Friday, February 1, 2013

A Special Gift

My BFF is celebrating her birthday today :-)

I wanted to make her something special.  One night not too long ago, as I was falling asleep, I thought, "It would be cool if I could get some fabric made with a print of her favorite photo."  Then I thought, "Hey, I could do that myself with photo transfer paper!"

The next day I headed over to Michael's, where I found this:


I'd never used transfer paper before, but the directions on the back of the package made it easy.  It was harder actually finding the photo in my old files, and then loading it into a photo edit program and cropping it to the correct size and flipping it to mirror image.   After printing the image onto the transfer paper, the instructions say to let it dry completely.

Once I'd done all that, I ironed my photo onto a piece of plain white muslin.  I had decided that I wanted to make a little zippered pouch with the image on both front and back, so I made each photo about 5 x 8 inches to fit them onto one sheet of transfer paper.


Once they were cooled, I trimmed them down.



Along the way, I fortuitously discovered that although this fabric can be washed,  you can not iron over it - it lifts up and melts the transfer!  I'm glad I found that out on one of my scraps rather than my nice pictures!

Which meant that while I was sewing my pouch together, I couldn't iron any of my seams flat or iron interfacing to the exterior fabric.  The transfer has a kind of rubbery feel, and it worked just fine to press it and my interfaced lining flat with my fingers.  I decided that I didn't want to interrupt the image on the outside of the bag, so I only topstitched the lining to the zipper after it was installed.



Then I proceeded to finish the bag, Noodlehead-style.  And here is the result:




I'm so happy with how this project turned out.  I definitely want to do something like this again.   I think it makes a great keepsake gift when made with a treasured photo, or maybe even a child's drawing!

26 comments:

  1. Love how this turned out - and what a special gift for your friend! I like the idea of making something from a child's drawing... can you believe I'm already tinking about Christmas gifts for next year?

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    1. You might as well get started, since you have the free time right now!

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  2. What a great idea! Turns a simple sewing project into something really special. I've never tried the photo transfer paper before either, but I will now!

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    1. I had so much fun with it! I'm wondering if I should order some in bulk . . .

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  3. This is a great gifting idea for all occasions - birthdays, holidays, celebrations, even weddings!

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    1. She loved it too! I'm going to make her another one with a picture of her dog - I just couldn't figure out how to get one from her without letting the cat out of the bag!

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  4. This is really neat ~ I love this idea! My niece loves owls - maybe I can make her one of these ~ thanks for sharing this idea :)

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  5. What a fantastic idea! I must remember this for my sister's birthday.

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  6. Aw, Gail - what a sweet idea for a gift! You're friend must have been so touched by your effort...and result! The bag looks fantastic.

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    1. It was funny - she was a little confused! She said, "Where did you get that picture?" She forgot she'd sent it to me a bunch of times, LOL!

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  7. What a fantastic idea! It would make such a great gift for a kid, they love their photos, especially baby photos :)

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  8. That is wonderful Gail! Really I am speechless, I didn't know that was possible! Oh my goodness, I want to play too.
    Thank you for showing this, my mind is buzzing with ideas.
    Have a great weekend.

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  9. What a great thoughtful gift!
    And thank you for the noodlehead tutorial link, quite useful.

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    1. I love Noodlehead's tutorials! I'm trying to slowly work my way through all of them :-)

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  10. Have I told you recently that you're amazing? One of the most talented crafters that I know? ; )

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  11. Wow, what a cool idea! :D It turned out fantastic!

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  12. WHAT?!?! This is amazing! What a perfect gift!!

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  13. Great idea and perfect execution! She will love it.

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  14. What a great gift and way to personalize it! She'll love it.

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  15. Such an awesome gift, Gail! I love being able to personalize grits for loved ones.

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  16. What an amazing idea! I love the photo you've used too. Filing this idea away for future gifts...

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