How is Fabric Designed?

Ever wonder how fabric is designed? I sure have! As a lover of all things fabric this is a topic that I've always been curious about.

Sandi Henderson, whose fabrics I love, gives a detailed description of her process on her website.  She spends 2-3 months just gathering inspiration, color ideas, and laying down rough blue prints. Then she spends another 2-3 months polishing the work. From there it's a back in forth with the fabric mill, proofing the prints and making sure all the prints are working as a collection.

Think you have what it takes to be the next big fabric designer star? Well a good place to start is to contact fabric manufacturers, and see how they take submissions. But this can be tough if you don't already have a portfolio or a background in design. Don't let this stop you! There is a fairly new website called Spoonflower, that the craft and fabric industry is excited about. Spoonflower lets you print your own fabric design, and there is no minimum amount you have to order!

How are they able to do this? They use digital printing methods, which are much greener and less wasteful than screen printing. It increases the cost per yard, but makes it no more difficult to print a yard or fifty yards, making it great for beginning designers. 

If you upload a design to their database you get a designer discount, plus if anyone buys your design you get 10% of the sale. The site is super user friendly and easy to use. They have design contests every week, and if you win you get a $100 Spoonflower store credit. Plus they use eco-friendly dyes for all their fabrics. So check it out!

Fabric on Demand also offers a custom fabric printing service, and they offer a slightly larger range of fabric types they can print on, including fleece, spandex, and suede. There is also not a minimum order.

If you are really serious about fabric design, Adobe Photoshop for Textile Design by Frederick Chipkin is a great source of information. Very easy to use, and perfect for helping people with great ideas, but who are just overwhelmed with the new technology.

Alright, time to start designing!