Logo
  • About
    • Our Authors
    • About Spoonflower
    • Design Challenges
    • Spoonflower Gives Back
    • Spoonflower Ambassadors
    • Business ResourcesWhether you’re an artist selling designs on Spoonflower—or you’re a handmade small business owner—this digital series delivers professional advice to help you promote yourself and stand out.
  • Projects & Tutorials
        • FOR MAKERS

        • DIY Projects
        • Sewing
        • No-Sew
        • Free Sewing Patterns
        • FOR ARTISTS

        • Design Tutorials
        • Spoonflower 101
        • Artist SpotlightBehind every design is an independent artist from around the world. In this series, we introduce you to Spoonflower’s talented artist community.
  • Get Inspired
    • Wallpaper
    • Home Decor
    • Handmade Apparel
    • Sustainability
  • Our Community
    • Meet The MakersInterviews and spotlights of makers who use Spoonflower for their handmade business
    • Ambassadors
    • Design Challenges
    • Small Business HandbookThe Small Business Handbook welcomes creative entrepreneurs to share how they’ve grown their business through meaningful mission statements, successful partnerships and so much more.
    • Spoonflower Seller HandbookDo you sell your designs in the Spoonflower Marketplace or are thinking about joining our growing community of independent artists? In this series, learn how you can promote your work and stand out in a marketplace that’s growing by the minute.
Search
Custom-printed fabric, wallpaper and home decor Shop Spoonflower →
Logo

Browse popular categories

  • Adaptive Fashion
  • Artist Spotlight
  • Business Resources
  • Community
  • Creative Community Spotlight

Most recently posted

A green fabric book cover with a black rectangle patch. The patch has "Open" in cursive embroidery written
  • Community
How to Easily Create Hand Embroidered Typography

By Robert Mahar on June 17, 2022

Jordan and Barry wearing blue collared shirts
  • Community
What It’s Like to Build a Creative Business With...

By Anna on June 10, 2022

  • Design Challenge
Announcing July 2022 Design Challenge Themes

By Anna on June 3, 2022

  • About
    • Our Authors
    • About Spoonflower
    • Design Challenges
    • Spoonflower Gives Back
    • Spoonflower Ambassadors
    • Business ResourcesWhether you’re an artist selling designs on Spoonflower—or you’re a handmade small business owner—this digital series delivers professional advice to help you promote yourself and stand out.
  • Projects & Tutorials
        • FOR MAKERS

        • DIY Projects
        • Sewing
        • No-Sew
        • Free Sewing Patterns
        • FOR ARTISTS

        • Design Tutorials
        • Spoonflower 101
        • Artist SpotlightBehind every design is an independent artist from around the world. In this series, we introduce you to Spoonflower’s talented artist community.
  • Get Inspired
    • Wallpaper
    • Home Decor
    • Handmade Apparel
    • Sustainability
  • Our Community
    • Meet The MakersInterviews and spotlights of makers who use Spoonflower for their handmade business
    • Ambassadors
    • Design Challenges
    • Small Business HandbookThe Small Business Handbook welcomes creative entrepreneurs to share how they’ve grown their business through meaningful mission statements, successful partnerships and so much more.
    • Spoonflower Seller HandbookDo you sell your designs in the Spoonflower Marketplace or are thinking about joining our growing community of independent artists? In this series, learn how you can promote your work and stand out in a marketplace that’s growing by the minute.

Katie Kortman on How to Stay True to Your Creative Voice

Spoonflower’s first ambassador talks about her Project Runway experience

  • Community
  • Meet The Maker
  • Spoonflower Ambassadors
  • artists
Edited: May 17, 2022
8 Comments
Share

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to be a Project Runway contestant? Ever asked yourself if you have what it takes to create designs on a tight deadline and stay true to your own ideas when everyone else has an opinion?

Katie Kortman, Spoonflower’s first Ambassador, and Project Runway Season 19 contestant, shares what it’s like to create under the pressure cooker of reality television and after the show airs, how she stayed true to her creative voice and what she’s up to next. 

Katie Kortman sits against a green wall with short salmon-colored lines in repeated rows behind her. Her left hand is up in the air and her right hand is down in her lap holding a fabric stack of Katie’s designs that spills toward the camera. The designs are a range of florals and solid backgrounds with short repeated lines in contrasting colors. Katie wears a dress made out of several of her brightly colored floral fabrics with a green detachable collar.

