Hello and welcome back! If you have been following this blog, you may remember a post that I wrote a while back about sewing with Ankara fabrics! Well, since I published that post, I have become the proud hunter, purchaser and owner of some amazing Ankara/African Wax Print Fabrics.
I love them, I longingly look at them when I walk past them in my hall. I draw up designs to use them on. But until today, I have been intimidated by the sticker that adorns them. I tried to research the history of the tricky (sticky) sticker labels, but there is not a sea of information leading back to the sticker label trend of these fabrics. If you know the history, please DM me or comment below. I would love to learn how and why they came about, as they are so unique.
Now, let's get back to why you opened this blog up in the first place. You have some amazing fabric that you are ready to use, and behold, it has a giant label sticker stuck right on the pattern. Here are the easy steps that you will used to gently take these stickers off of your fabric:
1. Get out your iron, ironing board, and the fabric with the sticker label attached.
2. Find a piece of scrap fabric larger than the largest sticker.
3. Heat your iron to the cotton setting.
4. Place the scrap fabric over the Ankara fabric and iron for 5-7 seconds. Move the iron around so that it is not static during this time. You are welcome to use a burst of steam if you want.
5. Immediately after ironing, take off the scrap fabric and gently pull the sticker back from one of the corners. If the sticker does not come of easily, or it gives you more resistance in certain areas, return the scrap fabric and continue to iron for a few more seconds in that area.
6. Repeat for all stickers.
Once you have removed all of the stickers from your beautiful fabric, it is advised to wash the fabric before using. I have learned that Ankara/African Print fabrics should not be washed above a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius, which is equal to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition to this it is advised that a gentle detergent be used to prolong the life of the fabrics color.
I hope that this short tutorial on removing sticker labels from Ankara/African Wax Print fabrics has been helpful to you, and that you greatly enjoy the amazing fabrics that you are preparing to sew.
Feel free to comment below if this tutorial has helped you, or if you have any additional information on the subject.
Happy and colorful sewing to you,
Miss Whimsberry