I have been sewing up some kids clothing lately and needed some more labels to sew in them. I decided it was time for me to go ahead and share this process with you as I have had such great success with it over the years. There are a few methods I have tried, but this is my favorite fabric label diy hands down and they have lasted for everything I have made so far (through multiple washings!).
What you need:
- Tightly woven light colored fabric (ex: quilting cotton; and I do nothing to fabric to prep it except iron it)
- Scissors
- Piece of paper that fits your printer
- Printer (I use an HP Deskjet F4280 and use the HP ink for it; I cannot speak for other printers/inks, but if you can please share your results in the comments)
- Freezer paper (found in the section with aluminum foil/saran wrap/etc)
- Iron
- Design to print (I made a simple page of labels in Word, but you can create yours however you like)
Start by ironing your fabric to get any wrinkles out. Then take the piece of paper and use that to cut out the same size from the freezer paper.
Place the freezer paper on top of the fabric, shiny side down. Make sure to turn iron to “no steam” and iron the freezer paper to the fabric.
Cut around the freezer paper and iron edges one more time to make sure the fabric and freezer paper is connected well.
Place it in your printer with the fabric side facing down (or other way if your printer prints differently). I usually put a regular piece of paper on top as I’m putting it in place just to make sure it goes in where it needs to. Then I take the paper out so only the fabric/freezer paper combo is there. When you go to print labels, make sure to choose the best ink option so it takes its time to print. Now, I have had the printer not catch the fabric properly and it got jammed, but it doesn’t happen often. Just watch and if it seems like it’s starting to not catch properly hit the cancel button on your printer and pull it out. I can’t speak for all printers, but I rarely have problems with this method. Just give it a try and see if it might work for you.
Tip: Be mindful of the colors you are choosing to print with. I have only used darker colors as I feel confident they will show up well.
Once printed, you can cut your labels out. But if it’s your first time trying this, I suggest putting the fabric in the wash after the first print so you can see how the ink holds up. Mine always has held up wonderfully well so I hope yours does too! Besides that, I leave them attached to the freezer paper until it comes time to use them as it keeps them nice and crisp and it’s easy to store them. Below is an example of them sewn in (and you can get the free skirted sweatshirt pattern here as well). -jess
Robin Rush says
July 27, 2016 at 10:50 amwow what a neat trick! the printing is on the fabric? gotta try this…soon!
Jessica says
July 28, 2016 at 6:29 pmYes, simply printed on fabric 🙂 I’m sure the type of ink might be what makes it work, but if you use something else please share your experience. I know it might not work for every printer, but it is my go to way now and I have done it for about three years (on this same printer) now with great results.
sunny says
July 27, 2016 at 11:55 pmdid you use anything to treat the fabric.
Jessica says
July 28, 2016 at 6:27 pmno I did nothing to the fabric at all. I didn’t pre-wash or anything 🙂
olga Margareth Ramos says
July 28, 2016 at 5:57 amThanks for sharing but here in Portugal we do not have freezer paper, so it is difficult for me to do this, can use the label paper instead?
Jessica says
July 28, 2016 at 6:31 pmI’m not familiar with label paper, but freezer paper has a coating on one side that will stick to the fabric but it’s not a strong hold so it pulls off very easily (hence why I suggest reironing it after cutting it out). The other side is like a plain papery type. If it’s that adheres to the fabric and pulls off easily and makes it sturdy enough for the printer to grab it, I say try it out 🙂 And please share your results if you.
MaryLee Vennemann says
July 28, 2016 at 8:45 amhow do I view your tutorial on how to make cloth labels?
Jessica says
July 28, 2016 at 6:32 pmHi 🙂 It’s just the written portion and pictures here on the post, but maybe soon I can make a video to give a more visual how to.
Laurie says
July 28, 2016 at 10:35 amWow, I want to try this! You make it look so easy — and purchased labels are SO expensive. Thank you!
Jessica says
July 28, 2016 at 6:26 pmYou are welcome 🙂 I hope that you are able to make it work for you too.
Denise/DIY Crush says
July 28, 2016 at 11:49 amVery nice tutorial! I love in how many different ways fabric labels can be made! I’d love to invite you to submit your DIY to our site! We publish projects such as yours in a dedicated post and share/pin/tweet them many times! Find the submission link in the top menu!
Nora says
August 22, 2016 at 9:50 amYou are really resourceful! I’ve never seen this before.. I was thinking to make some for the kids shirts but it seemed like alot work in my head. Really thanks for this great shortcut it’ll save me a lot of work.
