Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Fabric Label Tutorial

I'm feeling pretty sick today, and not wanting to snot on any ones order, I decided to work on the computer instead. I want to share the love, but not the deep and meaningful love if you get what I mean!!!

This is a tutorial that I have wanted to write for a while now. You can be a quilter, knitter, etc.. and this will come in handy. No matter what it is that you make in life, you will always want to label it, to make sure future generations know that it came from you. In my case, as my handmade one of a kind items are shipped out to the masses, I want to make sure to have my brand on them!
When I first started out, This was a big conundrum for me. Where to buy labels! So I searched and searched. You can find cheap ones, expensive ones, sew in, iron on, some with premade designs etc. After I ordered several different labels, I really wasn't satisfied with what I was getting.

A. Some reason my brand always looked a little skewered ..

B. The wait time was forever. I'm talking 2 to 3 mos for a pack of 36 labels!

C. The expense. I remember paying 35 dollars for a pack of 36 labels. That is a dollar a label folks.



As a small start up, I really didn't want to have to wait, or pay those huge costs, so I set out to learn how to do this myself!

Things you will need:

1 pack of Ink Jet Colorfast fabric sheets. You can find these everywhere, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, JoAnnes, Hancocks. They are a little pricey. For a pack of 10 it is around 25 dollars, so I always make sure to take a coupon with me. All the stores above usually have a 40% to 50% off coupon in the Sunday paper



A Printer with Ink. You may chuckle at that, but the first time I attempted this I had NO ink!

An Iron

And some sort of scissor or rotary cutter. Step 1. I actually used PSE to do this. But any program really will work. I opened up a 8x10 piece of paper (that is how big your fabric sheet is) design your label, then just copy and paste, copy and paste copy and past until you have filled your whole screen.


As I designed my own logo I had it on hand.

Once your satisfied with what you have, print out a test sheet on regular paper. You want to make sure your font is easy to ready and your spacing is on target.


These are from my old label..


Once you have printed out your labels on fabric paper, let them dry for 30 min. Then run them under cold water.


Lay carefully of paper towels and blot dry
Once they are blotted dry take them over to your ironing board and Iron them dry to set the ink.
Take a rotary cutter, or scissors and cut them out!

After your all cut you should have many labels!!! I usually do a pack of 10, I can get 25 labels on a sheet. That is 250 Labels for less than 20 dollars!!! Compare that to 36 labels @ 35 dollars? That is a big savings!

My new labels are fold. I think they look pretty professional, but I am also able to put my website on the back sideJessie

9 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tutorial. I printed my own labels recently but I'm having a bit of an issue with the ends fraying. I ironed on some fusibile stabilizer and that helped but didn't solve the problem entirely. Is it better to design them so they can be folded on all four sides?

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  2. Those look great. I didn't even know you could do that at home.

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  3. Great Idea. Thanks.

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  4. What a great tutorial! Thanks for sharing. Now I'm gonna make my momma some for her quilts! Yay!

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  5. Great tutorial! I've been sorting details for selling some items and have been himming and hawing over what to do for labels. You make it look easy and professional and affordable! Thanks so much!

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  6. WOW! Great tutorial!! They look fabulous! TFS! I'm thinking of other uses for that now too... hmm! :)

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  7. Thanks for sharing this tutorial. Thanks for suggesting the coupon. $25 bucks is a lot for my wallet these days.
    -Amy
    www.thebutcherthebakerthecraftmaker.blogspot.com

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  8. I have been wondering about the label thing for a while. I'm trying to get my ducks in a row so when I take the plunge and start selling my crafts, I'll know what to do. This tute helps a lot! Thanks!

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