So basically, I was like, Mommmm, I don’t
need to go to college. I can SEW. I’ll be fine. Okay, so, a little bit of history. Soon after I graduated high school, I was
working at Joann’s, and I had already decided that I didn’t want to go to college and
follow a more traditional career path, but I wasn’t sure what I actually DID want to
do. So I opened an Etsy shop and started making
baby clothes, because it was literally the first thing I thought of. My basic, generic baby clothes were only selling
at a rate of one dress per month, until I discovered Spoonflower. It’s worth noting that at this point I knew
nothing of graphic design, and was purely using Spoonflower as a buyer. Even though custom printed fabric is incredibly
expensive, I figured that with baby clothes, I would only be using small amounts for each
piece, and it might be worthwhile. And it was. I think Spoonflower designs tend to be on
the cutting-edge, purely because of how quickly a designer can notice a trend and create a
print, unlike the production time required for traditional fabric store prints. The amazing thing about Spoonflower, is how
you can take any any kind of art, digital, watercolor, anything, and print it to a usable
fabric medium, that can be sewn into anything you want. And this gave my baby clothes the unique factor
I needed to make them sell, and it’s where I found a niche. From there I quickly branched out. I made very simple, quick women’s skirts,
dresses, purses, and things like that. On larger items, instead of making an entire
garment from the Spoonflower fabric, I strategically designed them to be constructed mostly from
affordable fabric, and only used the custom stuff for pops of detail. At this point, I started to come up with new
ideas, and I began to realize the potential custom fabric had. That’s when I decided to sign up for some
classes at my community college, and over the next several years I ended up taking
both graphic design classes they offered, plus photography, drawing, an entrepreneur
class, a business law class, and stage combat: rapier and dagger edition. I started designing my own custom fabrics,
specifically designing them to fit the patterns I used, rather than as full repeating prints. And my business strategy continued to evolve
over the course of several years. I started selling even just the fabric prints
through Etsy, or kits of printed fabric, as I wanted to pull back from purely sewing for
profit. Because do you have any idea how boring it
is to sew the exact same dress 100 times? I do. Now I do want to be clear and mitigate expectations,
if you are thinking of a similar career path. My etsy shop has formed the backbone of my
income, but it is not enough alone. I consistently work four or five simultaneous
gigs just to keep my bills paid: I have nannied for the past six years, I’ve taught sewing
lessons since I was eighteen, and my dad runs a leather and vinyl repair business, to which
I am subcontracted to do upholstery work, recovering mostly booth seats and boat seats,
which I’ve technically been doing since I was about thirteen. I also sell fabric through Spoonflower, and
now I have YouTube. For the last few years I’ve let the Etsy
shop take a back seat, focusing my energy on building my channel instead. And that is why I am not going to link my
Etsy shop, or use this video to promote it. I want to reach the point where I can shut
it down entirely, and that’s mainly because I have issues with the way Etsy runs as a
company, and the way they treat their sellers, especially when it comes to the seller’s
finances. If you are considering a similar career path,
my highest recommendation is to start your own e-commerce website. Sell through Etsy too, in order to draw people
back to your main website. But don’t put all your eggs in the Etsy
basket. In all of this, that is probably my only regret:
not starting my own website and instead becoming too heavily dependent on Etsy. My goal with this video is mostly to talk
about the companies I’ve used to print fabric. It’s not so much about how to design fabric,
because woah that’s a large topic. It’s actually infinite, as infinite as any
art form. And frankly, there are already a lot of videos
out there about how to create repeats and seamless patterns and such, and a lot of it
just takes practice to do well. If you want to learn, it’s out there. But, it is a mysterious topic to a lot of
people, so I figured we’d at least cover the basics. I want to divide the art into three main categories. The first category, one that most people will
be familiar with, is pixel-based computer art. This can range from something as simple as
Microsoft paint, to Adobe Photoshop. Pixel art does have the advantage of texture. You can create an incredible range of art
