Right now I am trialling a few different methods of creating original fabrics which can be used for textile art. One of them is inkjet printing on fabric. Through trial and error I have made progress, and developed some thoughts about the effectiveness of this method.
Technology
The technical process of printing the fabric is fairly straight forward. A high-resolution file of the design is needed. I used Photoshop, but you can use any app which delivers high quality images.
Any inkjet printer will print on the fabric. I happen to have an Epsom Artisan printer because I print images on paper to sell. The Artisan is an excellent printer with 6 inks. In addition to the usual four, it has light cyan and light magenta to create finer colour blending. Unfortunately, Epsom have ceased production of the ink cartridges for the Artisan printer. While I have been able to source generic versions of the colours, I did experience some ink leakage.
Any ink leakage onto the fabric means I have to discard the panel.
Epsom are promoting purpose build printers which print to fabric. However, I will not purchase one of these.
Supplies
In addition to an inkjet printer, the fabric panels are the main purchase. It is possible to prime fabric for printing yourself. I read about one technique in the book “Image Transfer Workshop: Mixed Media Techniques for successful transfers” by Darlene Olivia McElroy and Sandra Duran Wilson. However, my nature is to proceed without mucking around. I bought pre-prepared 100% cotton fabric panels from Jacquard, which worked well with my printer.
There are other brands available, but Jacquard seems to be the most widely available.
Taking into account time, the cost of the inks and the fabric panels, it is an expensive process.
My Conclusions
I think there is a place for inkjet printing directly onto fabric. The panels I printed were clear and the colours good. However, to sell as a retail product, I don’t think it is viable. My recommendation would be to do this for personal art projects.
I will be selling the panels I have already produced. However, I don’t think inkjet printing on fabric will be the method I choose for my ongoing panel designs. Stay tuned for other methods I’m trialing.
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