Here is an attempt at my first tutorial of sorts. I recently found Spoonflower - a fantastic way of printing your own fabric. My first thought was to try and get some labels made to sew into my kids clothes... I make a lot of things for them, and getting my four year old to realise front from back will be a LOT easier with some labels!
Step 1 - Design
To start - I created a template in Photoshop. I allowed a 1/4 inch all around each label for a seam allowance, and decided the finished (folded) size would be 1 3/4 x 1/2 inch. So each "label" to print would be 2 1/4 wide by 1 1/2 long. Make sense? Here is what it looked like. The little blue lines don't print - they are the guides I used to line everything up.
I did put some light grey lines in between each label to make it easier to cut - but note to self - next time use a DARKER grey. They were so light they didn't print!
Step 2 - Order
I uploaded the file as a jpg to
Spoonflower. Very easy. I chose to have it printed as a swatch which gave me 20 labels - which I thought was a good start, and a good test of my label designing skills!
Step 3 Wait!
Wait for your fabric to arrive, nicely wrapped in tissue with a cute little Spoonflower label. That's the hard part!
Step 4 - Prepare the Fabric
This is what arrived... I was very happy with how they looked!
I took the photo after washing, drying, and ironing. A good thing to do with any fabric is to prewash before you use it...so I did!
Step 6 - Cut
Next I cut the fabric to size using a rotary cutter - but if you can cut a straight line with scissors - go for it!
This is where my cutting lines would have come in handy! Next time - darker grey! See how there is more space under the design - that is the back of the label... It will be come clearer...
Step 7 - Sew and trim
Next, I fold each label in half - rights sides together, and sew a 1/4 inch seam down the two short sides...
I made sure I backstitched so they wouldn't unravel when turning.
Trim the seam allowance down by about half. You could sew a smaller seam to skip this part - but I find it easier to work with 1/4 inch
Step 8 - Turn and Press
Turn your label out - and use something like a knitting needle to poke out the corners. Give it a quick iron and you are done! You have an open end complete with 1/4 inch blank fabric at the top - ready to sew into a waistband, neckband, etc.
So - the progression:
Now go and sew it into something nice :)
