Two images placed side by side. On the left, Mathew holds a Performance Velvet throw blanket to their chest and is looking at the camera and smiling. The design on the throw blanket is their 1000 Comments (Large Scale) design, which shares 1000 comments from their community featuring words of support for queer youth. The design’s background is black and the text is in white cursive. On the right, Mathew’s daughter Helena holds up a pillow featuring a rainbow dragon design that transfixed her.
On the left, Mathew holds up a blanket with 1000 comments from their community featuring words of support for queer youth. On the right, Mathew’s daughter Helena holds up a pillow with one of her favorite designs. Featured products: 1000 Comments (Large Scale) Throw Blanket by mxdomestic in Performance Velvet and Dragon Fire Rainbow Square Throw Pillow Cover by adenaj

Sewing can be a great creative outlet, but what about when crafters and creatives need to direct all their energy elsewhere, especially in times of stress, turmoil or trauma? Spoonflower Ambassador Mathew Boudreaux stops by the blog to share what Spoonflower home decor products have been comforting to them and their family during a recent mental health crisis.

A stack of home decor items from Spoonflower featuring some of mxdomestic’s designs. From top to bottom, a folded sheet filled with a wide rainbow striped design, a folded Performance Blanket with a black background and 1000 comments in white cursive text that support queer youth, a pillow featuring a design of rainbow dragons breathing fire on a white background and a cream pillow with blue and turquoise raindrops.
Featured products: Gradient Rainbow Stripe Sheet Set and 1000 Comments (Large Scale) Throw Blanket by mxdomestic, Dragon Fire Rainbow Square Throw Pillow Cover by adenaj and Indigo Rain Square Throw Pillow Cover by crystal_walen

Finding Comfort in Handmade 

Mathew: Right now, I’m having trouble sewing due to Complex PTSD that just popped up, so sewing isn’t really an option for me at the moment. The past few months have found me in the middle of a mental health crisis. Every time I try to sit down and craft or sew, my brain gets mixed up and I can’t do it. I’ve been working really hard with my healthcare team and I finally see the light, but not being able to do the thing that keeps me grounded was problematic.  

So, lately, instead of buying fabric from our Spoonflower favorites list, we’ve been buying one-of-a-kind Spoonflower home decor items that will become heirlooms in the Boudreaux family for sure. And I wanted to talk about how our home decor choices have helped comfort me during this difficult time and share them with you too.   

Spoonflower has been a part of this time I’ve taken to heal, a time where I’ve also been taking stock to reevaluate the global impact of my own sewing and crafting purchasing decisions. And while I plan to do a lot more upcycling and repurposing things that already exist on the planet, Spoonflower will still be a big part of where I go to purchase new things.  

Because their print-on-demand digital model does the least harm to the planet by bringing into the world only what’s requested by their community. With this process, Spoonflower innovates by bringing substrates, options and designs to life beyond simple shapes on repeat, using their energy to support independent artists vs. spending it on efforts to get customers to buy old inventory fabric that wasn’t cool the first time. With these two things in mind, both healing myself and working to purchase items with the planet at heart, here’s how home decor is supporting were I am currently.  

Cozying Up In a Celebratory Pride Throw Blanket 

Mathew crochets while sitting in a chair placed on a gravel bank. Their legs are covered a Minky throw blanket featuring their ALL THE PRIDE – Large Scale design, which has 105 pride flags on it.
ALL THE PRIDE – Large Scale Throw Blanket by mxdomestic in Minky

My first rendezvous with purchasing Spoonflower home decor instead of fabric to sew was a Minky throw blanket in my ALL THE PRIDE – Large Scale design. Last year, I designed Pride fabrics for my Say Gay. Say Queer. Say Trans. design collection, and one of them was ALL THE PRIDE, which has various versions of different LGBTQ pride flags.  

At first, I was going to buy the fabric to sew myself. But in the end I didn’t feel like dealing with it, so I clicked on Spoonflower’s home decor options and did a backflip in my head when I realized I could buy a custom throw blanket that would be sewn for me. Since then, it’s become my family’s go-to blanket that comes with us on adventures. My spouse is a highly-skilled salmon fisher-human, so you know I especially love snuggling up under it when we go fishing so that all the fish and fisherpeople can see! 

