Purchasing designer fabrics with bold graphics can be expensive and not nearly original enough for me. So, I decided that I wanted to create my own fabric prints. However, I wanted the fabric to remain soft and not have that plasticy feel that occurs with transfers. I found that inkjet printable fabric sheets and natural fabrics treated with Bubblejet Set worked the best. However, printing is the easy part, I just followed the manufacturer’s instruction. The challenging part, for me, was creating bold, graphic, colorful designs that could be sewed together to make fabric for use in clothing, purses, and household projects. Here is what I came up with.

Materials needed:

Digital Clip art of bold graphics (clipart books with Indian, French and Arab motifs are a good place to start

White fabric 100% cotton (or other natural fiber) and Bubble Jet Set product or Inkjet Printable fabric sheets (available at craft stores)

Computer with Photoshop

Inkjet printer ( I have an Epson) and inks

Iron

Freezer paper (if using Bubble Jet Set)

Step 1 – Scan and/or open your clip art image.

Step 2 – Define the image as a brush. Click on File>Define Brush Preset. Give your brush a name and click ok.

Step 3 – Open a new file. File>New. The size of this file should be the maximum printable range of the largest area you can print. For example, I can print on paper up to 13by19 inches, but the printable area is 1/2 inch smaller all the way around. So, I make my file size 12by18, as big as the printable area and allowing for a 1/2 inch margin. Leave your background transparent for the time being.

Step 4 – Stamp using your brush. Select your brush and the color you would like the stamped image to be. Angle brush to your liking and stamp it in it’s own layer. With your brush tool selected click the brushes tab in the top right of the screen (A). Select Brush Tip Shape in the left menu. Turn the compass until the brush is angled as you like it. *It’s best if your brush cursor is set to “brush tip shape” in your “display and cursor” preferences (B).

A. B.

Step 5 – Color Clip art image. In a new layer, use the magic wand selection tool to select an area inside the stamped image. *Make sure “Use all layers” is selected at the top options bar when the magic wand tool is selected. Select the color you would like to fill with and use the shortcut keys Alt+Del to fill with the foreground color. *Use Apple + Del to fill with background color.

Step 6 – Keep Coloring! Continue using the selection tool to continue to select and color areas. You can hold down the shift key to select multiple areas (A) and you can hold down the Alt key to deselect an area. Sometimes it may be necessary to close off an area. To do this, select the layer of your outline, use the eyedropper tool to select the color of the outline. Zoom-in and use a small round brush to connect the lines(B).

A. B. C.

*Be sure to give each color it’s own layer so that you can easily change and experiment with colors later. Holding down the apple key while clicking on a layer is an easy way to select what is in a layer (C).

Step 7 - Create Pattern. Merge colored layers (save file off first to protect your hard work), and multiply the colored images by selecting the Move tool and holding down the alt key. Manipulate the repeated images until you have a pleasing pattern. You can resize some of them, rotate some of them, flip some of them (File>Transform tools).

Step 8 – When you are done coloring, you can experiment with different background colors. Select a new layer and move background layer under all other layers.

Step 9 – Save and print. When you have your image as you like it, save it off again (under a different name) and print it. To print, flatten layers first (this makes for a smaller file and faster printing). Load your prepared Bubble Jet Set fabric (follow manufacturers instructions) or printable fabric in your printer. Set printer to Best/Photo Quality and print.

Remove paper backing and rinse according to instructions with your fabric printing method.

Step 10 – Continue creating different patterns. Experiment with your layered file. For example, you can choose to turn off your outline layer before repeating image (A) or you could choose to color the inside of your clipart one color for a completely different look (B). I shaded my first image (before I repeated) using the doding and burning tools (C).

A. B. C.

After printing the fabric sheets, I sewed them together using the crazy quilting technique. However, my quilting skills are weak. So, I will not attempt to make a lesson on how that is done. Here is how the fabric looks when it’s been quilted. Sure, I could have done this part on the computer, but it loses that beautiful handmade quilted look.

Here are close-ups of the two projects completed using this technique(placemat and pillow):