Photocopy Transfer

I have a very long list of techniques I'd like to try. Recently, I tried some different ways of transferring photocopied images to fabric. My understanding is that this will work only with actual photocopies and not images directly from your printer.

This first method requires some patience and is a bit messy but very effective for larger images. Begin with a photocopy (if it has text it will need to be reversed) lay it face down on your fabric and then using a paint brush, generously coat the back of your copy with Golden Medium. This is where the patience part comes in, you need to let this dry thoroughly, at least 24 hours. Here comes the messy part, you will now need to immerse this into water and as the paper saturates you will be able to begin to remove the paper by rubbing gently......... very gently! When it looks as though all of the paper has been removed, you should be left with a good clean image. Once dry, however, you may notice that there is still a bit of paper left and if this is the case you will need to repeat the wetting and rubbing process.............did I mention you'll need some patience?

The above method was used for the postcard. The birds, feather and quilt block were all transferred using this method. Later I added some colourful fabric wings while colour was added to the feather and quilt block using Sharpie markers. I changed my mind from what I had originally intended and cut the images out to place on that wonderful green background
Take a look at this portion of a quilt label I made. Do you see that area (the word stitched), that is not as crisp and clear as the rest? This really needed another dunk in the water but I believe I was out of patience by that time. ( I had already gone through the process twice)
This particular label has lots of text, is 9"x 6" and I am very pleased at the result achieved with this method.

The simplest and easiest method is also great for small images, but involves a solvent of some sort. The best result for me, was achieved using acetone ( nail polish remover) Place your image face down onto your fabric and swipe the back of it with an acetone dampened (not wet) cotton ball, then, using the back of spoon or some other tool, burnish the image until it transfers. I used a small piece of masking tape to hold the image in place so that I could lift the edge and see if the image had transferred to my liking.
I had absolutely no luck at all with the CitraSolv I purchased.........have no idea why it didn't work. Obviously with any solvent based method you will want to work in a well ventilated area.
Once you have the image you want, you can go a step further and add colour. Here I used coloured pencils for the quilt block and crayons for the flip flops, buttons and butterflies. Extra details were added using Sharpie markers. The final step was to paint a thin layer of textile medium on top of the colours, once dry, it was heat set using a hot dry iron.