Spoonflower: Where did your fashion designer journey start?

Katie: “I started designing and sewing things in college and experimented for years and years, not really knowing what I was doing. I made some wearable stuff that I liked over the years, but I still wasn’t super confident in my skills.

In 2018, I decided not to buy any clothes for the whole year, so that I would be forced to learn how to make everything. That was a really pivotal year in my current career, as I both learned how to make so many things, and also learned how to design fabric as the result of another goal I had.

But I didn’t become a fashion designer who designed clothing for OTHER people, until after this TV show! The best thing to come out of doing this show was that I reignited an old dream of mine to be a fashion designer. It gave me the platform to launch my brand and have the world know about it!”

Katie Kortman stands with her hands on her hips wearing a dress made from a thrifted skirt. The dress has brown fabric at the shoulders and then moves into a striped design in cream, yellow, black, red and blue. A strip of dark brown fabric wraps around her chest and around her neck.

A dress Katie once made from a thrifted skirt.

Katie Kortman stands to the side wearing a clear purple rain jacket that goes down her thighs and has a high neck. A white short-sleeved shirt, cream belt and blue pants can be seen underneath. Katie is wearing a white bandana in her hair and standing in a living room, with a black piano to her left and a white table with a potted plant on it to her right.

A “rain jacket” Katie made when she first started using a sewing machine.

Katie Kortman sits on a mint green couch with a repeated tan half moon design and dark brown piping. She is wearing black pants, brown shoes, a turquoise top with short white ruffled sleeves and a bronze statement necklace consisting of several rows of small orbs linked together. Along the back of the couch are loads of pillows Katie made, some are gray with white doilies, some are white with black squiggles, some are bright green and floral. Behind Katie is a dark brown and light brown mural of geometric shapes on a white wall. Katie’s oldest daughter, when she was a baby, is on the floor in front of her, wearing a purple-and-white outfit. The shirt, couch covering, pillows and mural were all made by Katie.

Katie wearing a shirt she made, sitting on a couch she made, with pillows she made, and a mural she made years ago, photographed with her oldest daughter.

Spoonflower: We’ve heard you say that one of the Project Runway casting directors reached out to you to audition. How did they discover you?

Katie: “It was the craziest thing! I was actually at Spoonflower headquarters doing a meet-and-greet and a class when I received a phone call from a casting person for the show! They said they found me on social media, so yes it was based on what I had been doing and sharing online. It had always been a dream of mine to go on that show, but I never would’ve applied on my own since I didn’t have a degree in fashion or my own line at the time.”

Spoonflower: After you agreed to audition, you then had to learn how to draft patterns. What was that process like? What resources did you use?

Katie: “It was up to me to actually send in a video and do the audition process, and I didn’t want to tell them I didn’t actually know how to design my own clothing patterns! I knew how to sew very well, so that really helped make the learning curve a lot quicker. When you have stared at pattern pieces many times, and constructed as much clothing as I have, it helps a lot!

I got online and ordered textbooks, drafting tools and supplies, and a dress form. From the time I sent in that first audition video to the time I drafted and sewed my first mini “collection” to show them, it was about three weeks. Later, after Covid ended up postponing the show, I used some online classes (like Craftsy, YouTube and Creative Costume Academy) to help supplement the textbooks.”

Katie is jumping in the air, with her right arm extended to the right and upward and her left arm facing left and downward. She is wearing a button-up shirt with billowy short sleeves that has a hot pink background and short purple stripes connected by white dots. The pants are high-waisted jeans. Her shoes are hot pink pumps and she is standing at the edge of a bright blue industrial building, where it meets a cream industrial building.

Katie wears a shirt and a pair of pants she drafted when preparing for Project Runway. Featured design: Sew Frosting Dress Print (Medium/Large) by katiekortman

Model Juliana Cassiano stands with her left hand down at her side and her right hand up at her head. She is wearing a shirt and skirt set from Katie Kortman’s premier collection, both items have bluish purple background and hot pink and yellow dots in varying sizes. Juliana stands in front of a turquoise background with yellow, purple, green, magenta and light pink scribble designs.

