How To Make Your Own Iron-On Embroidery Transfers
Iron-on embroidery transfer is an easy method to transfer embroidery designs onto different fabrics. This is why they are popular. All you need to transfer an image is the iron-on design, fabric, and an iron.
Can You Make Your Own Iron-on Embroidery Transfer?
Contents
Yes, you can. All you need is the right type of paper to print your intended embroidery design image. You also need to know how to design your embroidery that you will print out and transfer onto your desired fabric.
Steps To Make Your Own Iron-On Embroidery Transfers
Method 1. Plain Paper With Laserjet Printer
There are different methods you can use to make your own iron-on embroidery transfers. This is the simplest method to follow for an easy iron-on transfer.
Step 1. Create your embroidery design with a design software of your choice. Or, you could have a graphic designer or illustrator do it for you.
Step 2. Reverse your design before printing it. When creating an iron-on transfer template, make sure that it is reversed. This is because, when you lay the iron-on print out on the fabric, it will produce a mirror image.
Reversing ensures that you will end up with an upright image. If you don’t reverse the design, you will end up with an upside-down embroidery design.
Step 3. Use black lines for the outline of your design. Black lines are strong and will be clearly seen on your fabric when you iron-on. Using black lines also ensures that you can use the printout multiple times.
Step 4. Print your design on plain white paper. Ensure that you only use a Laserjet printer to do this. Inkjet printers can’t print out iron-on designs.
Step 5. Lay the print out on your fabric and iron-on and you will easily transfer your design onto your fabric.
Method 2. Using Crayons
To make your own iron-on embroidery transfer in this method you will need;
- Washable crayons
- Fire or a source of heat
- A container
- A sharp-pointed item. You can use a toothpick if you don’t have anything else.
- A thick carton paper
- Fabric
- Water
Step 1. Create your embroidery design. You can do this by drawing with your crayons on thick carton paper.
Step 2. Melt some crayons in the container.
Step 3. Dip your sharp-pointed tool into the melted crayons. Dot around the outline of your drawn embroidery design to enhance its appeal.
Step 4. Make sure that your images or words are reversed depending on how you want them to look on your fabric. Reversing images ensures that when you transfer the image to the fabric, it produces it in the right form.
Step 5. When you can’t reverse your drawing, you can scan it, and when printing set the format as a t-shirt print. This will automatically reverse the image. You are now ready to transfer your embroidery image to the fabric.
Step 6. Lay your fabric flat on a hard surface.
Step 7. Spray your fabric with water to ensure that your crayon colors on the embroidery pattern are visible on your fabric.
Step 8. Lift it off gently and you will find that your image has transferred onto the fabric.
In this method, you don’t need to use an iron. You can just press your image by hand onto the fabric. Spraying or wetting your fabric makes it easy to transfer the design onto it.
Also, you can use this transfer method more than once. Helping you to save money and time for your embroidery projects.
Method 3. Making An Iron-On Patch With Embroidery Machine
To make your own iron-on patch with an embroidery machine, you will need the following items:
- Adhesive spray
- Felt
- Iron-on adhesive sheet
- Threads
- Embroidery hoop
- Stabilizer
- Scissors
Follow this step-by-step guide to create an iron-on patch:
Step 1. Set up your embroidery hoop with the stabilizer. Make sure it is taut.
Step 2. Stitch an outline of the pattern on your patch onto the stabilizer held by the hoop.
Step 3. Prepare your felt by laying it on the outline on the stabilizer. Make sure that you have the right size of felt prepared.
Step 4. Spray temporary adhesive onto the felt and lay it on the outline on the hoop sprayed part first.
Step 5. Stitch on your embroidery machine the outline. Use embroidery threads of your preferred colors. Also, remember to remove all hanging threads from the stitching process. This ensures that you have a clean embroidery design to transfer to your fabric.
Step 6. Remove the stabilizer from the hoop once you are through the stitching. Tear off the stabilizer from your ready-to-iron-on design. Leaving just the design on the felt.
Step 7. Lay your iron-on adhesive onto your embroidery design. Press it onto the design with an iron. You can place a piece of fabric between the iron and the adhesive paper to prevent heating it. Do this on both sides to strengthen the adhesive.
Step 8. Cut around the edges of your design to only leave your design.
Step 9. Layout the fabric on which you need to iron-on the design.
Step 10. Peel off the adhesive paper from behind your design and iron the design onto your fabric. When you iron, it enhances the adhesive and makes it stickier and firmer on the fabric.
Step 11. When you iron the embroidered design onto your fabric, make sure to cover it with a cotton cloth so that you don’t burn it with heat from your iron.
Follow the above steps to make your own iron-on embroidery transfer patches. This helps you to save time as you don’t have to keep rushing to the shop to buy iron-on patches. It also helps to save money as you can use easily available sewing supplies that you may have in your house.
Do Iron-On Embroidery Patterns Wash Out?
Most times, iron-on embroidery patterns are permanent. Thus they will not wash out or spoil when they come into contact with water. This makes iron-on embroidery the best embroidery transfer method for most fabrics.
Homemade iron-on embroidery designs, when properly made will also be high-quality additions to your clothes and fabrics. They will stick permanently and most times do not age with the clothes they embellish.
Tips Of Making Your Own Iron-On Embroidery Transfer Patches
When you decide to make your own iron-on embroidery transfer patches, there are some factors that you need to consider. First, is the type of paper that you are using to design your embroidery.
Different people use different types of paper. Some use ordinary plain paper, while others only use felt and stabilizers to set out their designs. Depending on what you are looking to accomplish, you can use any method and material you are comfortable with.
The other factor to consider is the artwork. What kind of artwork do you want to iron-on to your fabrics. Does its color match that of the fabric and is it a complicated design. If you can make your own artwork, you can make as complicated a design as you want.
Another factor to consider is whether to use hand or sewing machine embroidery. Using a sewing machine is fast and easy. It also helps you to use different colored threads at the same time. Hand embroidery takes a lot of time and is only good for easy and simple designs.
Conclusion
There are many methods that you can use to make your own iron-on embroidery transfer patches. For busy sewists, this saves them time and money. It also helps develop your creativity on how well you can design embroidery.
You can make your embroidery transfer designs on paper or on patches. When using paper, consider the quality of the paper. Don’t use flimsy paper. You also have to print from a laserjet printer to get the right design onto the paper.
Patches are much stronger and more attractive. They are more complicated to make than paper-based embroidery transfer templates.
Use your most preferred of the above methods to make your own iron-on embroidery transfers at home.
Crafting has always been a deep-seated passion of mine, one that has flourished and evolved over the years.
I've dedicated considerable time to both studying and practicing in the realm of fashion and sewing, amassing a wealth of experience and skills.
It brings me great joy to share these insights and experiences with you all, hoping to inspire and foster a similar passion for the art of sewing.
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