Personalised ribbons
It's not just the gift itself that counts, but also how you present it.
The packaging is just as important as a well-chosen gift. With the Brother PrintModa Studio fabric printer, you can print sustainable, reusable gift ribbons with your own personalised message.
I love wrapping gifts and of course giving gifts. For years I had a monthly series of articles on my blog called ‘12 gifts with love’. I learned this approach in Japan, where the Brother company originates from and where they place great value on gift wrapping.
I used the Brother PrintModa Studio fabric printer to print out a sheet of fabric to make gift ribbon. I like creating something beautiful, useful and sustainable. This project is very simple and a lot of fun!
Materials needed
Equipment needed
- Brother PrintModa Studio fabric printer
- Artspira app on your phone/tablet*
- Scissors
How to
Step 1
Turn on the PrintModa printer. Open the Artspira app and click as follows:New > Design Editor > Fabric Roll Custom Size > Height: 1000 mm (instead of the displayed 914.4 mm) > Create > Aa
Enter your text in the text field, eg. ‘Happy birthday!’. Type three to five spaces after the end of your wording. Copy everything, including the spaces, and paste it at the end of the first text block. Repeat the copying process several times. Click on Go.
Step 2
Now click:Happy birthday! (Click on the text field) > Layout > Rotate > -90° > Done
Your text now appears vertically.
Tip: Under Colour you can change the colour, under Font you can choose a different font and also change the size.
Step 3
Click on the text field again and pull it to the left, to the edge of the work area, but leave a little space on the left.Repeat all the above steps to create more words, names or quotes.
Tip: another way to repeat text instead of typing the same wording many times is to create a text box like the one above, with the quote repeated only a few times. Then click on Duplicate, then on Tile and increase the number to 2 for example. An identical text box will then appear, which you can then drag into a column with the first one.
Step 4
When you have created all the text boxes, some may extend above the work surface (see red oval on the picture). These text boxes will have a dashed border. You can click on these text boxes individually, then click on Edit and then delete some words from them so that the text box becomes shorter. This is optional but will keep your file neat.
Step 5
You can now print. Leave the printed sheet of fabric for at least 15 minutes so the ink dries properly. Peel the backing film off the sheet of fabric.Step 6
With sharp scissors, cut about 1cm into the short edge of the fabric sheet, in between the rows of words.
Step 7
Tear the fabric sheet into ribbons.
Step 8
Remove any loose threads from the long edges of the ribbons and then wrap your gift ribbons onto bobbins or clothes pegs to store.
Tips for creating your sustainable ribbons
- The font size should not be smaller than 10mm, otherwise the gift ribbon will be too narrow
- If you only need one quote or name, repeat it in many columns across the entire width of the fabric sheet and then sew the ribbon ends together, so you get a very long ribbon with only one wording. That way you are not wasting the rest of your fabric roll.
- The height of the fabric sheet does not necessarily have to be 1000mm, of course you can make it longer if you have enough fabric on your fabric roll.
- The gift ribbons are great for decorating gifts or a bunch of flowers or for holding envelopes and invitations together.
- Don’t throw away the unprinted parts leftovers when you have torn the ribbons from the fabric. You can use them as plain ribbons. This way you use the entire width of the fabric and have no waste (making your project even more sustainable).
Here are some ideas for words or phrases you can print out:
- Happy birthday
- A little gift for you
- Thank you
- Just for you
- All the best
- Good luck!
- Surprise!
- Handmade with love
- Get well soon
- Congratulations
- Just married
I can’t wait to see what you make! Remember to tag in Brother on Instagram and Facebook, and myself too!
