Printing on Fabric--The First Step to Making Special Gift Bags

 My daughter and I enjoy making small gift bags. We recently designed some for her Daisy Scout garden party.

While some may choose to buy pre-made muslin bags, we like sewing our own because we can print images directly onto the fabric with an ink jet printer--so much better than using iron on transfer paper. Printing on fabric is easy. First, I print a template on 8.5 by 11 inch cardstock. We got our image from Shabby Princess.  

Then I cut fabric to the size I like (but it has to be smaller than the cardstock) and tape it to the paper on all four sides. I used an off white curtain panel that I got on sale for these bags.

Next I feed the cardstock into my ink jet printer. On my printer, the fabric faces down--do a test with plain paper to see how you need to place your paper and fabric. The image comes out right side up.

I cut more fabric rectangles and printed out more images, changing the name each time so that each Daisy Scout had her own special bag. I reused the cardstock, making sure to tape down the cloth on all four sides.

We'll show you how to add the trim and sew the bags soon.

--Melissa