Another use for Tshirt Transfers

by PC Smart

sandbox serendipity (my art blog)

I created this box for a craft magazine a few years ago. (Country Marketplace? don't remember) I am posting it ,not as an example of a cool project (it is pretty dull if you ask me), but as an example of a process/technique. The images that are "collaged" onto the box are inkjet printed. Big deal, right? But wait... normally if you inkjet print and then try to collage with a water based media (mod podge, etc) you will get colorful mud. I got around that by printing the images onto tshirt transfer material (the one for dark fabrics that has a white base). Then i used a Clover iron (small handheld ironsold in the notions dept) to heat set the images onto the box. You can also use the heat tool from Walnut Hollow that is meant for paper (don't use the Versatool, it gets too hot and it will burn the decal). Then I came back over it all with a decoupage sealer. Because the tshirt decal material is meant to withstand washing, it could handle the water based sealer easily. The imagescame from the vintage workshop (my fave source for vintage images). You can avoid the whole iron thing altogether though and simply decoupage with the printed transfers using the Mod Podge but you will have to let it dry completely before putting a top coat over it. The reason I used the iron is because the adhesive on the decals is heat activated and once cool, is permanent....so it was a time thing....I had a tight deadline and wanted to try something new. The tile coaster was done the same way - heat and sealer - but I printed the image as a line drawing and colored it in with Fabric Crayons (Pentel). You can make a set of photo coasters this way without the trouble of dealing with ink smears.

A few more advantages to using the transfer material over plain inkjet printed paper:
* transfers are flexible and can fit around corners and curves. They have a bit of stretch as well and won't tear.
* while the dark fabric transfers are great for the times when you want to cover up the background with your image, light fabric transfers are transparent and will give you a wonderful layered effect.
* transfers are thinner than most paper. This is a plus when decoupaging because you get a smoother result and can layer images without bulk.