Gather Your Materials - You need high Rayon or high Silk content velvet. This is VERY important in order to get good results. The velvet I have had the best results has been 35% Rayon / 65% Acetate. Silk velvet also works very well. You’ll also need a spray bottle filled with water, your iron, and stamps. This technique works best with bold rubber stamp designs. Your stamps don’t have to be completely solid, in fact, stamps with solid & open spaces impress the velvet most beautifully. Stamp images with detailed line designs are not as impressive because they do not show the contrast between the stamped & unstamped velvet. You will get the most striking results with big bold images. My best advice is to practice your technique on a little bit of velvet & test out your stamp choices.
TURN the iron on Medium-High to High heat. You’ll have to test your iron for the best temperature for this technique, but it is in the High heat range. Lay your rubber stamp down on a table, with the rubber side facing UP towards you. Lay your velvet down on top of the rubber, with the fuzzy RIGHT SIDE of the fabric DOWN on the rubber. Mist the wrong side of the fabric that is facing you. It should be slightly wet, NOT soaked. Put your iron down directly on the wrong side of the velvet, trying to avoid the steam holes on your iron.
HOLD THE IRON DOWN on the fabric for a count of 20 or so. If you are working with a small stamp, you do not need to move the iron, just hold it in place. For larger stamps that might get steam holes impressed across them, pick up the iron and replace it carefully in another position after 5-10 seconds. Continue doing this until 20-30 seconds have elapsed. You will begin to see the outline of the stamp from the back of the fabric when it is “done”. It’s important to hold the iron and count, so that the heat of the iron has time to impress the stamp into the fabric. Be sure to PRACTICE first!
Directions courtesy of Lenna Andrews Foster