Monday Project - Iron-On Transfers

I haven't done much work with iron-on transfers as I don't like the thick vinyl they leave on the fabric.  It just doesn't feel right.  Awhile ago I read about a soft transfer sheet made by Michigan Specialty Papers and decided to order a few and give them a try.  I was very hopeful it would work well - there are times you want to print out a photo or picture and put it onto fabric.  Photo transfer fabric just doesn't work in all situations.

Update:  Michigan Specialty Papers has let me know that the paper I used and linked to is no longer available.  They do have a new paper they feel is superior, MSP Color Bright.  I haven't tried it out yet - if you do, comment with how it worked for you!

Since I crocheted market bags for my son and daughter-in-law, I decided to make a small bag for little c to take to the farmers' market.  I had a small T-shirt I'd wrecked (by cutting the neck tag off and slipping with the scissors), so I made a recycled T-shirt bag similar to, but smaller, the one I blogged about here.  Little c's absolutely most favorite thing in the world is the Winnie the Pooh movie, so I chose an image of Rabbit with his wheelbarrow of carrots to put on the bag.

Materials:
*photo or picture that can be printed - reverse the image so that when it's printed it comes out facing the correct way.  I do this by putting the image into PowerPoint, selecting it, selecting format,

selecting rotate,

and selecting flip horizontal.

*Michigan Specialty Paper Soft Jet Light Transfer Paper (blue back)
*fabric to transfer onto
*board
*pillowcase
*ironing sheet (I used the backing from Steam a Seam II)
*iron

1.  Prepare your ironing area by putting down a hard smooth surface.

2.  Lay a pillowcase over this surface and iron the pillowcase smooth.

3.  Prepare your fabric or T-shirt by ironing it smooth.

2.  Print photo or picture out onto the transfer paper.  Check your printer options to see if you have a transfer paper option.  Trim if you need to.

3.  Turn transfer over so the blue paper is on top and lay onto your fabric.

4.  Lay a piece of fabric or ironing paper (such as the backing from Steam A Seam) on top of the transfer.

5.  Iron with NO steam using two hands and FIRM pressure.  The direction sheet shows you to go in all directions - back and forth and up and down.  Since this was a small transfer, I ironed it for 90 seconds as per the directions.  When finished, the backing paper can be peeled off immediately or when cool.

6.  I'm really happy with the feel of this transfer!  It's very light, like the review I read said it was and not at all heavy and plastic feeling like the previous transfer papers I tried.

I did try a larger transfer onto a T-shirt and had problems with it only because my iron accidentally unplugged before the transfer was complete and I couldn't get it to look right after I discovered the problem.  Partly because of this and partly because I'm really excited with the possibilities these transfers open up, I decided to order a transfer press machine.  I'll let you know how it works.

I'll leave you all today with a photo of little c and Grandpa watching Winnie the Pooh (in her blackberry overalls)!

Happy Creating!  Deborah