Design Resources

Digital Download Day

January 11, 2016

Today we are kicking off a brand new series of free digital downloads, brought to you with love from designers in our community. We encourage you to download these designs, play around with them, change the colors, add text, whatever! Then upload them to your Spoonflower account and see them come to life on fabric, wallpaper and gift wrap (personal use only, please). First up are some cute little kritters from Spoonflower's very own graphic designer, Robin (you may know her as kritterstitches!). We are so excited to share this with you here on the blog each Monday, and we hope you enjoy!

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD COLORFUL KRITTERS

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD BLACK AND WHITE KRITTERS

Thanks, Robin! We'd love to see how you all change, manipulate and play with your free downloads from this series, and better yet, what they look like on fabric, wallpaper or gift wrap! Not sure where to start? Read this article on how to use the Spoonflower color changer tool, or add text and fun effects using Picmonkey. Don't forget to check back next Monday to receive new free downloads, and be sure to share your creations with us using the hashtag #Spoonflower and #SFdownloads on social media.

–Happy creating!

How to Create Fabric From Your Knitted or Crocheted Items

January 5, 2016

When the world of sewing and yarn-crafts combine, the intersection can be a truly beautiful thing! Today's tutorial comes from Julia, blogger at All Sparkled Up and frequenter of Spoonflower's Pins & Needles monthly community craft night. Julia is stopping by the blog today to share how she used her scanner and Adobe Photoshop to turn crocheted granny squares into unique custom fabric and gift wrap!

*This tutorial can be simplified for your own comfort level, but is written for a Photoshop Skill Level of Medium to Advanced.

12 Days of Design: 5 Free Design Resources

December 13, 2015

We are so delighted that you have been working on creating a textile design over the last few days of our SpoonChallenge! Now that you've created a digital file and have uploaded your design, explore the abundance of free, high-quality design tools and resources available online. We've rounded up a few of our favorites, but please let us in on your favorite tricks of the trade in the comments!

PICMONKEY

PicMonkey is a free image editing tool that allows you to resize your files, add graphics and text to images, and even create collages. You can actually access PicMonkey directly from our site when you upload your image–Eloisa's blog post shows you a sampling of what you can do!

PATTERN OBSERVER

Pattern Observer is geared toward helping you take your surface design to the next level. While their blog is chock full of interviews, advice, and even textile history, they also offer comprehensive e-courses that will take you from creating your design portfolio to honing in on creating sketches that you can sell.

MAKE IT IN DESIGN

Make It In Design also offers courses, tips, and a vibrant community of fellow designers. There is truly something for a desinger at every level on this site, including issues of MOYO Magazine, their quarterly publication dedicated to surface design.

PEXELS

Pexels is an amazing resource for free, high quality photos. Their blog also features tons of helpful material, including this great round up of Websites Every Designer Should Know.

CREATIVE BLOQ

Creative Bloq delivers tips, inspiration, and resouces for all types of design–graphic, web, 3D and more. They've rounded up 2500 Free Resources for Designers, featuring typography, graphics, and even Photoshop ad-ons!

12 Days of Design: 10 Places to Find Inspiration

December 7, 2015

Today kicks off the first day of our second annual 12 Days of Design! We're delivering 12 days of design tips directly to your inbox to help you create your first, or next, textile design! If you haven't signed up, it's not too late–sign up now!

Sometimes the hardest part of fabric design is just getting started. It's common to feel completely uninspired, but luckily there are a million ways to get the creative juices flowing! We'll start this year's series by sharing our favorite places and ways to find inspiration. How do you get inspired? Please share in the comments below!

Bright Yellow and Pink Pastel New York City Patern | Little Smile Makers

1. Visit a downtown: Hit the streets in a urban area to be inspired by the city buzz and bright lights!

5 Podcasts All Makers Should Be Listening To

December 4, 2015

Anyone who has spent a weekend marathon sewing knows that while your hands may be busy, your ears are idle for hours at a time, especially if you live alone or are crafting while the kids are at school during the week. While binge watching Downton Abbey or listening to audio books are great options, today many makers are choosing to expand their minds with podcasts. This medium has really exploded as of late, to the point where there is just about a podcast for anything and everything you could ever want to learn, including the ins & outs of the sewing and crafting world. With all the amazing podcasts out there to choose from, where should you begin? Spoonflower staffer Theresa has been surfing the digital waves and is here to share five personal favorites for makers and creatives. Enjoy!

