Freezer Paper Fabric Transfer Tutorial

A week or so ago I made a ruffled table runner out of a drop cloth.  

I knew that I wanted to transfer an image onto each end of the drop cloth.

There were many tutorials I found when I searched the internet.  After reading many, I followed a combination of the tutorials I found here and here. 

 It was my first attempt at transferring a graphic onto fabric.

I started by taking a plain piece of 8 1/2" x 11" copy paper and spraying it with spray adhesive.  We happened to have ordered pizza in on the night I did this project, so I used the box to protect my countertop.  I cut a piece of freezer paper and put the non-shiny side onto the now tacky copy paper. I smoothed the freezer paper onto the copy paper and then cut off the excess freezer paper.  I then put the freezer paper attached to the copy paper into my printer so that it printed on the shiny side.

I picked a graphic from The Graphics Fairy.  I went back and forth on which graphic to use.  I ultimately decided on something on the simple side to avoid too much smearing of the ink.  Make sure to print out your image in reverse.

Then I took my table runner and first sprayed hair spray on either end of the runner.  I decided to add three coats of hair spray for good measure.  Then I sprayed water on the section that I would be transferring the image.  

After I sprayed the runner with water, I placed my image onto the fabric.  

Then I used a spoon to rub the back of the paper to have the image transfer.  

Be careful not to move the paper to help avoid the ink smearing.

The first side did NOT come out the way I would have liked it.  It was a bit too light.  I think this was because I did not wet the fabric nearly enough (or maybe there wasn't enough hair spray).

I sprayed the other side much more, plus I made sure to really rub hard with the spoon.

A much better result.

Have you ever tried this method?  How did it work for you?

-Judy