Katie designed this set when she was practicing how to draft patterns for Project Runway. Katie wore it so much she decided to sell it in her premier collection! Model: Juliana Cassiano

Spoonflower: The show feels like it’s a pressure cooker on purpose. How much time did you have to create your designs and what was the feedback loop from others?

Katie: “Yes, I am sure it’s on purpose, it makes for good TV! We had about 12-14 hours to draft, sew and complete a look (as mentioned on some of the episodes). You got feedback from Christian Siriano, the show’s participant mentor, a few hours into the challenge and then again when the models came a few hours (or more) after that. And then again on the runway.

I had time to listen to my own thoughts, but it was mostly at the same time I was rushing to complete everything! So I couldn’t think really clearly all the time, because I didn’t have time to just sit and stare at my work and do more sketching or anything like that.”

Spoonflower: Season 19 was the first season designers could bring their own designed fabric. What substrates and designs did you bring and why did you choose them?

Katie: “Yes it was! I was SO EXCITED when I found out!! We could only bring one fabric to be used on only one challenge. I only had two weeks to have a fabric made to bring, and I live in Japan, so my sources were limited. I ended up getting a cotton fabric just because it was the most versatile of the fabric choices I had.

I didn’t know what I would end up using my fabric for, so I wanted to make sure I had a fabric that had both drape and structure. I chose a print that I thought was the most indicative of me as a designer. It was a print I created from a watercolor painting of mine.”

Spoonflower: Describe your process for transforming your fine art paintings into repeating patterns.

Katie: “First, I take a high-quality photo of them and next, I start “cutting” parts of them and repeating them to the edges so that I can blend them into the center of the image. I continue this process until all the edges create a seamless repeat, and the “pasted” pieces are blended into the whole painting.”

Katie Kortman sits against a green wall with short salmon-colored lines in repeated rows behind her. Her left hand is up in the air and her right hand is down in her lap holding a fabric stack of Katie’s designs that spills toward the camera. The designs are a range of florals and solid backgrounds with short repeated lines in contrasting colors. Katie wears a dress made out of several of her brightly colored floral fabrics with a green detachable collar.

Katie Kortman posing with some of the fabrics she’s designed. Featured designs: Green With Peach Dashes and Sew Frosting Dress Print (Medium/Large) by katiekortman

Katie Kortman stands with both hands reaching above her head and her right leg up on a piece of wooden furniture. The dress is knee length and the top has a large section of drapey fabric that looks almost like a cape. The pattern has rows of hot pink and red vertical blocks interspersed by horizontal stripes in pink, blue, white, yellow and green.

Katie Kortman wears a dress made from one of her fabrics. Featured design: Pastel Stripes with Lots of Red by katiekortman

Spoonflower: People online and judges can be the worst. How do you handle that?

Katie: “At first it did feel painful to see what people were saying about me online. But then I decided to stop letting it get to me.

Not one of those people have even BEEN on this show. Most probably have ZERO idea how to do what we did on that show, let alone in the time frame and circumstances we were under. And so what if they didn’t like what I did? Plenty of people did, so I decided to focus on the positive instead of the negative, which was very hard to do.

The judges, well, all I can say is that Nina Garcia loved what I did. She got me and told me not to change. So I’m choosing to focus on that.

I do think that I learned a lot since going to the show, and then rewatching the show. I had so much to learn about doing a runway, what was “runway” fashion vs ready-to-wear fashion, and just how I could’ve “elevated” my stuff to meet the needs of the show, rather than trying to make the show just appreciate my normal work for what it was.

If I get a chance to do Project Runway All Stars, where past contestants from different seasons compete against each other, I would totally do it again!”

Spoonflower: As a viewer, at times during the show it seemed you struggled to listen to your own creative voice. Was that something you had dealt with before? And what helped you to hear your own voice both in that environment and after it aired?

Katie: “It was easy for me at the beginning, because I felt confident in my work. After that second challenge (streetwear) when I was on the bottom, but thought I was on the top… I began to have more doubt when I was given feedback. I hadn’t really dealt with this before other than in group project type things maybe?

I am a people-pleaser so I tend to go with the flow over stuff, and let louder voices take charge. I think some of those personality traits came to play here when I was being given so much feedback. Other designers told me just to ignore it and I couldn’t!

