At one time, fabric and craft stores would provide, separately for the asking at no charge, fabric care and content labels routinely provided by the fabric manufacturer as shipped along with their fabric bolts. Sigh, this convenient and thoughtful fabric manufacturer's gesture seems long past. All fabrics that are neatly wrapped around cardboard bolts standing upright on easy access shelves in your favorite fabric or craft store do contain an informative label on the end of the bolt that provides pertinent information about the fabric.

This end of bolt label is a necessary wealth of information: manufacturer’s name, sometimes mailing address or website, fiber content, care and washing instructions, width of fabric, total yardage amount on the bolt, any industry identified information and of course the price per yard. Consider using some of this relevant information to make your own labels by writing down details in a handy notebook or take a photo with your cell phone to record essential facts. This information can be used to create your own unique fabric care and content labels.

By using a word processing program and an inkjet printer, you can print your own fabric care labels directly onto fabric using a made-for-printer-use fabric sheet (a piece of fabric bonded to paper sized to 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches) or you can make your own printer fabric sheet. There are several methods for making printable fabric sheets, however they must first be pre-treated with an ink fixative so your fabric sheet becomes colorfast and will retain the image after washing.

The ink fixative solution (look for print-to-fabric resources on the web) is applied to the fabric, dried, and then the fabric is ironed to the smooth side of freezer paper (not waxed paper) pre-cut to 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches the same as printer paper size. The fabric must be firmly adhered to the freezer paper in order to pass through the printer using a manual feed. Be sure your inkjet printer will accept a fabric sheet in lieu of printer paper in order not to void any warranty.

Note: Laser printing on purchased pre-treated fabric sheets is not advised as laser heat can soften the manufacturer applied adhesive backing. DIY fabric sheets made using a freezer paper backing may be considered suitable.

Crafters and sewers may consider the following useful information when creating iron-on, stick-on or sewn-on fabric care and content labels:

Fabric Care on the labels may contain wording such as 100% Cotton Machine Wash Cool, Tumble Dry Low; 100% Cotton, Hand Wash Cold; 100% Polyester, Machine Wash, Gentle Cycle; 100% Rayon, Dry Clean Only; Hand Wash, Cold Water; 50% Cotton 50% Polyester, Machine Wash, Tumble Dry Low. These are just a few examples to use to create the label and then sew into your finished garment or product.

Washing Instructions: Hand Wash, Cold Water, Dry Flat; Hand Wash, Line Dry, No Bleach, Cool Iron; Machine Wash Separately, Warm Water, Line Dry; Dry-Clean Only - just a few familiar instructions that can be adapted for labeling.

Fiber Content such as: 100% cotton, silk, polyester, rayon, nylon, linen, wool; 50% cotton/50% polyester, or multiple fiber content such as 20% wool/60% polyester/20% silk can be included as well.

Size: if applicable for clothing items.

Remember to provide complete instructions or any warnings if the garment or fabric product is to be sold to consumers.

Making Printable Fabric Sheets Information available from HP.

Sew happy, sew inspired.