Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Valentine favor bags made with Square 1 Printable Iron-on


Yesterday,  I showed you how I used the print and cut abilities of the Silhouette machine to print some Valentine images on the printable iron-on fabric from Square 1.  You can print photos or any digital art on the fabric and cut it to make customized iron-ons to decorate all sorts of projects.  You can find that post HERE.


I used a rectangle measuring 4 x 5 inches to help me size the large images to fit the bags which are 5 x 7 inches.


I fit as many images as I could on the 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of printable.  I don't like to waste the space between images so I added lots of smaller images to fill up the page.


The registration marks are added by the software to give the machine a guide for cutting in the proper place.  You can adjust the placement of the marks if you are printing just one image - I used the full sheet.  If you have the Cameo you need to set the page size to 8 1/2 x 11 and you can print the page in a regular ink jet printer.
 

The fabric cut beautifully - here you can see the images left on the mat after I removed the background.  I placed the shiny side of the printable iron-on fabric directly on the mat.  I used a newer mat that is quite sticky and a fabric blade. The fabric blade is the same as a regular blade but the housing is blue to help you keep it separate for use only with fabric.  I used the settings for "thick fabric like canvas" with the blade at 5, speed 5 and thickness 33.


I used a variety of digital images from several digital scrapbooking kits I have purchased over the years from Creative Memories. Creative Memories no longer offers digital options but the CM artwork can be purchased from Panstoria until March.


I saved the small images for other projects - I think they would be cute for doll clothes.


The directions on the package for the Square 1 printable iron-on fabric are simple.  The iron should be set to medium high or high (cotton) setting with no steam.  You just place the cut image in position and press for 10 - 15 seconds, taking care to see that the edges are bonded well.


The muslin bags I used are from the State Line Bag Co. and they come in a variety of sizes.  The company sent me some bags to try and these are the 5 x 7 single drawstring design.  I have a couple of tips for customizing the bags.  First, I turned the bags inside out and clipped the excess fabric at the corners to make a sharper corner.


By removing some of the excess fabric you will get a smoother look when the bag is turned - just don't cut too close to the stitching.


I also "fancied up" the drawstrings by adding beads on some bags and by replacing the cotton string with ribbon on other bags.


You can use the string that is already in the bag to pull a small ribbon through the casing.  Tie the ends together with a square knot.


Then, pull the knot tight and tug on the string to pull the ribbon through.


This bag now has thin sparkly ribbon that "dresses it up" a bit.  You could put a small gift or candy inside and use these for table favors.


The wider ribbon I used on the Teddy Bear bag was trickier to pull through.  With a little patience you can work the ribbon through the opening - particularly if it is a stiff ribbon like this one.


Changing the string to ribbon gives the bag more personality.



On the two heart bags, I just added some beads at the ends of the string.


Depending on the size of your beads, you will need to knot the string once or twice to hold the bead on the end.  Don't give the bag with the beads on the string to a young child since they could pull them off and put them in their mouth.


The pink satin ribbon was too wide and slippery to pull through with the string - even with the knot it slipped off before I could pull it all the way through.  I used a safety pin through the folded end of the wide ribbon to work the ribbon through the casing.  The end result is much more elegant and suits the pretty rose image ironed to this bag.  I tied the ends of the ribbon in knots to keep it from sliding through the bag.


I really enjoyed making these bags and I have a lot of ideas for other projects that I can do with the Square 1 printable iron-on fabric.  The iron-on fabric printed with your images would be great for customizing clothing and home decor items.  You can find the fabric on the Square 1 site HERE.  What sorts of projects would you make?

You don't have to have a machine to cut the fabric - you can print it on your regular printer and cut it very easily with scissors.

If you are in one of the states that is dealing with the cold and storms please be careful.  We are used to this sort of thing in New England but it must be quite a shock for those of you in the South.  Take care!

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8 comments:

  1. Is this the same way the Cricut explore will do the print then cut?

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  2. Hi Laurel, I am not sure exactly how that feature will work with the new Explore. It is one of the "coming soon" items and I haven't seen much information about it. I hope they will be able to make it an easy feature to use - I love doing print then cut projects and it would be great to use for the Imagine cartridges!

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  3. thank you so much diane! i also ordered from state line before christmas and got 4 diff size bags. it was too late to do anything with them for the holidays. i've been wondering what i'll be making and you've given me another option with the iron on vinyl. one question. what settings did you have your printer on to get the nice vivid colors? i don't have any digital images, but i do have many i've purchased throught the sil. store. (print/cut).

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    1. Hi Kat, The directions recommended using normal quality, plain paper setting and that is what I used (I should add that info in the post since others may also be wondering..). You can use a photo, or any image that you like - there are lots in the Silhouette store and even more digital goodies available at very reasonable prices from many sources. Check out Jessica Sprague on "One Buck Wednesday (that's today!) - there are always nice sets of elements and papers that you could use for this type of project.

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  4. you did an awesome job...thanks for sharing your valentine treat bags.

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    1. Thanks - they were really fun and easy to make!

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  5. Hello,
    How was the adhesive on the iron on? Did it Peel Off?

    Thank you

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    Replies
    1. The adhesive seems quite strong - I did these in January and there is no peeling. They are not items that you would wash and I haven't used this for a washable item so I can't give you any information on how well the iron-on fabric stays when washed.

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