Snuggling with a Velvet Throw Blanket and 1000 Comments of Support 

Mathew holds a Performance Velvet throw blanket to their chest and is looking at the camera and smiling. The design on the throw blanket is their 1000 Comments (Large Scale) design, which shares 1000 comments from their community featuring words of support for queer youth. The design’s background is black and the text is in white cursive.
Featured product: 1000 Comments (Large Scale) Throw Blanket by mxdomestic in Performance Velvet

For my second throw, I decided to try out Spoonflower’s Performance Velvet throw blanket option, which is equally yummy. This blanket was printed with my 1000 Comments (Large Scale) design from the same Pride collection. Before creating this design, I asked my community on social media to share either what they would’ve liked to have been told as a queer kid or would say to a queer kid now to let them know they are valid and seen. The comments poured in. As a result, this design contains over 1000 supportive and love-filled comments, so I had to have this in a throw blanket to surround myself in all the love any time I needed it. I’ve actually bought a couple yards of the fabric too so I can just sit and read all the comments, so that’s always an option too.  

 
Finding Their Perfect Prints for Pillows 

Mathew’s daughter holds a pillow up in front of her face with a rainbow dragon design on a white background.
Featured product: Dragon Fire Rainbow Square Throw Pillow Cover by adenaj

One of my favorite things that my daughter Helena and I do is to sit in bed together and look through Spoonflower designs. It’s so incredibly inspirational and we both love to support other artists. And one night while we were “window shopping,” Helena became entranced by this Dragon Fire Rainbow design by adenaj. I knew I had to secretly make her a pillow with the design because she’d love it.  

Since my sew-jo has been quite low and my mental health has taken center stage, I kept waiting for inspiration to hit to order the fabric. So I decided to order a custom throw pillow that someone at Spoonflower would sew.  – Mathew Boudreaux

Mathew holds a pillow up in front of their face with a cream background and blue and turquoise raindrops.
Featured product: Indigo Rain Square Throw Pillow Cover by crystal_walen 

Later I had my own transfixed experience when I came across this Indigo Rain design by crystal_walen on another virtual Spoonflower scavenger hunt, so, of course, I had to get myself my own pillow! My favorite colors are blue and turquoise, so I’m always on the lookout to bring more of it to my world. And wow, does this hit me in the feels every time I see it. And now I can touch it and squeeze it!! It’s a very different experience purchasing something that feels like it was designed for you! 

Turning Old Loved Designs into New Loved Sheets 

Mathew holds a rainbow striped sheet to their chest.
Featured product: Gradient Rainbow Stripe Sheet Set by mxdomestic

One of my favorite crafts to do is fabric weaving. I even co-wrote the Fabric Weaving Book with my good friend Tara Curtis, who invented The Wefty® Needle. For Craft Friday 2021, I created striped fabrics that could be cut into individual strips and woven together. But these stripes can be used for so much more than just fabric weaving! I’ve printed them on wallpaper and different fabrics for my stash. I also decided to surprise Helena with this design in the form of a Gradient Rainbow Stripe Sheet Set. 

While your time away from making may look different than mine, that’s a little peek into how I’ve been adding home decor into our family while I take some much needed time out. Through creating designs with and to support my community, they’ve also been able to help me as well.  

Home Decor Frequently Asked Questions

What home decor products does Spoonflower sell? 
Spoonflower’s home decor offerings include living and decor, bedding and dining products that are digitally printed then sewn just for you.   
How do I see my design on Spoonflower home decor products?  
After you upload a design, you can view your design on all our home decor, wallpaper and fabric products by clicking on the different categories at the bottom right of your design page. 
Who makes Spoonflower home decor items? 
Products are made by our sewing teams here in the US. To learn more about our sewing teams, see this Virtual Field Trip video post! 

Want More Spoonflower Community Stories?

With community posts about everything from sewing modest swimwear to sharing family stories on home decor to starting the Black Girls Illustrate community and more, our blog is full of ideas on how your creativity can be both a respite and a wellspring!
Read 10 Ways to Find Offline Inspiration