Using a sharpie as a fabric marker in the seams
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2022
Location: Northeast
Posts: 682
Using a sharpie as a fabric marker in the seams
This may be strange, but I was feeling a little guilty for doing it since it is a permanent mark, so I was wondering if anyone else does this. Careful as it may bring a 'gasp'.
I use permanent sharpies to mark my fabric pieces when I need to match two pieces together at the same place. Of course I only do so in the seam allowance so it isn't seen on the 'front' of the finished block. But, with my eyes, I have a really hard time seeing the finer fabric markers in among designs in the fabric, no matter what color I use.
So, with the sharpies, I use black or gold for lighter colored fabrics if need be, but mostly I use silver. All I do is put a small dot from the 'fine' point of the marker. It makes a dot about the size of the head of a small plastic ball on the top of a small sewing pin. Easy for me to find and see, while at the same time staying hidden in the seam when sewn.
I use permanent sharpies to mark my fabric pieces when I need to match two pieces together at the same place. Of course I only do so in the seam allowance so it isn't seen on the 'front' of the finished block. But, with my eyes, I have a really hard time seeing the finer fabric markers in among designs in the fabric, no matter what color I use.
So, with the sharpies, I use black or gold for lighter colored fabrics if need be, but mostly I use silver. All I do is put a small dot from the 'fine' point of the marker. It makes a dot about the size of the head of a small plastic ball on the top of a small sewing pin. Easy for me to find and see, while at the same time staying hidden in the seam when sewn.
#4
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Northern California
Posts: 268
Don't do it! Sharpies explicitly state 'not-for-fabric-marking' somewhere on the pens themselves or the packaging. Specifically, if you ever intend to wash your quilt, Sharpie ink can bleed, so it doesn't matter if the original mark is invisible.
The night before my youngest son's wedding I stayed up most of the night cutting out batik hearts on which wedding guests were asked to sign their names using an assortment of Sakura pigma micron (archival quality) and Sharpie permanent fine line pens I had on hand. I was going to incorporate these signed hearts into a border on my son's wedding quilt. While working on the pile of signed hearts to determine who signed and whose signatures were missing, I knocked over a glass of water and the pile was soaked. Sadly, the Sharpie-signed hearts bled rendering most of the pile of signed hearts unusable.
The night before my youngest son's wedding I stayed up most of the night cutting out batik hearts on which wedding guests were asked to sign their names using an assortment of Sakura pigma micron (archival quality) and Sharpie permanent fine line pens I had on hand. I was going to incorporate these signed hearts into a border on my son's wedding quilt. While working on the pile of signed hearts to determine who signed and whose signatures were missing, I knocked over a glass of water and the pile was soaked. Sadly, the Sharpie-signed hearts bled rendering most of the pile of signed hearts unusable.
Last edited by frannella; 02-05-2023 at 02:17 PM.
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Montana
Posts: 580
I have used sharpies to do pictures on my grandsons quilt and they did just fine. An if the dots are in the seam out of sight it doesn't matter. My eyes aren't the best now and I like having something I can see.
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: northern minnesota
Posts: 2,480
I think I would take some scraps, write on them with a sharpie, let it dry, pour water on it and see what happens, if nothing happens, I think I would put the sharpie scraps into a bag and wash them as you would wash a quilt and dry....see what happens. I know sharpie marker does not stay on some surfaces. I mark my insulin pens with them, it stays on one but not the other. Also I use masking/painter's tap to mark dates on the food I freeze. Sometimes it comes off.
#8
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2022
Location: Northeast
Posts: 682
I think I would take some scraps, write on them with a sharpie, let it dry, pour water on it and see what happens, if nothing happens, I think I would put the sharpie scraps into a bag and wash them as you would wash a quilt and dry....see what happens. I know sharpie marker does not stay on some surfaces. I mark my insulin pens with them, it stays on one but not the other. Also I use masking/painter's tap to mark dates on the food I freeze. Sometimes it comes off.
To note: these are permanent sharpies, not the water soluble sharpies that they also make.
And if it does happen to fade out through repeated washings, it doesn't matter, at least for my usage, as all I need it for is to match up the seams when putting certain blocks together.