Swapping blogs with one of my favorites…Beckie from Infarrantly Creative. You can find me there today…but first you will LOVE what she has for you today! Take it away Beckie…
Hello Idea Room readers! Squuuuueaaal! I am so honored to be here today. Amy is one of my very favorite bloggers and I am excited beyond measure to guest post. If I was stranded on a deserted island and could only read five blogs…The Idea Room would be one of them! Errr…if I were on an island I wouldn’t be reading blogs. {Giggle}.
My name is Beckie, author of Infarrantly Creative. My blog chronicles my adventures in crafting, decorating, painting, decoupaging, sewing, and refabbing furniture. I have over 65 tutorials which I hope will inspire you get out there and DIY!
Today I am going to share with you how to make your own custom bean bags. These make a very inexpensive, personalized gift.
Did you know you don’t have to buy those fancy schmancy fabric printer sheets to have quality printed fabric? Did you know you don’t have to buy that fancy schmancy solution to soak your own fabric in beforehand? Here is a quick no-fail recipe to get the best results with the most vibrant colors when printing on fabric…
Mix 2 tablespoons of Alum (found in the spice section of your grocery store), 2 1/2 teaspoons of Washing Soda (found in the laundry section) and 1/2 teaspoon of liquid fabric softener. Then add one cup of hot water.
Mix it in a bowl bigger than you think because it foams up when you add the water. Stir. After a few minutes the foam will disappear. Next soak your 100% white cotton fabric in your solution for 15 minutes.
After fifteen minutes is up wring out all the excess liquid.
Wait!!! Can’t I just print it out on fabric since the bean bags won’t be washed? The solution gives you more vibrant colors and if they should get wet they won’t bleed. This recipe is perfect for quilters who want to add pictures to their work as well.
Store the remaining solution in a container and mark it well to use at a later date.
Next dry your fabric. I hung mine to dry overnight. But if you are an impatient crafter, you can put it in the dryer.
Next grab some freezer paper (found near the tin foil and Ziploc bag section) and iron your fabric to the shiny side of the freezer paper with a hot, dry iron.
Once your fabric is stuck to the freezer paper cut it into 8 1/2” x 11” rectangles. Iron one more time after cut just to ensure that the fabric is stuck well.
In whatever program you choose, size your pictures (I chose 4″ x 4” images) and print them onto your fabric. You can change your printer settings to the best print quality on fabric if you have that option. Make sure you print on the fabric side and not on the back of the freezer paper.
Cut out your printed fabric to size. I chose to do both sides of the bean bags with a picture. Of course, you can use just regular fabric on the backside.
With right sides together sew the two pieces together leaving a small opening.
Turn your fabric right side out (iron if you must) and fill it with any type of beans.
Tuck under the edges of the opening and sew shut. I machine stitch it but you can certainly hand sew it if that suits your fancy.
Tie them up with ribbon and present your gift. My son loves them he calls them his “Isaac Beans.”
What do you do with the bean bags?
1. Learn to juggle
2. Pair it up with some sand buckets and spread them out and have your child practice their aim by tossing them into the buckets.
3. Pelt each other with them.
4. Make up two sets of different bags and play tic, tac, toe with them.
5. Have each child put a bean bag on their head and have them try to knock the bean bag off their opponent’s head. The person left with a bean bag on their head wins!
6. Play Simon Says with them…”Simon says balance the bean bag on your elbow. Simon says, throw the bean bag under your legs.”
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brandy says
ARE YOU SERIOUS?! I've never heard of this. Genius! I will definitely put that recipe to use in some personalized projects. Thank you so much!
I was so excited to try this I followed you directions exactly and when I got plan water on the fabric all the ink rinsed out….help what did I do wrong! I am trying to make a photo cosmetic bag with my grandkids on it but I don’t want to risk the pictures washing out.
Thanks
Corey
Same thing happened to mine. I was so excited only to be let down once they got wet. I am trying to make quilt blocks out of them. Any suggestions?
