Fabric labels?

[Venezie12]

Hi - anyone ever print their own sew-in fabric labels? If so, how did you do it?

Thanks for your help.

[phoenix fiberworks]

There are fabric sheets made to feed through inkjet printers. You can probably find them at Joann Fabrics, or any place that sells printer paper (Staples, Office Depot, etc.) You design your label on your computer, then print it on the fabric sheet and iron it on your project. Or, you can iron them on a separate piece of fabric, such as muslin, then finish the edges and sew the label on.

However, I've found these labels are not laundry proof - the ink tends to fade, run, or both. I don't know if they perform better with dry cleaning.

Your best bet is to order custom made fabric labels. Did a quick google.com search and came up with:
http://www.google.com/search?as_q=labels+custom&hl=en&num=10&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=&as_oq=apparel+fabric&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&as_rights=&safe=images

[deborah54]

another suggestion is that if you sewing machine has letters built in, to sew onto ribbon that is stiff, back it with heavy sew-in interfacing. This works if all that you want to use is a name.

[dstephan6]

I purchased some labels from someone who had printed them on a fabric sheet. I hadn't thought about the ink colors running but they might. The trouble I'm having is that they aren't finished on the edges at all and they are raveling badly around the edges. This is before I've even washed any of them. I sewed them in using a straight stitch so that is wouldn't look bad from the outside of the garment. It may have worked better with a zig-zag stitch around the edge.

I've decided to purchase them next time from some company that does woven labels.

[Penny]

I have made my own fabric labels. Our quilting teacher told us how to feed fabric through the printer by ironing it on to freezer paper. I designed my own labels, print them out on an 8-1/2" x 11" sheet, cut them into individual labels, pressed the edges under, and zig-zag stitch them onto my projects.

I doubt if they will survive a wash, but I don't put them on items that will need to be washed - at least not for a while. Quillos, for example.

I have heard there's a spray that you can use to "set" the ink on the label, making it safe for washing, but haven't tried that yet.