SUBLIMATION TRANSFER PAPER PRINTING FOR FABRIC LAMPS

A fabric lamp is like a sweater tied around the shoulders—cooly effortless but done with stylistic intent. Swapping a glass or metal fixture for fabric adds an instant ease and lightness to a room. The design world has certainly caught on. Some night would be so romantic.

Here some steps that teach you how to produce a fabric lamp.
Step1: Download from computer with sublimation transfer paper and printing it into fabric

From computer, print it out and enlarge it. It is not likely to print on one piece of 11x17" paper unless you get it at just the right angle so it may be easier to enlarge half of the pattern at a time. Tape the two copies together after matching the lines. Depending on the type of fabric that you use, you may want to use fusible interfacing. I used a fairly thin vintage cotton that benefited from interfacing, but if you use a heavier fabric it won't be necessary. If you do think your fabric will benefit from it.Follow the directions on the package to fuse. The kind I used required I lay the fusible side down on the wrong side of the fabric, cover with a damp cloth and press with a hot iron. Very easy.
Step2: To begin sewing, lay two pieces with right sides together and pin along one edge. 

I put pins 3/4 of an inch from either end as markers for where to start and stop sewing. You will need the very top and bottom to remain open so that later you can turn it right side out and fit it over the lamp post. Once the first two pieces are sewn, continue matching piece by piece with like sides together, pinning and sewing until you have made it all the way around the lamp. There will be six seams. Fortunately, these fold up like an accordion as you move to each new section, so you'll find it easy to keep extra fabric out of your way while you are pinning and sewing.
Step3: Clip and Stuff

You should now have what looks like a deflated balloon. The next step is to clip the seams so that when you turn the "balloon" right side out you will have nice, smooth seams.
Step4: Now it's time to assemble your lamp. After screwing 1 nut followed by 1 washer onto one end of the threaded lamp pipe, stick it into the top of the fence post cap. Tighten a second nut on the underside of the fence post cap.Then adhere the 4 vinyl feet to each corner of the base. This will make the lamp more stable and will also create clearance for the cord.
Step5: Once you have your fabric base anchored on the lamp pipe, make sure that the stuffing is even and full. When you are happy with it, sew the top closed using a running stitch in a circle near the top. By tightening your thread, you'll close the top.
Step:6 With the washer in place at the top of the lamp, screw on the base of the light fixture socket. Push the cord up through the base and out through the socket cap at the top and tie what is called an underwriter's knot. There are two screws on either side of the socket. Loosen these screws slightly. Wrap the ribbed wire around the silver screw and the other wire around the brass screw. Tighten with a screwdriver.Pull the extra wire back into the lamp and snap the socket down into the cap and you are done!

For more information, click here: http://www.sublihouse.com/

DYE SUBLIMATION TRANSFER PAPER PRINTING FOR SUPERHERO COSTUME

Everyone must have thought that I'm hero. I can save other people and save the world. We also want to wear the hero costume and become them.

Every fabric costume starts with a pattern.The re-sized file was then sent to a dye sublimation printer called Feiyue paper. You can print it out to scale on 4-way stretch, basically using a giant printer that uses heat transfer to move fabric dyes from a printed color panel directly into the surface of the fabric by sublimating the ink from solid to gas.

The eyes were made by an artisan in Canada. The frames were cast in black onyx, a hard plastic that can be heated and shaped to hold a curve when they cool. The lenses were a flexible mirrored plastic with a white vinyl overlay. I set about shaping the lenses while I sent the rest of the suit to a seamstress.

Then sew hero suits, again. Cut out and assembled the pattern to fit my measurements, and added the zippers that allowed me to get in and out.
Sewing something that's meant to look seamless, fit perfectly, and stretch tremendously is really difficult. Even people who are very experienced at sewing and working with knit fabrics can take around 30 working hours to complete the stitching and adjustments for this type of suit.
Like the suits used in the Spider-Man films, this suit has well-hidden zippers than run down the sides from the armpit to the waist, then along the belt in the back. The back of the suit becomes an open flap that you enter and exit by way of an elaborate interpretive dance and a healthy bit of contortion.  Looks sleek, though.
The zips are "invisible zippers" that allow the fabric of the garment to almost completely cover the zipper tape when closed.
There is also zipper installed along the back of the neck, which allows the mask to be dropped forward like a reverse hood in order to take a breather, eat or drink, what have you.
Back to the eyes. Designing a flat template and shaping the masters out of wood. Then cast the frames in black onyx and shipped them to me, along with the plastic "one-way mirror" lenses that have similar visibility to mirrored sunglasses. The pieces were not assembled together yet, so that I could adjust the shapes of the frame with heat without damaging the lenses. This is his prototype image, and the frames he sent me were cast with a smoother finish.

A dye-sublimation printer (or dye-sub printer) is a computer printer which employs a printing process that uses heat to transfer dye onto medium materials such as a plastic card, paper, or fabric. It's cheaper than screen printing and looks amazing(see what I did there) on fabric as long as your digital file is high quality. What you see pictured is the 4 way stretch white lycra with the digital file printed directly on it. After close inspection of the final print, the next step is cutting it out and prepping it to be sewn up.

Fabric Swatch/Color Check
For quality assurance you may want to verify that you're using great fabric with great stretch and great vibrant colors. The reason I mention this is because if you go with an online printer and not a local one, they may not remind you of this service. I'm sure you will appreciate knowing the print is right on track.
For more information, click here: http://www.sublihouse.com/