These points are as follow: Your printing company. Check it out thanks.
    cheap sticker printing

    ReplyDelete
  11. AFFY Techtex Trade India is Manufacturer of geotextiles, woven geotextile manufacturers and groundcover suppliers in UK.

    Woven Geotextile Manufacturers

    ReplyDelete
  12. AFFY Techtex Trade is the leader in woven geotextile, pp woven geotextiles, woven polypropylene fabric and geotextile manufacturers in INDIA and UK.

    PP Woven Geotextile Suppliers

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Jenelle,
    I have made my own labels for several years. However I use the iron on fabric sheets. I iron them on then sew around. No raveling! when I make sew in labels I just press it shut and sew in the seam.
    They seem to wash very well.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I was wondering if you could press the whole sheet onto a fusible and then cut them out and just press them on to a garment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, yes fusible webbing is a great idea! you might get frayed edges if you don't fold over the raw edges to the back though. Janelle

      Delete
  15. I used your suggestions and made beautiful labels! When I sew them into my project, It feels done and looks so professional! Thank you so much for sharing! Deb Lepak

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.