Anything you design on your computer can be printed on fabric, just as easy as on paper. Once your designs are printed following the directions below, your club members can use the "printouts" to sew on or attach (get fusible webbing at your local craft store) to clothing such as shirts, hats, and scarves; to use in the creation of stuffed "Packetville" dolls; to make banners and flags; to use in the furnishing of dioramas; to decorate posters and displays, etc.

Here's What You Need:

1. A computer with an ink jet printer attached and working
2. A ruler
3. A pair of scissors
4. An iron (Be sure your students are supervised carefully when using an iron or have an adult do all the work with the iron.)
5. A roll of freezer paper from the grocery store (Reynolds ® brand works quite well)
6. 100% cotton fabric with a smooth weave(for best success use muslin with a high thread count)

Directions: (Remember not to allow students to do this on their own.)

1. Wash and dry the fabric to get rid of any sizing. Iron flat.
2. Cut the freezer paper to match the standard size of paper the print uses—a regular piece of paper measures 8 and 1/2" by 11". You can use a regular piece of paper as a template.
3. Cut a piece of fabric just slightly smaller than the freezer paper - 8 and 1/4" by 10 and 3/4"
4. Set the iron on high heat and let it warm up. Iron the fabric to the paper until they stick together. Now the fabric will be stiff enough to run through the printer like a piece of paper. Before you load the fabric/freezer paper into the printer, make sure you know which side needs to go in face up or face down so that you print on the fabric side. If you don’t know, write "front" on one side of a regular piece of paper and write "back" on the other side of the same piece. Do a test print of this paper through your printer by just printing some simple type on it to find out which side really is front or back.
5. Select the image you want to print on to the fabric on your computer.
6. Load the fabric/freezer paper into the printer so that it will print on the fabric side. (Tip: Make sure the leading edge of the freezer paper is not folded or curled and that no fabric threads are poking over the edges.)
7. Set the printer for “best quality," and press Print. (The print quality setting is usually in either the print or pages set up dialog box that comes up just before you print.)
8. Let the print set for an hour to let the ink dry thoroughly. Then peel the freezer paper away from the fabric and use it in your project just like any piece of cloth. For best results, keep water away from your design.

Back to Top