FEATURE

Blooming
DESIGN

BY ERIN MCKEAN

A new web-based service allows crafters to customize fabric design.

Sewing your clothes is one thing, but designing Although the Spoonflower team knew that their your own fabric takes customization to the service would appeal to all kinds of crafters and next level. For frustrated fabric designers sewers, they’ve been surprised by the breadth and who’ve been intimidated by custom fabric printing, variety of projects that have been created with there’s a new option. Spoonflower fabric.

Spoonflower ( spoonflower.com), a new online “Lots of people have been ordering fabric printed fabric-printing service based in Mebane, N.C., with the fronts and backs of figures to make plush makes it possible for home crafters and budding dolls, which is something we hadn’t even thought designers to print their own designs on fabric. of before we saw these designs coming through,”

Though digital custom fabric printing has been Stephen says. A Flickr group ( flickr.com/groups/ available for a while, the fees, long turnaround spoonflower) allows designers to flaunt their times, and large minimum yardage requirements talents and swap file-preparation tips. have deterred many crafters. With Spoonflower, Spoonflower hopes to expand its service soon, sewers can buy as little as an 8-inch-square swatch with plans to remove the 5-yard limit and to make for $5 or as much as 5 yards for $90, and receive other materials available (including possibly a their fabric in as little as two weeks. heavier, upholstery-weight cotton and a silk fabric).

The idea was the brainchild of Kim Fraser, 37, a They would also like to allow crafters to offer serious crafter who wanted to be able to print her their designs for sale in a Spoonflower store, own fabric designs. With the help of her husband in return for credit that they can use to buy their Stephen, 38, who has a background in online own or other crafters’ fabrics. Stephen is also marketing (formerly of lulu.com, a service that optimistic about eventually being able to provide prints self-published books), and Gart Davis, 43, copyright-free templates to allow crafters to create also from Lulu, the team made it happen. Now Kim new designs directly on the site. is “crafter-in-chief” of the new venture and can be Stephen and his team have been bowled over by seen in Spoonflower’s videos showing off what’s the positive response Spoonflower has received come from the printer in the previous week. from the crafting community. “We receive notes

Uploading a design to Spoonflower takes just a every day thanking us for what we are doing from few mouse clicks. TIFF files of 150dpi in LAB color people we’ve never met,” he says. “It is humbling work best, but JPEG files work too, if they’re smaller and a little overwhelming. It’s very important to than 25MB. Designs print on 44-inch-wide Robert me not to let people down.”

Kaufman Kona cotton, with a printable area that’s about 42 inches wide. Spoonflower will tile your design to fill the yardage you’ve ordered, or you can upload a design that’s a specific size.

Erin McKean writes about dresses at A Dress A Day ( dressaday.com) and about dictionaries at Dictionary Evangelist ( dictionaryevangelist.com). Eventually she will progress to writing about things that begin with the letter E.