While She Naps is a wonderful podcast by Abby Glassenberg, who sits down with thought leaders, designers and makers about what it really takes to build a creative business. Here at Spoonflower, we almost never start a Wednesday without reading Abby’s newsletter – we like to think of her as our premier news reporter for the crafting world! Abby brings the same in-depth research and thoughtful questioning to her podcast that we have come to love in her weekly newsletters. Plus, you can hear a great interview with Spoonflower co-founder Stephen Fraser in episode #48! We even love Abby’s podcast so much, we decided to be sponsors!

After the Jump with Grace Bonney Features the founder and creative entrepreneur powerhouse behind the hugely popular blog Design*Sponge. Grace and her guests give business advice on branding, finance and how to make the most of your social media marketing. One of my personal favorite episodes is her interview with the amazing illustrator Julia Rothman, who also authored this excellent tutorial on how to create a seamless repeat by hand! This podcast took hasn’t recorded a new episode since 2014, but we were so excited to hear that Grace just announced the podcast will be returning soon!

Seamwork Radio Sewing your own clothing can change your perspective in surprising ways. Seamwork Radio brought to you by the maker of Colette Patterns brings you personal stories about all the ways designing, making, and wearing your own clothing can alter your life. We talk to artists, designers, and everyday creators about how the act of sewing has helped them slow down, get to know their bodies, discover their own identity, and take part in the growing movement to revive the art of sewing.

Think Make Sell (no longer recording live episodes) is a podcast by Thomas Borowski, which is perfect for those of us who are wildly creative and skilled, but struggle with monetizing our craft and turning it into a viable business. Hear thought-provoking interviews with creatives who’ve been successful at turning their ideas into businesses, and learn how you can do the same!

Thread Cult is a podcast for the fashion, sewing and textile obsessed, hosted by Christine Cyr Clisset of the popular blog DaughterFish.com. Christine interviews master craft people and creators in the home sewing, textile, and fashion communities. Want to find the new artist whose work you’re obsessed with? This podcast is for you.

Elise Gets Crafty introduces you to smart, interesting people who are good at what they do and are willing to share their expertise. It’s geared toward small business owners and creatives who are looking to get inspired by their fellow makers.

Do you have a favorite podcast that you listen to while crafting? If so, please share with us in the comments below!

+Theresa

How to Make Your Own Softie With PicMonkey – Just In Time for the Softies for Mirabel Handmade Toy Drive

November 14, 2015

What a festive November it’s been for the Spoonflower team! While we’re busy prepping for the end of the year holiday party in the Greenhouse, we’re also in the final weeks of our Softies for Mirabel handmade toy drive. If you’re just learning about this wonderful drive today, don’t worry, there’s still time for you to sew, knit, or crochet a softie for the drive! Please mail or drop-off all softies to the Spoonflower headquarters by Saturday, December 5th. For more donation drop-off details, please click here.

Spoonflower for Amateurs + Magnetic Seat Cushion

November 7, 2015

Have you always dreamt of designing fabric but didn't think you had the skills or tools? Samantha Lanier of Live Laugh Lanier visits the blog to share how anyone can be a textile designer by following her simple steps to creating your first surface design!

This past year I discovered the magic that is Spoonflower. As most of us can admit, the initial concept of creating our own fabric is super exciting; however, it quickly becomes SCARY for those who have no design experience and who don’t have access to top notch programs like Photoshop. I’m here to tell you that even ‘amateurs’ like us can create a basic-yet-fabulous surface pattern using the advice and user-friendly programming at Spoonflower. Your allies: creativity, GIMP, and repeating tile options.

First things first…THINK SIMPLE. I know we all adore those seamlessly overlapping patterns, but as a beginner it’s okay to take baby steps. To be honest, some of my favorite patterns are those that provide visual simplicity, slight imperfection, and a real handmade look.