Wait several minutes after printing to make sure the ink is dry. Then try heat setting the printed fabric with a hot iron. After heat setting I also soak my printed fabric in white vinegar in a shallow pan to set the ink (about 5 minutes). Rinse the vinegar with water (by hand, not washing machine or edges will fray) and lay flat to dry, then heat set with iron again. Worked for me. (You can heat set in a dryer if you have used Fray Check on fabric edges to prevent fraying. Some people also use a hair dryer to heat set.) I hope this helps!
Great tips. Thanks.
By heat set, do you mean run an iron at a high temp over the image?
This question is for Vicki … thanks!
DO NOT BOTHER IT DOESNT WORK!!!
Hi I wasn’t sure if you rinsed the fabric out after its dries before you run it through your printer
No I don’t. I just hang dry it. Thanks.
Holy AWESOME idea! I've got to think of a reason to use this!
Great Idea! Your one more blog to add to my list of daily blogs. Thanks so much for the inspiration!
What a great idea! I am thinking Easter baskets!
This is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing! I can't wait to try this! (Trust me…I'm really trying to resist the urge to run to the store right now to get all the supplies!)
I thought of making these photo bean bags, too–great minds think alike! ;) but had no idea you could make your own fabric/paper–what a great idea. I was also planning to use it for an Easter project–now I can make my own. What a great idea! I can't wait to go read your blog!
Love that post! I have purchased the expensive stuff, and have never heard of this little trick. Thank you! I'm bookmarking it!
What a cute idea, I love this! Thanks so much for the great idea, I'll be linking.
How fun! There is so much you can do with a bean bag! I need to give these a try!
Wait, you put the fabric/freezer paper through your printer and it doesn't jam????
This is so cool! I wish I had an inket printer!!
I linked to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-make-your-own-printable-fabric/2010/03/19/
–Anne
I've been using bubble jet set, but your recipe is MUCH cheaper! How well does the color last in the washer?
From what I have tested, it does not hold up. If you get water on it, it washes out.
I can't wait to try this. I've been trying to find an inexpensive way to print out some quiet book pages I've designed.
How long can you keep/reuse the solution? And it's machine washable, like for clothing tags? GREAT post, thanks!
Don't forget bean-bag as paperweights! Thanks for a great tutorial!
A link to Craftster where you got this recipe from would have been appreciated.
Thanks Anonymous for alerting me….I'm 'queenofdiy' from Craftster and a link would have been appreciated to my original recipe. I put alot of research into creating this recipe and ingredient proportions. I don't mind sharing however I would have appreciated credit by creating a link to where you got this information from. In any case, the original recipe can be found here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=129537.0
this is just amazing, can i use for silk fabric as well.
this is just amazing, can I use Silk fabric as well?
sorry for reposting but dont know if my previous post went th. can I use this with silk fabric
What a wonderful idea! I hope to try this soon!! These would make great Christmas gifts! I am definitely planning ahead for those!
Okay,
I need to first say “Thank You SOOOO much!” I have always wanted to print photos onto fabric to make quilts. I the pre-conditioned pages you can buy are way to expensive. I was going to buy Bubble jet, however I say your recipe and thought I’d give it a try. I made it up and printed out my first photo and my husband insisted I print two so I could test one. I really works!
Thanks again :-D
You have made me One happy quilter
Put water on them and they will fade away.
Hi Amy,
I am having an issue with the ink washing completely off. Did I do something wrong?
´did you iroon the fabric after it came out of the printer? It has to be ironed at a very hot temperature to heat set the ink – this is necessary no matter how you prepared your fabric
Yes, thanks.
I think you’re supposed to use PIGMENT based inks. Dye based, Washes out. Author may have pigment based inks and not know it.
nice idea thanks
I made a pillow for my grand-daughter with her pict and monogrammed her name on it for her to take to school. I couldn’t wait to make it. Everyone loved it! Thanks for the recipe.
Yay! So glad you were able to use it and make such a lovely gift for your granddaughter!
Do I rinse the fabric after I soak it for 15 minutes then dry it?
Hi, I live in the UK. as far as I know I can only get alum by prescription. Is there anything else I can use?
Alum is a pickling spice. You may be able to buy it on the internet Not sure if that is a good answer or not! Can you google some substitutions for Alum?
