If you're going to start a business selling your handmade items (or if you just want to make your crafts look fancy), it makes sense to have labels, right? Right! Here's a tutorial on making your own labels at home, not just for clothing, but for accessories, purses, or any kind of craft!

Overview: You can make machine washable labels using printable Fabric Sheets (about $10 for 3 sheets at Joann's). Basically, you print your design directly onto the fabric sheet, iron the fabric sheet to set the ink, cut label to size and sew the labels into your clothing or other handmade item.
*If you don't want to buy the fabric sheets, you can pre-treat your own cotton fabric with a solution, but that still costs $ and adds another step to the process. I'm keepin this simple..

If you'd like to see some finished products or view my screen-printing tutorials, check out my etsy shop & blog , or follow me on twitter! Also, your constructive feedback on this tutorial is greatly appreciated! Let me know if you have any questions!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/anotherwaydesigns
http://anotherwaydesigns.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/anotherwaydsgn

Step 1: Materials

- Fabric Sheets for inkjet printers (they also have sheets for laser printers). Cost: $9.99 for 3 sheets at Joann's (less if you remember your 40% off coupon!)
- computer & printer
- iron
- cold water
- scissors
- needle & thread or sewing machine

Step 2: Create & Print Your Design

Create your design on the computer. I used MS Word to make a basic colored text design. Test print the design onto paper first. Once satisfied, print the design onto your fabric sheet (on the fabric side). You may want to start with just 1 or 2 labels until you get the hang of this, so you don't waste any of your fabric paper.

Step 3: Dry & Iron

Let ink dry for at least 10 minutes. Remove paper backing from sheet. Dry iron on high for 1-2 minutes on design side. (Don't press down too hard with iron or you may distort your image).

Step 4: Rinse & Iron Again

To make your labels colorfast, rinse under cold water and pat dry using paper towels. Dry iron again on high until dry to set the ink.

Step 5: Attach Label

Hand-sew or machine-sew the label onto your clothing. Ta daaaa! Now your items look totally legit! The edges of the label will fray slightly upon washing. If this bothers you, just sew your labels on all 4 sides when attaching label to your item. That's it!

Relabeling: After screen-printing my design onto the item below, I relabeled this skirt by removing the "Alternative Apparel" tag and replacing it with my own. (I know, not the prettiest sewing job in the world, I was getting tired!) I left on the manufacturer's label that includes product and size info.

If you'd like to see some finished products or view my screen-printing tutorials, check out my etsy shop & blog !

http://www.etsy.com/shop/anotherwaydesigns
http://anotherwaydesigns.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/anotherwaydsgn