Printing images on fabric
 

I am making a t-shirt/pennies/jersey/etc. quilt for my grandson who is (bragging grandmother alert!!!) a rock star in lacrosse. One of his best t-shirts has mysteriously disappeared. However, I do have a picture of it and want to print it onto fabric and use it as a block on the quilt. I would like any input, hints, warnings, etc., anyone can offer. I have some fabric that is for printing on with an inkjet printer. I don't even know when I purchased it. But it has a coarser, canvas-like texture. From what I've found from posts on this site and other Internet research, this works best on fabrics with denser thread counts, 200 and up. So what brands of this pretreated fabric have you found that work well? I have read about PDF (pretreated for dying) fabric. Does this work? Is the pretreatment the same as the fabric for inkjet printers? Also, generally, do these hold up to regular washing? Remember, this is going to an adolescent male. . . 'Nuff said? I've also read about Bubble Jet wash and rinse. Have you used this? Results? Thanks!

The quilting cowboy had a great video on you tube about this.... And he is not bad to look at (don't tell my husband I said that!!!!). I don't have the link....just filed that tidbit in the back of my mind cause it should be easy to search.....best of luck....

Thanks, alikat! Found him right away.

I use Printed Treasures fabrics. Before I print a picture on fabric, I use a photo processing program to over saturate the color. This compensates for the ink absorbed by the cloth (I have an ink jet printer). This way I get bright colors. I have been doing this about 10 years and even my first quilt is still bright . I haven't done the pfd fabric - I bite the bullet and butt the prepared stuff because it's less messy and faster.

Read the instructions that came with the fabric carefully. I bought one package of fabric to print on that did not disclose on the outside of the box that the fabric could not be washed!!!! I think the brand name was Jacquard. So, stick with one of the better known brands of fabric to print on.

I took a picture of a postcard and had Spoonflower.com put it on fabric. the quilt I used it n you can not tell the difference between the original pictures and the pot card picture. I highly recommend them, have used them several times.

if you want a larger than typing paper picture, I recommend Fotos on Fabric. I had them print a police patch I wanted to use as a medallion. i wanted it between 10-12 inches in diameter plus fabric around it for seaming. Here is a picture of the piece I recieved in the mail. The fabric had a nice hand and the colors were good. I think she charged me $10 plus a dollar shipping. I thought it was very reasonable!

http://www.fotosonfabric.com/

I am not affliated with this company, just a happy customer!

It is PFD (prepared for dying) and NO this is not pretreated for printing images on fabric with your printer.

Every manufacturer of fabric pre-treated for image printing has different instructions/requirements. I have used different ones and have had mixed results.

I have also pre-treated my own fabric using Bubble Jet Set.

Regardless of which you use, the image WILL fade with washing and depending on how often you wash it could fade away completely. I had this happen with some labels that I had printed on pre-treated fabric.

Soccertxi - Thanks for sharing that Link. I saved it so I can use it the next time I have a need!

Whoops! Too much time on a computer. Thanks for correcting my typing as well as the definition for the acronym.