with pixel programs. But I have never really been drawn to photoshop,
and my knowledge of it is very basic. My area of expertise is the second category,
Vector art. Vector art is point-based, as in points on
a graph, that can be moved or filled or outlined however you want. The draw for me with vector, is how incredibly
geometric and precise it is. It definitely enables my perfectionistic tendencies. But it also produces such beautiful, crisp, clean lines,
and it makes it super easy to change the color scheme of a design. The art can be exported to whatever dimensions
you want, so blurred, pixelated designs will never be a problem. And the third category is real art. Sorry, that’ll make somebody mad. I mean acrylics, or watercolors, or oils,
or charcoals, or markers, or any other art form that produces a real, tangible, one-off
piece of art. The third category of fabric design is digitizing
those by scanning them into a computer. I find this works best in tandem with a basic
understanding of photoshop. Either you can create icons—little, separate
pictures that do not touch and can be scattered across a field to create a repeat. Or, the more difficult way is to produce a
repeat on paper, then use photoshop to smooth over the edges. If you are already an artist, and want to
learn about fabric design, I would recommend this method for starting out. Now, I just mentioned two primary ways I create
a seamless repeat. Either you have separate icons, or you have
a full, interwoven design. I have two methods to make these into repeats
in illustrator. Icons are easiest. With this carnation print, I used one carnation,
and flipped and reversed it, then spread the icons out using the Pattern tool. This essentially creates the repeat for you,
and as long as you size the artboard to the same dimensions as the pattern you made, the
repeat should export seamlessly. The other method is harder, and I use it for
large, complex, interwoven designs such as this chintz vine. Basically, it involves using the knife tool
to cut my design in half, then move one half over and then fill in the gaps between them. I do this vertically, then horizontally. Once my vector art is exported, before uploading
it to print I always check the repeat in Photoshop. There is a tool, under filter, and then offset. You can use it to wrap you design, and check
that the overlap exported seamlessly. Sometimes it doesn’t, and I’ll see a thin
white line. This is frustrating, because it is often so
fine that you don’t even see it when you upload, and don’t realize it’s there until
you get the fabric in the mail, and you might still not see it if you only ordered a small
sample, and your repeat is larger than the sample size. So I always check, and it is fairly simple
to correct in photoshop. Then I upload. I always export my designs to PNG files. I don’t have a reasoning, it’s just what
I use. But I always export fabric designs to 300
dpi. DPI, dots per inch, PPI, pixels per inch or
points per inch. All the same thing. Most fabric companies use a standard of 150
dpi. If you use 300, you’ll always have to adjust
it when you upload. It might not make any real difference, but
I feel like it does. And I like that it can be easily adjusted
anywhere between 150 and 300 to upsize the scale. When you upload, Spoonflower does have a couple
different repeat options. I do not use these. I find it always better to refine my repeat
BEFORE uploading it, when you can zoom in to infinity. But other than that, yeah. Now for the first few years I printed through
Spoonflower exclusively. I didn’t know other companies existed, and
it wasn’t until 2017 that I started researching to see what else was out there, and I ended
up ordering samples from several different companies. I’m sure there are similar companies out
there that predate Spoonflower, but two innovations set Spoonflower apart. The small-scale printing, and the public marketplace. I think most of these companies were catering
to fashion designers who wanted their own custom prints, and needed fifty bolts of each. Spoonflower was the first, that I know of,
to say, here are thousands of highly specific designs. Print any amount you want, on knit, woven,
cotton, poly, whatever. No fabric store would ever be able to justify
stocking some of these SUPER niche prints. But this way, nobody has to stock it. It will never go on clearance and go to waste,
because it’s only ever printed in the exact quantity a customer wants. However, in the wake of Spoonflower’s success,
there have been many, many, many small companies that have risen up to compete. And they’re all just a little bit different. They offer different fabric types, they have
