Adventures in Fabric

So, I've been watching episodes of the US version of Project Runway recently, and they have this thing where the contestants get to design their own textiles. Most of the stuff they come up with is a bit lame, but the process itself always looks really fascinating - I mean, the chance to determine your own raw materials! Very cool. So, I thought I'd give it a go.

Obviously I'm not fortunate enough to have the fancy, intuitive, user-friendly technology suites used on Project Runway, so I scoured the internet for options. I figured there would be loads of websites offering a 'Design Your Own' kind of service, but I actually only managed to find one or two. My favourite so far is the American site Spoonflower, which allows users to upload their own designs, select from a range of materials, and even to put their work up for sale. It's an amateur's dream, and I have quickly come to find it wholly addictive! Below are some of the digital prints that I've come up with in the past few days.







They aren't much, but I feel quite proud of myself! I really like the last one (based on a photograph of a marigold that I took with my iPhone), and the way that the repeated lines of the image form something like a plaid. The first one is definitely at the top of my wish list, though! It reminds me of some of my favourite Basso and Brooke prints; I'd love to make a pencil skirt or something out of it. And if even I can come up with these after a couple of hours of playing (and without any knowledge of Photoshop), just imagine what somebody with real design chops could achieve... If this kind of thing takes off, the streets will be singing with print and colour. Amazing! I certainly plan to continue experimenting.

Images from the Basso and Brooke website