It’s very good Idea.Please tell me about what you do for curing of fabric?and how can wash this fabric without fadding colour?Please reply.
This doesn’t work at all. Colors cme running off the fabric as soon as water hit it. So disappointed. Also, regretful I spent all that time looking for the ingredients and editing my photos. Complete bomb!
I think those having problems with design washing out are using an INK JET type printer, not a bubble jet..my computer savy kids told me there is a difference :0)
Omg………………………………………………………………………………….I am so excited to try this!
Hello
Going to try to print my own fabric having seen Beckie from Infarrantly Creative’s great blog. Especially love the recipe for the ‘solution’ – a great way to save the pennies.
Might I also take the opportunity to ask a question regarding this site please – what is the name of the font used for the header:
make your own bubble jet–printing on fabric
Much obliged
J Holmes
Couldn’t, get the freezer paper to stick to the material, although I ironed it quite a bit. I tried to run it through the printer and it jammed up unfortunately.
No it does not.
I got this site from my buddy who told me about this website and now this time I am browsing this website and reading very informative content at this time.
I have made my own Bubble Jet in the past. It worked pretty well except for the red ink. Anything red washed out. How is your recipe on red ink?
The main focus of the company has always been the preferred choice
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And, uh, so as Pamela said, adding 5, 000workers and build more than 350, 000 cars
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They only take a small amount off your time, money and efforts.
This POST should be removed because it doesn’t work… a total waste of time and money. I read the comments saying it didn’t work after i had committed to the project. Like many of the other contributors, i followed the directions exactly and the ink washed off… DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME, LIKE SO MANY OF US DID!!!!
It has been verified by several safety expert that this
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I made the faux bubble jet set. I followed all the instructions. First of all, ironing the freezer paper onto the treated fabric caused it all to yellow immediately. I continued with the rest of the project just to see if it would work. I printed and let it dry etc…rinsed it as instructed, and all the image completely disappeared. So how on earth is this working so well for some, and not for others? I even called the printer company to verify the type of ink I was using and it’s the right kind. This should work for everyone, unless most of us are doing something wrong. Thoughts?
From all the research I have done your ink needs to be pigment based not dye based or it will wash out
DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY AND TIME ON THIS ‘RECIPE’. You only only purchase Alum online as it’s not sold in shops in the UK, but most importantly IT DOESN’T WORK!! Spend your cash on something that does work, i.e. BUBBLE JET 2000. Your receipe wasted a week of my time and my money. You’re nothing but a scam!
I was pleased with this experiment. I did rinsed one print out, which had quite lot of deep colours, in tepid water for a few minutes and there was quite a bit of colouration in the water, but the colours were still bright. I did not rinse the lighter colour prints because I was worried they might fade too much. I would certainly use this method for projects which do not require washing, but would be a bit hesitant about putting them in a quilt. I got the Alum from Amazon. BTW I did leave the ink to dry over night. After rinsing I rolled it in a tea towel and then ironed it dry. Perhaps the success rate depends on the ink used. I used very inexpensive compatible inks and set the printer to photo quality.
I am making quilt labels. It worked great. I took your advice and soaked in vinegar. Thanks.
Don’t waste your time no matter what. You do is still washes out
Hi, this is great – can I use a normal printer?!
Yes but, Laser printing on fabric is similar to printing on an inkjet, except you need to treat the fabric beforehand.
Thanks for this information. Its all things new for me. Laser printing on fabric is same.
Thank you!
Older nurses wore the white starched caps. When soiled, you washed and starched them, then slapped them on the fridge door. Using starch, you just pealed them off when dry. The fabric treated with Faux Bubble Jet can easily be dried this way. It doesn’t slough off the surface but dries beautifully. The only downside is that you have to wash off the fridge because of the alum residue left on the surface.
Barbara- Great tips. Thanks for sharing.
I intend to try your recipe here. I do still have some Bubble Jet 2000 which I have already prepared my fabric sheets before the print stage. My question though is about after the printing and drying. I don’t have the bubble Jet Rinse so will this recipe do the same using the alum in it? Needing to know. Thanks!
Joanne- It should do the same thing. Great question.
Worked on this all day. Didn’t work. It always washed ut