different color profiles, there are differing price points and levels of quality. And the company I settled on at that time
was Fabric on Demand. I switched and started printing the majority
of my fabric through them, and I worked with them for about a year before I started looking
again. Even though I liked their fabric quality better
than spoonflower, I just couldn’t justify the jump in price. And their colors printed just a little bit
weird, like oversaturated. And then the next company that I landed on,
which is still my current favorite, is called My Fabric Designs. They have introduced a public marketplace,
like Spoonflower, but they are still a small company, and the design library is limited. They offer a few different fabrics that I
absolutely love. They are just beautiful, gorgeous fabrics. My favorites are the Premium cotton, the Organic
cotton sateen, and the Linen cotton blend. However, there are others. There is a company called Design Your Fabric,
which I’ve never bought more than samples from, but I keep them on my radar because
they have the best array of natural fibers, specifically silks, that I’ve seen. Another company called Decor Print I’m interested
in experimenting with, because they have a 100% linen that is much cheaper than Spoonflower’s. Basically, it’s gotten to the point that
if you just google “Custom Printed Fabric,” you’ll find a whole litany of small companies. It really just depends on what you need. But for beginners, Spoonflower is fine. Next, I
want to compare Spoonflower and MFD more specifically, as they are the companies I’ve purchased
the most from, and the two I most highly recommend. Spoonflower has by far the most user-friendly
website, both as a designer, and as a buyer. It’s just easiest to understand what’s
going on, and what everything means. MFD’s website isn’t that much harder to
understand, but it’s slow, it’s so slow, and it’s glitchy. I’m constantly shocked by how long it takes
to navigate from one page to another. And sometimes things don’t upload right,
and once, recently, I placed and order that just didn’t go through. I waited several weeks, I checked my banks
statement. It was there. But it never showed up in my orders on the
website. However, any time I have had a problem with
MFD, they have always been super quick to correct it. And that leads me to customer service, which
goes to MFD. Not that Spoonflower’s bad, but MFD is a
small company. When I email a question about my order, they’ll
be like, “oh I just saw that fabric go through. I really liked the art.” It’s just a smaller company, with fewer
employees who all have a greater hand in the work. Spoonflower is a larger company, and if you
email them, you’re going to get a customer service person who’s going to have to look
you up. Not a big difference. For printing time, I currently have to recommend
Spoonflower. They used to be about even, two weeks, maybe
less if it’s just a small sample. But over COVID and 2020, MFD seems to be struggling
to keep up. The printing times have varied wildly, and
I’m now planning my orders at least a month in advance. This may change in the future, but for now,
that is something to be aware of. For their fabrics offered, they have mostly
the same options, and each has a few that the other does not. It really depends on what you’re looking
for. However, I have to choose MFD for this category,
because comparing the same fabrics against each other, I just love the hand of the MFD
fabric so much more, and it’s what I gravitate towards when buying fabric, especially for
any personal project. For their public marketplace, Spoonflower
is going to win. They’ve just got the history, and the name
recognition, their library is massive. Endless. MFD just doesn’t have the same amount. They are less likely to have what you want,
and be worth buying from unless you are uploading your own designs, or if you have a particular
favorite designer, such as myself. Now if you are a seller, it’s also going
to be Spoonflower, because they have the market mostly cornered. However, it’s definitely not a bad thing
to have shops on multiple platforms, and cross-promote your designs that way. Their fabrics are priced very similar. Spoonflower does not have sales very often,
and they are usually pretty specific. But if you are a designer, they do have the
steady designer discount of 10%. There is also a bulk discount starting at
20 yards of fabric, which won’t be helpful for many people, but hey, I used to need it. You also receive a 10% commission from any
of your designs that other people buy. MDF is both simpler and more complex. Quirky, let’s say. They have sales even less often than Spoonflower,
but they almost always have a coupon. You can get them through email, instagram,
or Facebook. They typically range at 10% or 15%, though
I’ve seen 20% pretty frequently, and it’s gone as high as 30% on Black Friday. In a way, this is much better than Spoonflower’s
designer discount, because the same level of discount, or higher, is open to everybody. MFD does not offer a bulk discount. The do offer a 15% sales commission, compared
to Spoonflower’s 10%. And they don’t say they have a designer
discount, but they kind of do. Every time I put through a big order, I notice
a comparable bump in my credits. I think they count my own orders as sales
commissions. So I kind of get a 15% discount, but in the
form of a rebate. It works for me, it won’t work for everyone,
but overall, I have to give the pricing and sales and discounts category to MFD. This is interesting. When publishing a design to spoonflower, you
have to order and proof a sample before you can sell it. This does get to be a lot when you’re publishing
multiple sizes and color ways of the same design, but they do have an option to order
a bunch of samples at once for a discount. With MFD, you don’t have to order a sample. None. You can just publish it. This is good and bad. As a seller, it makes things easier and leaves
things up to my judgement. If I tweak a color, I can just upload it and
go, knowing it’s right. However, as a buyer of other people’s designs,
it makes me a tad wary. Like, I trust my own judgement more than other
people’s. However, for my purposes, I’m going to pick
MFD, because I like not having to buy a sample if I don’t think I need to. Spoonflower does have the fill-a-yard option,
which is great, especially for quilters and other people doing small-scale projects, who
want to get the price of a full yard, but get multiple different designs on that yard. MFD has nothing comparable. However, MFD has something I love. On Spoonflower, the designer sets the dpi
and sizes the fabric how they want before publishing. On MFD, the buyer can edit the dpi for themselves. That is fantastic. Because that means the buyer can tweak the
scale of the print however they want, customizing it perfectly, and the designer only has to
upload one size. Spoonflower, get with it. Sampling has to go to Spoonflower. They offer samples of any fabric for a flat
rate, $5. MFD doesn’t even offer samples of every
fabric type. Some it does,
and some it only offers full yardage of. Like my beloved cotton sateen, only offers
full yards. For this dress, I only needed two yards, so
I just bought it. It was fine, but it definitely printed differently
than it showed on screen. Like, it’s fine, it’s a beautiful dress,
but as a control-freak designing every detail of a project, it irks me. Then color profiles are about even. Some print better or worse depending on what
fabric medium you choose. I particularly love MFD’s Premium cotton
colors. I just mentioned my problems with their cotton
sateen. Spoonflower I tend to feel pretty neutral
towards. But the color profiles do shift, depending
on micro variances in the ink and fabric. So it’s not a perfect science, and you should
always buy a sample in the exact fabric you intend to use. Unless you’re buying from MFD and they don’t
have samples available in the fabric you want. In that case, it’s an expensive crapshoot. And black. Printing black was always a struggle for Spoonflower,
especially on cotton. It was really frustrating, because you would
always upload something BLACK, and it would come in GRAY. When I first printed black to MFD’s premium
cotton, I was like, dancing with joy at the inky blackness of the cotton. Now I will say it’s been several years since
I’ve bought anything black from Spoonflower, because why would I? So they may be better by now. I’m not checking. I’m happy with MFD. So the split is pretty even. It really depends on who you are and what
you want. Are you a professional, or buying casually,
and what’s your skill level? I would say, in summary, that Spoonflower
is probably the best bet if you are just getting started. But if you’ve used fabric printing before,
and want to explore more options, maybe try out My Fabric Designs. In spite of my frustrations with MFD, which
are primarily technical, they are still the company I buy at least 80% of my fabric from
at this point. And it comes down to texture. The fabric feels so lovely. It doesn’t feel like custom printed fabric,
if you know what I mean. However, if you are interested in learning
more, the best thing you can do is order a sample pack from each so you can see the color
variance and feel the texture for yourself. When I took questions for this video, a lot
of people asked if custom printed fabric is worth the cost. That depends. Nobody NEEDS custom printed fabric. It is booty expensive, and absolutely a luxury. In fact, if you are just learning to sew,
I really recommend that you DON’T buy custom fabric. The stuff at the store is fine, and frankly,
you’re going to make a lot of mistakes. And the only thing worse than feeling like
you’ve wasted your time on a failed project, is feeling like you wasted time AND money. Just to clarify, time is never wasted on a
failure. You always learn from it. But that doesn’t make it hurt less. I buy custom printed fabric because at this
point, sewing for me is really an art project. I design a piece, and because I know how to
create fabric, I do. It all becomes part of the piece, designed
and finished to fit my imagination. I also like doing a lot of historically-inspired
stuff, and that fabric is much harder to find. Sewstine is one of my favorite Historical
Costumers on YouTube. She is a digital embroidery artist. She embroiders the crap out of everything,
just because she can, and she loves doing it, and she’s good at it. I feel that way about fabric printing. I do it because I love it, and it adds more
of myself to each project. But nobody, under any circumstance, should
feel pressured to buy custom fabric. Because fabric printing is art to me, but
also a business, I’ve had the luxury to indulge in experiments and trials and samples
and color matrixes, and more. I have spent a lot of business money on learning
more about fabric design and what to expect. And even then it’s not perfect. I think this is important to understand. Fabric printing is not an exact science, and
requires a bit of flexibility. The more money you have to spend on sampling,
the closer you’ll get. But there are quirks. For example, lint. One of my upcoming projects will involve this
MFD linen/cotton blend. When I pre-washed it, little specks of lint
that had been clinging to the fabric during printing lifted, revealing a light freckling
of white dots. I do not have a problem with this. It doesn’t bother me, I think it adds character,
and I understand that it’s just part of the process, unavoidable. That’s why I’m saying fabric printing
requires something of a flexible mindset. If there IS a serious flaw with the fabric,
I’ve never, ever had trouble getting a reprint. But for little quirks, if it’s going to
bother you, maybe you shouldn’t custom print fabric. Okay, time for the Q&A. “Can you get a fabric that you currently
have printed, or do you have to choose from what’s available?” I can read this two ways. One is, can you get a fabric DESIGN recreated. I think technically no, because of copyright. But like, I’m not a huge stickler for copyright
when it’s for personal use. If you have a favorite dress or something
that you want to try cloning, I do not see anything wrong with that. However they might mean, can you PRINT to
a bolt of fabric you already own. There are companies that do that. I’ve definitely seen it on websites before. I can’t find any now, and things might have
changed, but if that’s something you’re interested in, you can always email around
and just ask. However, I think it would depend on the quantity
you need and the type of fabric you want to print to. Because not all fibers can be printed to equally. There is pigment printing and sublimation
printing, and rayon in particular seems to be difficult, because I rarely see companies
that offer any type of rayon. And then quantity. The only time I for sure remember seeing it
offered, it did require a substantial minimum order. It’s not like you could send them a yard
of fabric and have it printed to. “Is it possible to DIY fabric printing at
home without the need for complex machinery?” Not cheap, and not good. There is a type of cotton I saw once that
was meant to go through a regular computer printer. And nowadays there are Cricuts and things
like that that print to t-shirts. So it depends on what you want to do, and
what you need it for. But in general, companies like Spoonflower
do use incredibly complex machinery, and you aren’t going to reproduce anything close
from home. “Would you ever consider starting your own
fabric line slash store?” Yes. This question is about scale. I think the answer to a lot of questions is
going to be the same. You have to buy samples. If it’s a large print, maybe consider getting
a fat quarter instead of an 8x8 sample so you can see more of it. If you are looking at doing any large project,
and investing real money into a length of fabric, please, please get a sample. “What kinds of programs do you use/recommend
to design custom fabrics?” I recommend anything vector because I like
vector. I’m very uncomfortable with pixels. But a lot of people use pixels and it’s
fine for them, so whatever you’re comfortable with. “Do you copy historic fabrics or make your
own designs?” I’ve done both, but for now I’m deep in
the historybounding obsession, so I’m focusing on recreating historical prints. It’s sort of a gap in the historical costuming market
that I can see. Nowadays you have pattern companies and shoemakers
and jewelry companies, and embroidery artists, and natural fiber fabrics, but I see very
few historical fabric prints available, and those I do see are focused on trying to achieve
perfect historical accuracy. I’m really more about the historical inspiration,
but mixed with modern colors and lots of options for a range of historybounders. I’ve already mentioned a few times my frustration
with endless white floral prints. “Does Spoonflower or whatever own your design
once it’s listed for sale? Can buyers use the fabric printed with it
however they want, same as if they bought it from a fabric shop? Or can the design only be used for personal
use?” Okay, it is still your design. You have rights to it, you can delete it. It is yours. Spoonflower does have the right to use it
in their promotional materials and marketing. But they almost always credit the shop the
art came from, so if people like it they can find it and buy it. Mutually beneficial. I believe buyers can use the fabric however
they want and make things to sell, exactly the same as Joann’s. I mean, I’ve done that. I think that’s a gray area of copyright
though. If someone wants to control the design, they
need to just keep it private. If they publish it, how are you even going
to track down people using it and reselling it? It just seems like a really self-defeating
move. People have used my designs for resale, and
I’ve always promoted them. All it does is draw more people back to me. “Where do you as a designer find your fabric
pattern inspirations? Any good historical sources?” Yes, museums are the best. They have images of dresses and historical
textile samples, and a lot of the times they’ll even spread out the skirt and give a good
full view of the design. These are the easiest to work from, though
I am decent at extrapolating out partial patterns and making something up to fill in the gaps. “If you’re copying historic garment prints
are there any copyright issues?” All of that old fabric is public domain, however,
the images on the museum websites might not be. So you can recreate anything you want, but
you might not be able to share more than a link to where you sourced it. Of course, if you’re visiting a museum and
taking your own photos, then those are yours. Anybody can recreate a public domain print. I own the rights to MY recreations, but anybody
else can go to the exact same source and recreate the exact same fabric, as long as they do
the work. That’s the positive and negative when you
work from existing public domain inspirations. You don’t own the original or have exclusive
rights to reproduce it. “Which type of archive is best for printing
patterns? PDF, TIFF? Which one do you use?” I always use PNG. I used to use TIFF or JPEG, but I switched
to PNG a long time ago. I don’t see much difference, but I like
PNG. I will say, I think Spoonflower removed it,
but there used to be the option to upload straight for AI format. That was terrible. It would just randomly… not upload a layer. Chunks would just be gone. And sometimes they were too small to see until
you got the print in. Good thing they got rid of that. I would’t recommend using AI, even if you
find a company that still accepts it. “How well do custom fabrics wash/dry/iron? Thanks in advance.” First, all of the websites have a care instruction
section somewhere for each fabric. I tend to get in my fabric and wash and dry
it on hot once before using it. I find that custom fabrics tend to already
be preshrunk, which happens as part of the printing and steaming process. So there is little if any additional shrinkage,
but I want to get it out of the way. The websites tend to say wash cool, line dry,
iron on the backside. I usually ignore that, and I’ve yet to have
a problem. However, here’s just something about fabric,
in general, you should know. All fabric fades over time. Red dyes fade the worst. It’s just a fact. It’s usually so slight that you don’t
even notice, unless you happen to work at a fabric store and there’s this one really
ugly red pint on the top shelf that hasn’t been touched since inventory, and when you
finally do take it down and unroll it, there’s an orange streak down the side. In general, the longer dye is exposed to sun,
and the more frequently it is washed, the faster it will fade. I’ve never noticed any fading in the clothes
