You can either use freezer paper, as Tartan suggested or lay your fabric on superfine sandpaper. You can make a "sand board" easily by gluing a piece of sandpaper to a piece of stiff cardboard or to a clipboard. I glued a piece of sandpaper to the top of one of those 13x13x2" plastic boxes you can get at any hobby store. I store all of my pens in the box, with a pouch for each group of pens, sorted by brand, color and size of tip.
I also use the sand board when I am using crayons on fabric.
Whichever pen you finally decide on, remember to press the writing with a HOT, DRY iron before laundering. This will set the ink. The first time you press a handwritten label, place a piece of thin fabric over the writing to see if any of the ink transfers. If it transfers to the fabric, it could transfer to your iron. If it doesn't, you can press without a pressing cloth.
Originally Posted by
KenmoreGal2
I have a follow up question fellow quilters. I found the box of Bic permanent markers and also a package of fine point Sharpies in my house. I've just used both pens on 3 different types of fabric which I'll run through my next wash cycle to see how they fare.
I found it very hard to write on my nicest, softest fabrics. I had one piece of fabric which was real stiff, like paper and I could write on that nicely. So....what type of fabric do you use for your labels? Do you use something like an embroidery hoop to hold the fabric taut while you write on it?