Generally, when it comes to transferring a printed pattern on to fabric for embroidery, my favorite (easy and cheap) method is to tape it to a window and trace. But what do you do if you can't see through the fabric, even with a window/light box?
Enter tracing paper.
A pretty common notion in the sewing world, my mother taught me to mark my sewing fabric with tracing paper and a jagged edged wheel. For transferring embroidery designs, we'll skip the transfer wheel and use a pen, pencil or stylus to do pretty much the same thing.
Transferring an Embroidery Pattern to Opaque Fabric
To transfer an image to opaque fabric you will need the following:
- Fabric
- Embroidery design printed to appropriate scale and facing the finished direction
- Single-sided transfer/tracing paper in a contrast color (I used double-sided here, because it's what I had on hand. In a pinch, you could rub a piece of chalk generously across a sheet of paper and use that.)
- A pen, dull pencil, or stylus. Something with a decent point to get details, but not so pointy you poke through the paper.
- Chalk pencil or water-soluble pen (optional)
- Sandwich the transfer paper, chalk side down, between the fabric.
- Trace over the pattern using your pen, pressing firmly and going over each line several times as needed to make a clean mark.
- Remove pattern and transfer paper.
- The chalk marks can be very light and easy to brush off - if desired, trace over your marks with a chalk pencil or water-soluble marker for a more clear line.
That's it! Easy-peasy, right?