Here’s how I take a simple handmade sketch and turn it into a repeated, color pattern:

Sketch.

I begin with a pencil and then trace over the sketch with a fine point pen.

Scan.

Be sure to save the file as ‘original’ so it’s easy to relocate.

Edit.

Download GIMP. Click ‘file’>’new’ and enter 450×450 pixels/inch. Click ‘file’>’open as layer’>’original’>’open’. Click ‘layers’>’scale layer’ and enter 300×300 pixels/inch. To save your work for Spoonflower, click ‘file’>’export as’ >’name.jpg’>’export’.

*Color option: Highlight areas to be colored with the ‘wand selection tool’ and fill them in with color using the ‘paint can tool’. GIMP will provide every color option for you if you set the color square prior to using your paint can. Be sure that areas selected are completely closed to ensure the color remains in the intended area.

Upload.

Log on to Spoonflower. Follow the directions for uploading a design. Navigate to your design library and select which repeat pattern highlights your design best. Be sure to save your work! There you go!

Note: These dimensions correspond to the fabric I’m using in this tutorial. To change the size of your image you will just need to increase/decrease the dimensions accordingly. It took me three tries to get the size I wanted by saving the file, adding it to my design library on Spoonflower, and viewing it using the repeat pattern of my choice.

Only 4 days later, my beautiful Linen Cotton Canvas Ultra arrived and I dare say that the result is basic yet fabulous!

What did I do with this lovely yard of fabric, you ask? Well I turned it into a magnetic seat cushion of course! Here’s how:

Magnetic Seat Cushion

You know all of those glorious industrial metal chairs everyone is obsessed with these days?! Yes, I am the proud owner of a few myself. I absolutely love the metal; however, when my family isn’t at the table, I relocate my extras into different rooms. One is currently placed in my reading nook. I love the metal look, though for this room it would benefit from a softer, more cozy look. What better way to do so than adding a cushion, am I right? My recent addition of cotton buds into my decor inspired the design for my fabric. Next, all I had to do was create a basic cushion cover and attach magnets.

To do so, I folded the fabric in half and cut out the dimensions specific to my chair size. Using the scraps, I cut 4 small squares and sewed them to the inside of half the fabric, being sure to place 1 round magnet between the layers.

After I had my template with magnet pouches attached, I folded the fabric in half again (patternside facing in) and sewed both sides. I then turn the cover rightside out and stuffed a 1inch thick piece of craft foam (precut) inside. All that was left to do was sew the top edge and stick it to my chair!

I hope you enjoyed this twopart tutorial and good luck on all your upcoming Spoonflower adventures!

About Our Guest Blogger

Samantha is an up-and-coming blogger from Central Florida. When not maintaining her career as a speech-language pathologist, Samantha is blogging about the everyday aspects of her life as a newly-wed, career woman, and new homeowner. Her blog 'Live Laugh Lanier' provides a variety of posts for readers including recipes, home decor, DIY projects, beauty tips, style guides, travel tips, and lifestyle advice.

livelaughlanier.com

How To Make Personalized Gift Wrap

October 27, 2015

There are some occasions where even the perfect gift just doesn’t seem quite personal enough. With the easy-to-use, free design program, Picmonkey, you don’t have to be a graphic designer to make beautiful, customized gift wrap that your loved ones will know you created just for them. Today, Spoonflower team member Theresa is here just in time for gift-giving season to show you just how easy designing your own gift wrap can be!

Theresa: Recently my little cousin got engaged, and while I was happy to pick up a gift she needed from her wedding registry, it just didn’t feel quite personalized enough for something as special as my baby cousin’s wedding! So I took to one of my favorite open-source design tools, Picmonkey, and designed the perfect gift paper using her engagement photos and the theme of their fall wedding for inspiration.

How to Make A Pillow From Your Favorite Photos

October 20, 2015

We are in the era of camera phones, and almost everyone has the opportunity to snap photos at moments when it may have been impossible or inconvenient in the past. The result? Lots and lots of photos, and more sentimental memories captured than ever. If you're like me, then you want to put those extra special photos on display in some creative way. Well, pillows are one of the easiest things to sew, and they can sit in just about any room in the house (plus they make awesome gifts). Okay, let's get started!