I make for myself, but I keep them clean and wear under layers to minimize washing frequency. But really, it hasn’t been an issue for
me. I haven’t had any problems with color fading. “How do you get the highest quality prints
on fabric?” You just really have to understand dpi, and
make sure that whatever you upload is a high enough resolution that you aren’t trying
to blow anything up. That’s not going to work for you. “I’ve been warned that the fabric quality
from Spoonflower is inferior to the printed quilting cotton I would buy from Moda, Trendex,
or Kona, or major contemporary brands. Would you agree with this assessment and what
is the case today?” Okay, Spoonflower used to carry a basic cotton,
and an actual Kona brand cotton. They discontinued the Kona, and right now
they just have what they call Petal Cotton, staring at $18.50 per yard, 42” wide. I do not love petal cotton. The colors are okay, but the fabric just does’t feel that substantial. It doesn't feel like quilting cotton. Now MFD has a Basic Combed Cotton that starts
at $17.50 per yard, at 54” wide. It’s quality I would say is roughly equivalent
to Spoonflower’s Petal cotton, even if the price is better. BUT, MFD has a Premium cotton, at $18 per
yard and 54” wide. This is my favorite, and for only a fifty
cent price jump it is well worth it in quality. It just feels very substantial to me. However, fabric is very subjective. I like the Premium cotton because I like dense,
strong feeling fabrics. But it’s not as soft as a Kona cotton would
be. So it’s the kind of thing that if you’re
interested, I recommend... buying a sample. And I do think we need to get the word out
to more Spoonflower designers to open secondary shops on MFD. They already proofed their designs through
buying Spoonflower samples, so it would literally cost them nothing to upload a few designs
to MFD. “I’ve had so many issues with Spoonflower. They don’t check that the designs offered
on their site will print well at the proposed scale, or with this type of colors. I’ve had blurry prints and awful colors,
and it’s exploding head emoji.” Okay, the way Spoonflower functions, they
don’t check designs. They have, I think, 350,000 designs in their
marketplace right now. The website is set up so that the designers
are the ones ordering samples and checking their own work. Sometimes it’s a flexibility issue, especially
with the colors. Depending on the fabric choice, they often
don’t print exactly as you see them on screen, and I think it takes experience and trial
and error to know exactly how the colors will print to a certain fabric. For example, with my wine-colored Chintz Vine
design, the first time I printed it was way too dark. So I brightened it twice, but now I’m concerned
that when I print it to cotton sateen, it’ll
be way too light. So again, buying samples before full yardage
is key. But the other possible issue, especially with
blurry prints, is that designers might be approving designs that actually aren’t good. And if that’s happening, I think Spoonflower
needs to be notified. Because designs aren’t shown in full clarity,
to prevent copying, but that means that buyers have to rely on a level of trust. And if the designers ARE violating that trust,
I think that’s a deeper problem. However, if you have been recently disappointed
by a fabric print, I think you should contact Spoonflower or whichever company directly
and politely and explain the problem. In most cases, especially if there is any
kind of printing error, they’ll usually be willing to offer a reprint, and they should
be notified if there is a problem with the design itself. So, in summary of my thoughts… I love fabric printing. Obviously. I think it has incredible potential, and I’m
hoping it opens even more business opportunities for me in the future, as I have now got my
first historically-inspired designs up in my new Spoonflower shop, and my MFD shop. Creating the fabric for my projects is something
I really want to entwine in my channel and in future makes. I just really love the idea of being able
to make a project, and then be like, hey, you can make this exact same project, with
the exact same fabric if you want. Or you can make it in your favorite color. I just love that. I think it’s so cool. So that’ll be fun. We’re gonna do more projects. If you want to check out check out my new
shops, they will be linked below. On Spoonflower it is Mariah Pattie, and on
My Fabric Designs it is mariahpattie, all one word. Currently I just have the chintz vines prints
published, but I’m waiting on my second round of samples, and soon I’ll be getting
the carnation prints up. So, see you next time, and if there were any
further questions, leave them below and I’ll answer all that I can.
