Friday, May 3, 2019

Results of Testing Pens on Fabric

I want to write with a pen instead of embroider words on my Sweet Land of Liberty quilt, but I wasn't sure which pen to use.  I decided to try out several pens with permanent ink to see what the results would be.  In comments on a previous post several quilters said they'd used and liked Pigma MICRON pens so I included one of those in my trial.

I used a piece of muslin ironed to the waxy size of a piece of freezer paper.  I thought it would hold the fabric in place and be smoother to write on than placing it on sandpaper.


All five pens had black ink.  They are
  • a Faber Castell PITT Artist Pen, .7 mm, with black India ink
  • a Zebra  (Sadly, I neglected to save the packaging for this pen so have no details about it.  Since I placed it with the other pens to test on paper, I know it a pen with permanent ink.)
  • a Pigma MICRON, 08, .5 mm
  • two ZIG Writers, doubled-tipped, .5 mm and 1.2 mm  (I think one of these was older than the other, or had possibly been partially used.)

I identified the pen when I wrote with it, then added a few larger words with some of the pens.



I wrote the same things twice on the muslin intending to cut it in half and wash only one side.  Wouldn't you know, I forgot to cut and after pressing to set the ink, I plunged the whole, uncut piece into warm water sudsed with a few drops of Dawn dish soap.  Ah, well.  It bounced in the water a bit then lingered for half an hour or so.  I rinsed with warm water and pressed the muslin dry.










These photos aren't the clearest but you can get an idea of how the pens wrote and weathered the wash by clicking on the photos to enlarge them.

One of the things I love about digital cameras is the macro setting because I can enlarge the images on my computer to see things I wouldn't otherwise have good enough vision to see.  Here are a few post-wash, close-up images.

I liked how the Faber Castell and the Zebra wrote but I don't think they fared well in the wash.  I think with a dozen more washings the writing would fade to a shadow.


I didn't like how the Pigma MICRON wrote but it seemed to be the most resilient to washing.


The Zig Writers wrote okay but, again, they didn't fare well in the wash.


You can also notice that the Zigs seemed to bleed a little, to the point that there was a grey shadow around the writing.


The most interesting thing to me was the fact that none of these pens' ink penetrated the fibers of the fabric.  All remained on the surface.  If you look at the close-ups you can see what I mean. 

One consideration with using a pen is knowing that it won't wash out.  If I make a mistake when writing -- oops!  I'll have to either begin again or find some way to remove the writing by adding a patch or making some other change to repair the mistake.

My Sweet Land of Liberty eagle is appliqued to the fabric, below left, which is coarser than muslin.  A pen may not work.  What do you think?  If I want words on this one I may have to embroider them. 

 
There you have the results of my experiments with pen and ink on fabric.  I don't know if this is helpful to anyone else but it sets my mind at ease to use a MICRON Pigma pen to write words on quilt blocks.  If I see other brands of permanent marking pens that can be used on fabric so I can experiment with them.


--Nancy.
.

16 comments:

  1. Very interesting! Good job experimenting and analyzing. Thanks for sharing! My question is, that the SLOL writing is quite large? The letters appear to be 1" or more?---will the Micron pen be bold enuf to carry that of or will it look spindly? [Perhaps you're using a broader tip?] As for mistakes perhaps you can give yourself some guidelines in faint pencil ; I know when I hand letter my letters start leaning and go wonky.

    lizzy

    lizy

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    1. Thanks, Lizzy. I thought about the size of the writing and decided that though the letters are tall, the wide of the embroidery floss would be about the same as the width of the penned letters. I don't think the embroidered lettering is meant to be seen from a great distance -- at least I can't read it in most of the SLoL photos I see, so I didn't worry about that. We'll see how it holds up after a few washings! If not, at that point maybe I'll consider embroidering. As for mistakes I decided to write before I applique I add to the quilt, in which case I can redo if there's a mistake. What an adventure.

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  2. Good information! Personally, I would do the embroidery just to be safe!

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    1. Thanks, Karen. I used the pen but if it starts to fade I may go back and embroider. Sad to say, I don't have much patience for embroidery these days. I guess I'd rather be quilting or appliqueing.

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  3. I like the Micron pens, too. I print out what I want to write on my computer. Then I put the printout on a light box and layer fabric over that. That way I can trace the letters accurately with a micron pen. I use that method for making quilt labels. Thank you for sharing your experiment.

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    1. Printing on the computer is a good idea, Beth, and it's something I may try in the future. You're welcome for sharing the experiment.

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  4. Great job experimenting with these pens. I use the micron pig as, but hate the way they drag on the fabric. Also, they are so fine. I am never completely pleased with my Prost, even with the tracing method.

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    1. Thank you, Jennie. I'm not pleased with the drag, either, but it seemed like the most durable pen of the bunch. They come in several widths so maybe the one you have is one of their narrowest. I used an 08 for this experiment and it's much wider than some I've used the past (though that was on paper).

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  5. Thorough experiment! I draw lines on my freezer paper before ironing it on to the label and then write using a light box. I never thought about Micron Pens writing roughly but you're right, they do. I also write quite slowly so I can maximize the darkness of the letter. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thank you, Robin. I think it could have been more thorough if I'd started earlier so I could have washed the fabric a few more times. I may do another post later.

      I'll have to try writing slowly. I know the ink would penetrate the fibers more deeply if I did.

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  6. You are right about the roughness of writing with the Micron pens, but I like the results. So I go slowly and do my best with them.
    I appreciate you sharing your results. Good stuff to know!

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    1. Thanks, Janet. Because it seems like the darkest of the pens I tested, I'll go with Micron even though it writes roughly -- at least until I find some other pen that's dark and writes more smoothly.

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  7. Wow! Thanks for this wonderful information. I would like to take a calligraphy course so I could write on some of my blocks. My handwriting is not up to the job right now!

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    1. Thanks, Wendy. Oh, wouldn't calligraphy be fun on a quilt! What a great goal. I like common handwriting on a quilt label, too. It gives a sense of the person who made it, a personal touch in addition to all the stitches and fabric choices.

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  8. Wow!!! Great test and post!!!!

    My friend gifted me a Pentel Gel Roller For Fabric pen. It is a waterproof, pigment ink that doesn't smear or smudge. It is easy to use and I like it better than a pigma micron pen. I haven't washed the quilt so I haven't tested the waterproof part!!! You can look here to see the label I made: https://terryknott.blogspot.com/2019/03/crayon-doodle-dog-post-3-seventh-finish.html

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    1. Hi, Terry. Thank you for telling me about the Pentel Gel Roller pen for fabric. I'm going to keep an eye out for one and test it, too. Your label looks great!

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I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks for stopping by.

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