Printing a rug

How I printed the carpets in Ophelia’s house on fabric.

First, cut a piece of white cotton to 8 1/2” x 11”. Try to keep the thread grain straight. This is so you can create the fringe later.

Cut an 8 1/2” x 11” piece of freezer paper.

Iron your fabric and place it on top of the shiny side of the freezer paper. Now iron the fabric side of the two pieces. Once you are satisfied that they are stuck firmly together then let them cool. It doesn’t take that long if your iron is nice and hot.

Trim away any strands to get clean edges. (This is important because you don’t want the strings to get caught up in your printer.)

Spray a mist of Scotch-guard over the fabric side and let dry. Pay attention to where you decide to spray your fabric. Scotch-gard will leave a discoloration on the surrounding surface. Don’t spray it on your deck!

Place the piece in your printer so its prints on the fabric side.

I have never had a paper jam with this technique, but I have read that it can happen. Do what is best for your printer to make this work. Some printers have a setting for printing on something a bit thicker than regular paper. Do a little research to be sure.

Let the ink dry for about an hour and mist it again with Scotch-guard.

Peel the cotton away from the freezer paper.

Now you are ready to cut out your rug!

Keep water away from the finished fabric. Because it was made by an ink jet printer the colors may run or bleed even though you Scotch-garded it. The Scotch-gard keeps the ink from smearing while touching.

Create a fringe by pulling strands of thread away with a pin.

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