Sew Wrong

Spoonflower How-To’s

Tonight I sat down at my computer to start designing some fabric ideas I have for Spoonflower, and I got stuck. Utterly and completely stuck. I had no idea how to even start making my designs in Photoshop, which I feel fairly comfortable using for editing photos. A google search didn’t even reveal that much information on how to make my own graphics in the program, and the FAQ‘s on Spoonflower didn’t explain how to go from raw drawing to computer graphic. So how in the world were all of those designers making their fabric for Spoonflower? And how was I, a textile designing noob, going to be able to create my designs?

Here are some helpful links for anyone who is stuck just like me. These cleared up all the questions I had, and you really don’t have to be a computer whiz to make your own fabric for Spoonflower. All you need are Gimp and Inkscape, the free equivalents to Photoshop and Illustrator.

Mama Made Spoonflower Tutorials
A must read!! There are currently three tutorials available on how to go from start to finish for designing your own fabric. Part four should be coming shortly.

How to Make a Repeating Pattern via Design Sponge
Absolutely necessary for most fabric prints.

Spoonflower Flickr Pool
Check out what everyone is designing to get those creative juices flowing

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Random Bits

While I’m awaiting my fabric delivery from Gorgeous Fabrics, I’ll share some little tidbits from the fashion world today:

Lela Rose Resort 09


Love, love, love this dress! Very cute and feminine, but a little sporty at the same time. You might be able to meld the top of Simplicity 2925 or Butterick 5179 to the skirt of an A-line dress to get the same effect, and then piece in large bands of fabric for the cranberry and black sections. I’d use ribbon for the skinnier black sections and the waistband. And pockets! How adorable.

According to Women’s Wear Daily, British chain Topshop will be heading across the Atlantic in October to open their first US store in NYC at 478 Broadway. The store is supposed to look and feel identical to the original British store, no Americanizing. It’s a very similar fast-fashion concept as H&M in that there is a constant turnover of styles, but the pricing scheme is higher. Prices will not be adjusted for the American audience, which is used to getting items marked down or on sale. I’m really curious about the quality of the garments that are going for the prices they are on their website. The fact that the turnaround time on putting new fashions in stores is so limited makes me wonder if the quality is a notch higher than H&M or the same, just more pricey. I’ve gotten some great bargins from H&M, but most don’t last more than a season or two.

You can read more of the article here.

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Color Inspiration

As I was cleaning out my bookmark folder in my browser last night, I found an old site that I saved and forgot about. The days of trying to figure out what colors go together or look good are over, thanks to Colour Lovers.

Really like the color combination of the flowers in the photo you took at last week’s garden party? Simply upload the photo and presto, you’ll have a bunch of different colors pulled from the photo to play around with and mix and match. I tried a couple myself:

Desert Flower
This one is from a photo I took at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum last summer, of a cactus with lots of blooming flowers.

Tomato Salad
And to just be a little goofy, I tried a picture of a chicken salad I made recently. The shades of the red that were picked up from the tomatoes made a surprisingly pretty palette.

This site is great if you need to figure out what colors to use for a SWAP (Sewing with a Purpose) or a PR Wardrobe contest, or what color yarns would look fabulous together for the striped sweater you’re designing. Just find an image, upload, and play. You’ll be suprised at what color combinations you can come up with.

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