Tutorial: How to Print Images onto Felt

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There is something special about felt pieces that brings me back to my childhood. I have fond memories of the felt pieces my preschool teacher would bring out to compliment special stories and rhymes. I have no doubt that she spent many hours in her spare time creating these special treasures by hand.

Thankfully technology has made it easier than ever for you to create your own felt story pieces. and felt play food.

For this tutorial we are going to use T-Shirt Transfer paper to print onto felt. When purchasing your transfer paper be sure to buy the kind that is compatible with your printer. I have an ink-jet printer, but there are special transfers designed for laser printers as well.

For this demo I am using T-Shirt Transfers designed for light fabrics. If you are using dark fabrics, or printing images containing words, you may want to consider using T-Shirt Transfers for dark fabrics. The dark fabric transfers are opaque and don't require you to "flip" images containing text.

Materials

You will need:

• T-Shirt Transfer Paper (these are usually specially made for either ink-jet or laser printers. Make sure you purchase the correct kind!)
  
• White Felt (or other light colored felt)
  
• Iron & Ironing Board/Surface
• Printer
  
• Images of your choice
• Scissors

Step 1:

1. Follow the printing directions for your transfer sheets, and print the images of your choice. For this set I used my dramatic play pie stand set.

*Please note: if your image contains words you will need to reverse the image in your printer settings before printing (or use dark fabric transfer paper) to make sure the words aren't backwards after ironing.

2. Place the transfer sheet face down onto your felt, and iron according to the directions that came with your transfer sheets. Try to apply firm even pressure.

After you have completed your ironing, let it sit one minute. Gently peel a corner of the transfer paper away from the felt. If it sticks and doesn't pull away cleanly you may need to iron more.

White felt works best, as the ink is most vivid on the lightest colored felt. For the image below I used tan felt I've used for my pie crust pieces, because I thought it gave the piece a more realistic look.

3. Once you have pulled away the transfer paper, your felt pieces are ready to be cut out!

You might also want to try printing:

In addition to felt food, and felt story pieces, consider printing these items onto felt:

• Photos of your students
• Photos of local businesses around your community
• Images from magazines
• Vocabulary Images

I'd love to see what you have made!

If you've used this tutorial to create your own felt pieces, please share them in our FB group or tag me using the hashtag #prekprintablefun when you share them on social media.  I'd love to see them!

Felt story pieces provide many great learning opportunities. for young children to re-tell their favorite stories. In addition to providing language building opportunities, they are also great for building fine motor skills, and encouraging independent play! Get crafty!

Some of my popular sets for printing onto felt

Pie Stand Dramatic Play Set

$5.00

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Sandwich Shop Dramatic Play Pack

$5.00

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Bakery Dramatic Play Pack

$5.00

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Christmas Reading and Sequencing Literacy Set

$3.00

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Thanksgiving Read and Sequence Literacy Set

$3.00

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Hanukkah Literacy and Sequencing Set

$3.00

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Kwanzaa Read and Sequence Literacy Set

$3.00

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Goldilocks and the Three Bears Puppet Theater

$5.00

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Santa's Workshop Dramatic Play Pack

$5.00

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Turkey & Thanksgiving Activity Pack

$5.00

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