You might have already seen my first tutorial on how to transfer embroidery patterns to fabric with your home printer. Well, I’m always looking for ways to adjust or improve my methods, so here is yet another way to do this! In some ways this method is a little bit easier, but it’s definitely worth knowing how to do it both ways.

Just like the first method, this method is ideal for smaller patterns that will fit into a 3″-6″ hoop, since you are using an 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet of paper.

Supplies you will need:

-Inkjet Printer

-Fabric – Preferably a good quality cotton fabric. You might be able to print on linen if it is not too thick or too textured, as a thick fabric will not feed through your printer correctly.

-Spray Adhesive – I use Elmer’s Craft Bond Multi-Purpose Spray Adhesive.

-Digital Pattern

-Copy Paper

-Transparent Adhesive Tape

Step-by-step Instructions:

1. Align your pattern so it is in the middle of the page.
2. Print your pattern on the copy paper.
3. Iron your fabric so there are no wrinkles, and cut a piece that is no wider than about 7 or 7 1/2 inches (and no taller than 10 inches), so it will fit nicely on the copy paper. (If I am printing the pattern to fit in a 3″ or 4″ embroidery hoop, I cut a 6 1/2″ square.)

4. VERY lightly apply a light dusting of spray adhesive onto the back of your fabric. It is extremely important to shake the can well and do a test spray first on a scrap piece of paper or fabric. You do NOT want the spray adhesive to be too sticky, nor do you want thick drops of spray to fall onto your fabric. Hold the can about 12″ above your fabric and do not go back over areas you have already sprayed. You only want the fabric to be a little tacky, not gummy.

5. Adhere the sticky side of the fabric onto the printed pattern, making sure the design is centered under the fabric. Smooth out any wrinkles.

6. Apply transparent adhesive tape on the edges so that any unraveled threads from your fabric do not get caught in your printer.

7. Place the paper with the fabric adhered to it in your printer. It is wise to do a printer test first so that you know how to correctly load paper in your printer so it prints on the correct side. (For instance on my printer, I load the side that I wanted printed facing DOWN.)

8. If you print the pattern and find that it is too dark on your fabric – in other words, your embroidery threads might not adequately cover the printed lines – you can reduce the transparency of the pattern before you print it. The Snowy Cottage Ornament pattern I am showing here would probably be fine at 100%, but I lowered the transparency to 60% and it worked great. It was dark enough that I could see every line, but my embroidery thread easily covered everything.

9. Remove the tape and peel the fabric away from the paper. All of the stickiness from the adhesive should remain on the paper, and the back of your fabric should be soft again.

10. Stretch the fabric in your hoop as you normally would, and you are ready to start stitching!

You can find the pattern for this Snowy Cottage Ornament (and others) in my shop by clicking here:

Lolli and Grace on Etsy

Let me know how this method works for you – I’d love to hear from you!