Printing your own designs on fabric
As the craft movement continues to grow, it's amazing to see just how DIY folks can go.
One trend on the rise is to not just sew your own clothes, but to design the fabric you use to make them.
Artist and author Lotta Jansdotter is a favorite source among crafters for learning how to screen print. Her book Lotta Prints: How to Print with Anything, from Potatoes to Lineoleum is considered a must-have for anyone wanting to dive into this growing corner of crafting.
A less labor intensive (yet more expensive) way to bring your designs to life is to go through Spoonflower. Amateur designers simply upload an image, and then order their custom-printed fabric. There's no minium order. The fabric costs $18 to $32 per yard. (At that price, I'd be more likely to sew a clutch than a coat, but how cool to be able to say you made something from start to finish. Truly.)
Or you could approach Spoonflower as an entrepreneur rather than a crafter by choosing to make your designs public and earning 10 percent of the sales when other customers order your creations. Learn more about that here.
I could spend days browsing the fabrics available from independent designers, from whimsical prints for kids, like these Fairy Tale Friends, to fabrics so lovely you could just stretch them on an art frame and hang them on the wall, like these birds on cherry blossom branches.
Here are a few of my other favorite fabrics for sale on Spoonflower:
Rainbows (Sooooo 1983. I love it.)
Tattoo (If I were to get a tattoo, I would just bring in this fabric and ask them to copy it on my arm. I'm serious.)
Orchids (wouldn't that make gorgeous pillow covers for a bed or couch?)
I'm not artist, but I'm tempted by all of this. I once saw a duvet cover in a home-design magazine and figured I'd be able to find it for sale online somewhere. I looked and looked, but no luck. I bet I could replicate the print on plain white fabric, though. I do have a few extra potatoes in the house right now ... hmm ... Maybe we need to petition Carrie at The Top Stitch to offer a class on this subject.
Does anyone use Spoonflower? Does anyone do their own screen printing? Is there a design in your mind you'd love to see on fabric?