After the show aired, again I did see lots of negative feedback from commenters on pages about how my style was “clownish” and “childish.” This did momentarily make me question my design aesthetic. But not for too long!”

Four models stand together in front of a hot pink wall covered with rows of small rectangular pieces of paper in orange and hot pink. The two models on the left wear headpieces of green leaves and the top models on the right wear a hot pink and a red-and-black headband, respectively. They are all wearing bright and colorful clothes made from floral fabrics Katie designed.

Erica Hilliard, Doranda Woestman, Faith St.Jules and Tracy Nyguen wear one-of-a kind pieces mostly made with Spoonflower fabrics. Some pieces above were created for the collection Katie submitted for her Project Runway interview portfolio. Featured designs: Red and Pink Dots, Rainbow Stripes and Painters Coat by katiekortman  

Five models stand around a large green leaf sculpture in front of a yellow wall. They are all wearing pieces from Katie’s Hand-Painted Color collection, which are all brightly colored designs with either dots, stripes or florals.

All models wear Katie’s premier collection, “Hand-Painted Color,” featuring all prints she designed during her year as Spoonflower’s first brand ambassador. Photo by Megan Staley. Models, clockwise from top left: Viviana Lopez, Juliana Cassiano, Mary Barbie, Victoria Carvalho and Elizabeth Leighton. Featured designs: Painted Rainbow Blue, Bohemian Rhapsody, Green Painted Rainbow, Muted Stripes with Lilac and Orange and Peach Dash Small by katiekortman    

  

Spoonflower: In an Instagram post about being eliminated from the show, you shared the following list of five things you’d learned from being on the show. Is there anything you’d like to add?

  1. I was on the bottom many times, which meant I was going to get lots of stage and screen time (so more people would see the fashion I was wearing)!
  2. Since I was always wearing my own clothing and prints, it was still good PR!
  3. I got to do 6 episodes!!! That’s pretty good for someone with no clothing line and no fashion school. 😅
  4. I learned while I was there that I for sure wanted this as a career. I never would’ve known had I not gone and been given that chance.
  5. Knowing I would get good PR by being on the show, I knew it was less risky to invest money into my own clothing line. And so, when I came home, I immediately got to work finding pattern makers and manufacturers. And I did the Dang thang.

Katie: “When crappy things happen in my life, I like to try and look for something good that came out of it. Sometimes it’s really really hard to find something! But I find it helps to focus on that instead. I was incredibly disappointed to not make it to New York Fashion Week, where the final three-four contestants get to show their work.

I had dreams about what I should’ve done differently, over and over after the show. But focusing on this list of good things, helped me to push those thoughts aside. After all, it’s not like I could change anything!”

Spoonflower: What’s next for you?

Katie: “I came home from filming the show, and I got right to work and to launch my first fashion line! Katie Kortman Clothing is now available on my website and it is like a dream came true! I also came out with an online “Wear Happy Color” class to accompany my book by the same name!”

Shop Katie Kortman Designs

Short bold orange, hot pink, green, blue, olive, yellow and white paint strokes appear on a navy background.
Paint Splashes Big Navy

by katiekortman

Rows of small rainbow hued ovals made from brushstrokes appear on a white background. They are a random mix of ovals featuring two or three shades of the following: hot pink, orange, royal blue, light blue, yellow and red.
Multi-color Dot Rainbow

by katiekortman

Large green watercolor brushstrokes of varying shapes float on a light green background with small rice grain-sized dark green shapes falling downward through the larger shapes and around them.
Aqua Watercolor with Green

by katiekortman

Want even more Katie Kortman?

Read more Katie Kortman posts
Betsy Greer portrait

Betsy Greer

Betsy is a writer and stitcher who joined the Brand Marketing team in July 2021. In her spare time, she talks to people about their choice to make things by hand and related lessons learned for her project Dear Textiles. She also aims to befriend all the dogs she meets and is forever looking for the perfect dress pattern with pockets.

