Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Custom Fabric!


Have you heard of Spoonflower.com? If not, check them out! Here's what they offer: your own custom designed and printed fabric!
YES, using your own design and colorways - choosing from several fabric types ranging from simple quilting cotton to linen & voile!

I hated the plain white curtains I ordered for my living room last week so sent them back for a refund. I thought they'd be OK but they were too plain Jane for me.
So instead I am considering having my own fabric printed in a pattern I love and a colorway that will work for my taste. I prefer a more purplish blue - like a denim shade, only lighter. It's hard to find and when I do, it's usually out of my price range.

But being a professional graphic designer, I was able to create my own RL-inspired blue rose pattern by scanning in an old cotton hankie from my Mom's vintage collection, cleaning up the roses from the background and colorizing them from red to monotone blues, then putting them through a couple watercolor filters in Photoshop to achieve the look I wanted.

The image I present to you now is the result - it will be repeated over and over to create an all-over rose pattern. You have choices in how to repeat the printed pattern and also how much yardage - from a swatch, to any yardage you want.
You can make the pattern private, for your own use, OR make it public so you keep the copyright but it allows anyone else to order the fabric too, giving you, the designer, a 10% commission!

There are several fabrics from other designers you can choose from as well.
Yesterday I sent for a sample square to see how the colors come out - everyone's computer and printer is working on it's own calibration. If the blues come back too teal or turquoise, I will tweak it and make it more purplish - when the color sample comes back right, I'll order my first 3 yards for my first living room curtain panel! (probably the cotton/linen blend)

Check them out and tell me what you think of it! I'm anxious to see how the fabric looks/quality, etc.

2 comments:

  1. This is so exciting! I love your design, it looks fantastic, so I hope you will allow people to use it. Thanks for posting about this. Sometimes I can't find a fabric that I can clearly imagine in my mind~now there is a solution.

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  2. Hi Amy! I certainly DO intend to make this fabric available to everyone - just am waiting for sample to see how colors turn out, then will submit my order and allow it to go public.
    I will also design coordinating fabrics (and include various colorways - greens, pinks, yellows). I intend to call the line "American Country Romantics".
    LilyOake

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