A while back, we talked about two website – Spoonflower and Bonbonkakku – which make it possible to design your own fabric. And since you have to try (almost) everything in life, we decided to check out the working of Spoonflower.

The first question was of course: which design? After some brainstorming we decided to make our business cards (which we still don’t have) out of fabric! Not only because we’re both part of an research project concerning clothes, but the choice for fabric is also related to the name of this blog: Social Textiles!

A second question concerned the amount of fabric we would order. But since this first time is just an experiment: we’ve chosen for a swatch (8×8 inch or 20,3 x 20,3 cm). If it all goes well, we can always order a whole yard for each business card!

With some essential help of Maarten, the designer, the business cards were ready for print! And from there on, I took over and frankly, it was a piece of cake! After registering, I just had to upload the TIF-file that Maarten already made! The next step was choosing the lay-out of the design: center, repeat, half-step, half-brick or mirror. I went for the option repeat and indicated that I wanted to order a swatch. So, these options are on the right side of your computer window and on the left side, you see your design with an indication of the size (kind of a ruler).

So far so good, but when I looked at the design the colours in the Spoonflower menu were different than the ones in the original TIF-file. However my attention was drawn to a title called  “preview color shift” in the left corner. This was a short, but clear text explaining that:

If you observe colors shifting in the preview: don’t worry. We print from your original file, not the preview.

So what’s up?: TIFF files and LAB colors won’t display in browsers, so to create this preview the Spoonflower elves have translated your original into a PNG file with RGB colors. Despite their care, color shift can occur.

This preview is created to give you a sense of the size and placement of your design in repeat.
When the elves prepare your file to print, they use a very fancy digital textile workstation that operates directly from your original file.
Most folks are really happy with the result, but if for any reason you aren’t, just let us know and we’ll reprint or refund your order.
Please keep in mind that colors on a computer monitor are not the same as colors printed on fabric, so if you’re sensitive about getting just the right color you’ll want to order a swatch first.
Unfortunately textile design and the web haven’t spent a lot of time together. As a matter of fact, we’ve only recently introduced them, but we hope the marriage will be long and fruitful! We’re working very hard to improve the accuracy of this preview. Apologies for any flaws.

So, I was reassured and went on with my order. I can say that I’m very anxious about the result. And as soon as that little piece of fabric arrives, I’ll let you know!

Sometimes I wish I could use a sewing machine in a proper way! Unfortunately, even sewing on a button is a mission impossible!

After checking out Spoonflower,  I again felt the urge to learn some basic sewing tricks. Spoonflower is a website where you can design your own fabric. And although I can just design, order and buy my fabric … it isn’t enough, you have to do something with the fabric. But enough about my sewing disability. So Spoonflower offers custom digital textile printing. Everyone can upload an image, choose the arrangement (do you want your image being centered or repeated?) and have it printed on cotton. So if you just can’t find the right design for those new curtains, why not creating the pattern you’ve always wanted? And what’s more: every week, there’s the Fabric of the Week contest, in which the Spoonflowers decides which fabric they would like to buy. The winner of the contest not only gets 5 yards of the fabric for free, but his or her design will also be offered for sale in the Spoonflower Etsy Shop, for one week.

Another similar site is Bonbonkakku. This Finnish site is for fabric, what Threadless is for T-shirts. The basic principle in both sites is the competition, only the subject is different. In the case of Bonbonkakku, every fabric designed will be published on the site for viewers to see and vote on. The fabrics that get the most votes are chosen to be sold on the Bonbonkakku site. So anyone can upload and submit a fabric design to the competition and if the design gets selected, the winner gets a  heap of fabric, with his/her design on it. Furthermore the winning design  will also be sold on the site.

I think it’s time, I’m taking a sewing class!

Source: Spoonflower, Bonbonkakku