  • Business Resources
  • Inspiration
  • Spoonflower Seller Handbook
Color Theory 101 with Sew Happy Color's Katie Kortman
By Betsy Greer on February 11, 2022

2 comments

Paint palette with colorful paintings with bold brushstrokes
  • Business Resources
  • Spoonflower Seller Handbook
6 Tips for Designing a Collection with Katie Kortman
By Betsy Greer on February 11, 2022

3 comments

  • Design Tutorials
  • DIY Projects
  • Handmade Apparel
  • Inspiration
  • Tutorials
How I Turned My Hand-Painted Dress into a Digital Design
By Betsy Greer on February 11, 2022

Related Posts

  • Inspiration
  • Spoonflower Ambassadors
  • Tutorials
  • Wallpaper
How to Create a Mural with Spoonflower Wallpaper
By Betsy Greer on February 11, 2022
Ava sews the neckband of a shirt to the body of the shirt with the wrong side of the fabric up. The right side of the shirt fabric is shown where the fabric has curled up, it has a black background and blue, pink, yellow and purple holographic wavy lines all over it.
  • Community
  • DIY Projects
  • Handmade Apparel
  • Sewing Tutorials
  • Spoonflower Ambassadors
How to Self Draft a T-Shirt
By Michael Gardner on February 11, 2022
A green fabric book cover with a black rectangle patch. The patch has "Open" in cursive embroidery written
  • Community
  • Spoonflower Ambassadors
  • Tutorials
How to Easily Create Hand Embroidered Typography
By Robert Mahar on February 11, 2022
8 comments

Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • What a fun interview with Katie. I love her clothes and if you would ask me, I would also say my favorite color is rainbow. Tried to start a capsule wardrobe once and that turned out interesting color-scheme-wise, too. Love her clothes and her fabrics!

    Marie | February 14, 2022 at 1:15 pm
    Reply
    • Glad you liked it, Marie!

      I agree with you, rainbow is a great color choice!

      Best,
      Betsy
      Spoonflower

      Betsy | February 14, 2022 at 4:25 pm
      Reply
  • Project Runway has been my favorite show since day 1 and it was very interesting to read about what the experience was like for Katie. Sometimes on the show she seemed uncertain and not to have an inner voice, and now I understand why. Thank you, Katie, for being so open and willing to share your challenges and that they didn’t spoil your positive attitude.

    Lee Price | February 12, 2022 at 1:15 pm
    Reply
    • Thanks, Lee!

      I loved hearing more from Katie about that aspect too! 🙂

      Best,
      Betsy
      Spoonflower

      Betsy | February 14, 2022 at 9:37 am
      Reply
  • I love project runway!!! Katie has a great story there.
    I did not catch what type of fabric these clothes are made from. The blue blouse and skirt set looks almost satiny, but maybe it’s cotton sateen? Has more drape though. ??
    I will go look on her website and hope to find out.

    Marcia | February 12, 2022 at 12:32 pm
    Reply
    • Hi Marcia! Glad you liked the post and Katie’s story!

      I would say checking her clothing line page might give you the information you’re looking for: https://shop.katiekortman.com/collections/clothing

      Best,
      Betsy
      Spoonflower

      Betsy | February 14, 2022 at 9:36 am
      Reply
  • her clothes maybe ‘clownish’ and ‘childish’ but I wear mostly grey and would be considered ‘drab’ or ‘walking death’ even though I feel most happy and creative in my monochrome.

    I love how go-getter and business minded she is! such fire can’t be held back so I shows up in her work. Me? I like being cozy and bit sleepy all day. The world would be boring if we all looked the same.

    La | February 11, 2022 at 11:22 am
    Reply
    • Thanks for sharing your thoughts, La, and glad you enjoy Katie’s work as much as we do!

      The criticism of ‘childish’ and ‘clownish’ often seems to be culturally constructed, as if adults aren’t allowed to love colorful clothes! I say wear what makes *you* happy, no matter where it falls on the color wheel – and it sounds like you and Katie are both doing just that! 🙂

      Best,
      Betsy
      Spoonflower

      Betsy | February 11, 2022 at 12:05 pm
      Reply
Shop Spoonflower
  • Shop Fabric
  • Shop Wallpaper
  • Shop Living & Decor
  • Shop Dining
  • Shop Bedding
Design & Sell
  • Upload Your design
  • Design Tools
  • Designing FAQs
  • Selling & Comissions
  • Seller FAQs
More
  • Help Center
  • About Us
  • Press
  • Jobs
  • Privacy
Stay Updated
© 2022 Spoonflower Inc | Site by Reaction.

We use cookies to enable and enhance your site experience. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Accept Learn More