How to Emboss Fabric

Using a few simple tools you can add an embossed design to many types of fabric. It adds a beautiful, personalized touch to almost any design or craft.

Things You'll Need

• Foam stamp
• Fabric with nap
• Steam iron

Instructions

1. Choose a design to emboss into your fabric. Foam rubber cut outs designed for stamping ink or paint work best. They are cheap, come in many designs, and tend to have few details, which is good for fabric embossing. Fine details will be lost in the process, so choose a design with strong clean lines.

2. Pick a suitable fabric. To emboss fabric, you must choose one with a nap, or pile. Velvet and velour work very well. You can also get good results with terry cloth. You need not worry about the fiber content, but make sure it is able to be dry cleaned. Washing destroys your embossed design, so the finished product needs to be dry cleaned.

3. Position your design under the fabric in the location you want to emboss. Make sure you place the fabric face down over the design so that the design can be embossed into the pile of the fabric.

4. Iron using high heat over the design. Apply good pressure and let the iron sit as long as possible without moving. If you must move the iron due to steam holes, take care to not move the fabric. Continue pressing for up to one minute.

5. Allow the fabric to cool and enjoy your embossed design.