Spoonflower

May 14, 2012

For the last couple of months, between real life, I've been working on a new project -- designing fabric.  There is a wonderful web site called Spoonflower.  On this site, amateurs and not so amateurish (boy, are they good!) designers can upload designs for fabric.  There are several different fabric types at several different prices.  Spoonflower is set in North Carolina.  Creating an account on Spoonflower is simple.  The Spoonflower site also has a blog that tells users how to create their works for uploading to the site.  On YouTube are tutorials from Spoonflower.

Before a design can be put out in the Spoonflower market for sale, the designer must purchase a test swatch to see if what is on the computer screen translates well to fabric.  A test swatch is $5 or the user can create a collection of different designs and order a collection of swatches, which is more cost friendly.

Waiting for me in the mailbox this afternoon was package from Spoonflower with two collections I had ordered a week ago.

One of the collections I created is called "Hakes."  Hakes is the maiden name of one of my third great grandmothers.  One of my most treasured keepsakes is Esther Hakes Record Reed's Bible.

The front cover of the Bible

This image was uploaded into a photo editing site which I then manipulated it into a subtle pattern of browns and rusts.  The resulting design can be seen here:

design inspired by my third great grandmother's Bible cover

Inside her Bible, Esther had listed all the names and birth dates of her children.  I scanned one of those pages and the resulting design can be viewed here:

design inspired by my third great grandmother's hand writing

I call the design "Circling the Wagons" which is appropriate since Esther and her family traveled west from New York State to Illinois in the mid-1800s.

More of my designs can be seen at Summersgaze on Spoonflower