diy handkerchief invitations

This weekend I was hard at work finishing up some wedding invites.  I did the calligraphy, collected the handkerchiefs, provided the vintage stamps and assembled them to post.  I am SO happy with the way they turned out.  There's nothing more satisfying than seeing one of my ideas come to life. 

The original wedding invite handkerchief idea came from Bird and Banner.  I remember falling in love with them when I was planning my own wedding and was so happy to hear that one of my clients was interested in them.

Wedding hanky tutorials are all over the Internet.  Literally.  There's a freezer paper method, rubber stamp method, silk screening and the method one I chose - t-shirt transfers.

I read several tutorials and was ready to give it a try.  I had everything printed, organized and had an assembly line set up - ready to rock!  Then Murphy's Law kicked in.  

Many of the tutorials I read listed the Avery dark t-shirt transfers as the ONLY ones to try.  I did a test run and got the hanky on the left:

Does that look right to you?  Um, no.  I couldn't believe it.   Isn't everything you read on the Internet true?!  This doesn't even look like the photos in the tutorials that suggested this type of transfer.

I thought I had done something wrong and then I remembered seeing the transfers for light-colored fabric.  Back to the craft store I went.  I came home and did another test run and it finally worked! 
 
Here are some other tips for doing your own wedding invitation handkerchiefs, from me, someone who did it wrong the first time:

* Press the transfer.  Do not iron it.  In other words, place the iron on the transfer and firmly press.  Do not move the iron around like we all do when ironing clothing.   Make sure the iron covers the transfer evenly. 

* Cover a book with a pillowcase and use this to iron versus using an ironing board.  It really does help the transfer to set evenly on the fabric.

* Get enough supplies to do a few test runs.  Print and complete one set before getting into full-on assembly mode so that any adjustments can be made.  This is my golden rule for any project.

* Let the transfer fully cool after ironing.  The paper backing will separate easily and cleanly if it is cool.

* Lastly, DO NOT use the Avery transfers for dark fabric unless you are going for that huge white block effect.  Buy the transfers for light-colored fabric and don't look back.

I hope this has been helpful for someone!  I certainly did enjoy doing this project and I look forward to many, many more...

One last photo of the finished piece: