Transfer Printing

Hi everybody ! It's Toni here with another of our monthly Inspirational Posts. I've chosen to share a few ideas about using Tee Shirt Transfer Paper. The transfer paper I've used here, was bought from our local Asda supermarket. It costs just over £3, for a pack of five A4 sheets and is the type that is used for light coloured tee shirts. As well as printing on the paper with an ink jet printer, the paper can be stamped, stenciled or brayered with inks. I've also used Distress Markers for colouring and even tried using acrylic paint but found this wasn't very successful. The advantages of using a printer are many. For example, images can be manipulated by changing the colours or re-sizing  and of course they can be reproduced numerous times. The other fantastic advantage, is that as bloggers and crafters, we all have a wealth of beautiful images from our past projects already  stored on our computers ! The printed papers shown above are from a selection of my past projects and this is what I did with one of them. It's a transfer printed calico tote bag......

I've used an inkjet print of a Warhol style canvas I made a couple of years ago. The 'frame' has been made with hand cut strips of transfer paper that had been firstly brayered with Distress ink, then stenciled with black Archival Ink.

It's easy enough to brayer the ink onto the transfer paper as it has a smooth, coating on the surface surface which readily absorbs the colour. I'ts important not to over wet the paper, as the coated layer could break down and separate from the backing. It should be left to dry thoroughly before stamping or stenciling, but don't use a heat gun as it is heat that activates the transfer process.

The instructions, included in the pack for ironing the transfer paper onto fabric, are easy enough to follow. Just remember to use a firm surface. I used a piece board on top of my ironing board and had my iron, without steam, at a the highest setting. I found that it took longer to transfer the image than stated in the instructions. I ironed on the central image first, then covered it with baking parchment, so that I could iron on the individual strips to make the frame. The baking parchment will stick to the image but it can be carefully peeled off whilst it's still warm. Once I'd ironed all the pieces on and removed the backing paper, I used a black Sharpie pen to outline the picture and the frame.

Here is another bag I made a while ago. This time the images were created directly on to the transfer paper, with stamps, stencils and inks.....

The bag is of a very simple construction, if anyone wants more details about how to make this, let me know. Here are a couple more examples of printed fabric using the direct printing method using brayering and stamping.......

Well, you might have guessed that I love using transfer paper and I know there's a lot more to discover about it. I hope this post might have inspired you to give it a go. Until the next time I'm here, happy creating ! x