Kate says
August 23, 2016 at 10:37 pmThis is so cool! It would be perfect for my bestfriends preloved shop. Thank you for this. Hope you could check out my blog too: https://thediyplanet.wordpress.com. Thank you 🙂
Lillian Palko says
September 15, 2016 at 11:46 amDid you reverse the font/or mirror image it before printing?
Jessica says
September 19, 2016 at 5:55 pmI did not mirror it 🙂 I did it just like printing a regular paper document. -jess
Karen Morgan says
September 16, 2016 at 12:55 pmThank you for sharing your label making technique! May I ask do you attach the labels once trimmed with pinking shears with a staight stitch or zigzag stitch?
Jessica says
September 19, 2016 at 5:54 pmI just use a simple straight stitch but you can sew it on however you like. I have always looked at all kinds of clothing labels and see many that are sewn on with the raw edges and I like how “artsy” it makes it feel hahaha. If that makes any sense 🙂 -jess
Diane says
November 15, 2016 at 9:13 pmWorked beautifully. Thank you!
Jessica says
December 4, 2016 at 4:18 pmYay! So glad it did 🙂
Gabrielle says
December 4, 2016 at 9:58 amIt worked! I was using a HP OfficeJet Pro 8620. I had to change the print setting to print as though it were printing on photo paper or regular paper, best draft otherwise it pulled the sheet to quickly and jammed but once I figured that out they printed wonderfully! It seemed kind of light so I ran one sheet through a second time and that was a complete fail because it didn’t print in exactly the same spots so for anyone else – don’t try it, it’s not going to work lol.
Thank you for the tutorial! I love my new labels!
Jessica says
December 4, 2016 at 4:00 pmThank you so much for sharing your experience! I’m glad it worked out for you 🙂
Sherri says
December 11, 2016 at 12:01 pmGreat diy label idea. I’m going to try. 🙂
I love the font. What is the name?
Thanks,
Sherri
Jessica says
December 23, 2016 at 2:30 pmI hope it works out for you 🙂 On my label, I handwrote the “happy together” on my ipad and turned it into a graphic and the other font is market deco and the font for the blog title is markella.
Tiffany says
January 19, 2017 at 12:20 amCan you use this on a office copier? Would love to try it at work.
Jessica says
February 17, 2017 at 11:42 amHmmmmm I’m not sure. It just depends on the ink and if the machine can do it without jamming up. Maybe another commenter might have something to say about this?
Sue says
October 23, 2017 at 8:57 pmHello, these turned out fantastic. First try on my HP printer. Now I will just wash them to make sure they stand . Thank you for sharing this tutorial.
Jessica says
November 1, 2017 at 4:48 pmYou are welcome! I hope you had success 🙂
Simon says
December 24, 2017 at 3:45 amHi Jess,
Thanx for sharing this. I’ve been spending ridiculous money on labels online. May I ask what font you use for your labels? I really like the font.
Thank you
Jessica says
March 19, 2018 at 6:30 pmYou are welcome 🙂 I hand wrote the happy together on my tablet and then I believe I used the font Market Deco for the size part.
Heather says
March 2, 2018 at 7:11 pmIt worked beautifully until I washed my finished label to see how it would hold up 🙁 The ink didn’t stay as dark and now my label is barely legible. I guess my inkjet printer (EPSON WorkForce WF-3640 with Epson ink) isn’t a good one to do this with? Thank you for the tutorial though, it was well written and easy to follow 🙂
Jessica says
March 19, 2018 at 6:17 pmWell I think it’s great that you gave it a try! You just never know sometimes. I wish it had worked out for you. And who knows, they might have changed the formula of the ink or something that makes it respond differently for this type of project (I haven’t made any in a while, but I have had similar things happen to me and it was a change on the manufacture end). Thank you for sharing your experience 🙂
Joyce Newman says
March 21, 2019 at 4:58 pmIf you let the sheet dry after printing, and then soak for 5 minute in white vinegar, it should set the ink.
Jessica says
May 5, 2019 at 6:14 pmThank you so much for sharing this tip!
HWCT says
August 13, 2018 at 5:31 amAm in love with the way u have made the fabrics design, but my question is this, is the freezer paper from the normal paper we used to inprinting house? Secondly, after print the print out are we gonna separate the clothe away form the paper? Thank u.
Jessica says
August 14, 2018 at 6:10 pmHi 🙂 Freezer paper can be found at the grocery store where the tinfoil and seran wrap is. And yes, after printing, you separate the fabric from the paper.
harjit says
August 26, 2018 at 10:01 pmWowww
Mercy says
May 24, 2019 at 5:54 amI was very skeptical about this, but it worked! I followed the directions and it came out great! Thank you for the great idea!
Jessica says
May 30, 2019 at 2:29 pmOh yay! I’m glad it worked for you 🙂