In this design tutorial, I'll take you step-by-step through designing a pillow using your own photography.

For this project, all you'll need is a high resolution, digital version of a special photo, a photo editing program like Photoshop, and a few minutes to size it properly for uploading to Spoonflower to print.

I wanted to make a series of square pillows from some black and white photography by Damon Lapas, so I'm going to use the cropping to make this rooster photo into a square. If you want to size your pillow to a rectangle or an odd shape, that's perfectly fine!

I want this pillow to be a 15" square, so I'm going to size the image to print at that size by clicking "Image" –> "Image Size" and selecting "inches" from the drop down menus associated with height and width of the image. If the image isn't exactly 15" by 15", that's okay, but if it's off by more than 1/2", try cropping it on the longer side a bit more.

Next, make sure your image is set to 150 DPI because that's the resolution Spoonflower prints files. Then save the image as a JPEG.

Screen Shot 2015-10-13 at 10.27.28 AM

Next, you'll want to have a plan for the back of your pillow, too. Do you want to print a design in the Spoonflower Marketplace for the back of the pillow, use the same photo for the back, or create your own complimentary design? Since I want to stay with the greyscale theme, I'm going to pick a nice, solid grey color.

I'd like to sew an envelope-back pillow cover, so I multiplied the length by 2 to allow for the overlap on the back plus seam allowances and finished edges. Next, adjust the file resolution to 150 DPI. No matter how you'd like to enclose your pillow, it's a good idea for the pillow insert (or pillow form) to be slightly larger than the cover so that it fills out the corners better and the pillow looks fluffier. For example, I'm sewing the pillow cover to be 15"x15", so I got a 16" pillow form. If you want to do a zipper enclosure instead, try this tutorial.

I added some photo credit text and detail at the bottom of the pillow back design, along with some seam allowance so that the text is not puckered or accidentally sewn into the seam. You may choose to write the location or year that the photo was taken, as it may provide a helpful reminder many years from now.

Once you've saved your file as a JPEG, we're going to place the two files into a new file since both the front and back of the pillow will fit on one yard, then we'll upload them together as one file. Open a new Photoshop file, name it, and set the width to 54", the height to 36", and the DPI to 150.

Next, click "File" > "Place embedded" and select one of your files.

Move the first file to one side of the canvas and click Return or Enter place it.

Repeat this step for the second file.

Now, save the new file as a JPEG and upload your new pillow design to Spoonflower. Make sure you size the design to 1 yard and center it. We would recommend printing on Eco Canvas for the most vibrant black and grey colors. We also recommend Linen-Cotton Canvas, Minky, Organic Cotton Sateen, Heavy Cotton Twill and Faux Suede for making pillows.

Once you get your Spoonflower fabric in the mail, sew the pillow cover and stuff it with the pillow form! (This tutorial in The Spoonflower Handbook called "Portrait Pillows" beginning on p100 is pretty handy.)

Show us the pillows that you create with your own photos and post your "in-progress" or finished projects on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #spoonflower and we may repost them to show off your handiwork!

Have fun and let me know how it goes!

Jenny

DIY Doughnut Dog Bed

October 13, 2015

Has your pet been requesting a bed upgrade? Are they looking for something that better defines their personality than what’s available at your local pet store? Today, Spoonflower crew member Allie shares a fun how-to for creating a custom doughnut dog bed. Get the design here. Use her notes to create your own fried dough-inspired pet bed, or take her tips and make your own custom shape!

Earlier this year I got a golden retriever, which, subsequently, dramatically changed the life of Grace, my seven year old shih tzu. For seven years, she had been my only pet and thus was quite spoiled–until Ben came along and ruined everything for her.

Her basket of toys were quickly shredded and with all of her toys went her cozy little dog bed. In looking for a new bed for Grace, I thought it would be cool to make her an engineered dog bed. After toying with a few ideas, I decided on to run with the idea of a doughnut!

[Read more…] about DIY Doughnut Dog Bed

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