How to Print Your Own Clothing Labels

Prepared clothing labels make personalizing your clothes simple.

Ordering labels for making your own clothing can become pricey quickly, especially if you don't know exactly how many labels you need. Since ordering over 1000 commercially-made labels at a time isn't always practical, it may be time to learn how to print your own clothing labels. Printing your own labels can be a much cheaper way to get custom labels with your brand name, and you can print as many or as few as you need.

Things You'll Need

• Custom rubber stamp
• Small plate
• Fabric paint in color of your choice
• Felt, approximately 4-by-5-inch piece
• Plain paper
• Fabric ribbon or cotton twill tape, 1-inch wide or more
• Scissors
• Iron
• Sewing machine or hand sewing supplies

Instructions

1. Order a custom rubber stamp with your logo and wording from an office supply store. Select wording that can be used for a variety of clothing items, so your labels can be used on anything from shirts and skirts to pants and belts.

2. Set up your printing area with a clean, small plate that will not be used for food. Put one teaspoon to one tablespoon of fabric paint in the center of the plate. Place the felt piece over the paint and allow it to soak up the paint to create an ink pad.

3. Place a few pieces of paper down on your work area to protect it. Set an extra sheet of paper aside for testing the paint. Spread out the fabric ribbon or twill tape to run horizontally over the paper.

4. Press the stamp onto the felt to pick up a coating of fabric paint. Push the stamp straight down onto your test paper to test the inking, to get rid of excess or see if you need more. Press the stamp onto the felt pad once more, if needed.

5. Apply the stamp to the ribbon or twill tape ¾ of an inch away from the end of the ribbon, centering it within the width of the tape. Print the next label by stamping again an inch away from the first stamp. Continue to stamp down the ribbon, leaving an inch between each one.

6. Allow the prints to dry on the ribbon completely, as recommended on the fabric paint label. Follow instructions on the fabric paint bottle for setting the paint into the fabric, which may include rinsing or ironing it.

7. Clip evenly between each stamp to separate labels. Fold in the cut ends of the ribbon by ¼ inch and iron to crease the fold. Sew the label over the folded ends, or around all four sides, with a machine or by hand to attach to clothing.

Tips & Warnings

• Black or dark brown fabric paint may show up best on a variety of twill tape or ribbon colors.

References

• "Gifts With Heart"; Mary Beth Sammons and Susannah Seton; 2002
• "Home Made Best Made"; Christopher Cavanaugh; 1998

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish