Wonderful, wonderful Spooonflower
I am in love. Head over heels in love … with fabric (just in case you didn’t know). But today, I am in love especially with Spoonflower.
Have you ever ordered from them? If you are not familiar – from their website: “At Spoonflower, we offer premium fabric, wallpaper and home decor that’s printed on demand with unique designs from independent artists worldwide. With Spoonflower, you can either create your own designs or shop our Marketplace to find the exact right design for you”.
I have been using Spoonflower for a long time now to create and recreate my own designs. It’s easy to upload a design to their website and you see right away what you’ll be getting back: fat quarters and full metres in a variety of different fabrics: from 100% cotton, to Belgium linen, to canvas and organza. The possibilities are endless. They often offer discounts, so that’s a good time to try some designs to see how they look.
They had a discount this past week, so I ordered three fat quarters and had them shipped rush (not cheap, but I couldn’t resist getting them fast!). I wanted to see what some of my magazine paper collages would look like when printed onto fabric. If you’ve been following along, you know that I’ve been creating these magazine paper collages lately. It’s the most fun you can have with a glue stick! It seemed like a natural choice to get some prints made.
WOW! I am blown away at the amount of detail and realism on the fabric prints. What I see on the collage, I see on the fabric. I looks like a photo blown up. Every flower, every blade of grass, every nuance in the sky has transferred 100%.
Want to see? Here’s the first one: Original magazine papers collage on the left, and Spoonflower print on the right:
This collage was created using magazine papers – as usual – but this time I cut strips of different widths and lengths. There are a few layers of papers on the background. The building was an advertisement for American Express (I wish I could find another one as it was the perfect barn material) with an old brick wall. What do you think?
Second one:
I had a lot of fun with this one. I found magazine papers that had large flowers and used them for the background. I found an image on one of my magazines that had a wall of books. How perfect was that? So this barn has a large library … Look at the detail! Every flower looks exactly the same on the fabric print.
If you are wondering about the strip of flowers at the top: When you upload a photo, it may not cover the entire fat quarter perfectly, so Spoonflower maximizes the printing (unless you choose to have the image centred on the fabric) and adds extra printing around it. Which is fantastic, from my point of view, if you want to use the extra when piecing.
And the third one:
This has to be one of my favourites so far: the combination of colours and the large circles, plus that black and lime green house … I had a lot of fun making the collage, and I think I’m going to enjoy making something with these prints.
What do you think? Leave a comment below if you would consider purchasing one of these prints for your own use. I’d be interested to see what your thoughts are as I am considering printing them on demand. Do you have a favourite? Different landscapes will be available soon.
Enjoy your week, and thanks for reading. Until I write again, keep creating,
Ana
Beautiful! Would never have thought of photos of paper. Opens a whole new world of possibilities.
Thanks. Glad you like it.
My granddaughter is one of their designers. When she graduated from College in 2019, she couldn’t find employment right away and then we know what has happened to the next 3 years, right?! So I suggested that she try “auditioning” for Spoonflower. She did and being a proud grandmother, I ordered some of her designs printed on their Premium Cotton. I was SORELY disappointed……..they were as stiff as a board even after laundering. Then I let some time go by and they had a fat quarter sale, and I ordered more……….from other artists. AGAIN………still stiff as a board even after laundering AND at twice the price of good quality fabric [like Northcott whose cotton has the hand of soft silk] from a quilt shop. I cannot rationalize purchasing from them again. How many levels do I need to upgrade to in order to get a good hand with printed cotton fabric from them??? Even one more level would not be prudent for me to do. I AM happy that this is working out for you, though.
How odd! I have not had that issue. I wash my fabrics as soon as they arrive so they’ll be ready to use when I need them. They are nice and soft and great to work with. And I find the price reasonable considering they print your own design on command. I am sorry you have not had a good experience with them.
What grade of fabric are you selecting when you purchase from Spoonflower………Premium Cotton??? or something else???
Thanks for sharing this information Ana. I have often thought of getting something printed by Spoonflower, but then you’re just never sure of what the end result will be. After seeing this, I would not hesitate to order from them.
I am glad you enjoyed the information. I suggest you print one sample piece to see what it looks like and then you can decide if you like it. Often times, when I want to print yardage, I order a fat quarter to get started, to see if I need to adjust colours, etc. And then, I order yardage. Just a thought. Keep me posted.
wow! what fabric did you select? I’ve been intrigued but uncertain what to choose.
thanks for sharing
I should have also said that I love them all. maybe the last one the most because I love circles. but if I was buying one to further embellish myself, id pick the first one because there is more open space for me to do that.
My favourite too. The one with the circles. What a great idea to think about further embellishing it. I’ll have to give that a try.
Sorry for not replying before this. I usually print on petal signature cotton. If you have never printed or purchased any fabric from them, I suggest you get the sample pack. It’s a good way to check the fabrics out and see what they feel like. Hope this helps.