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Worth Reading: A Field Guide to Fabric Design

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Back in the day when Adrianna and I lived about 4 miles from each other, I found the “How It’s Made” episode that showed how fabric is made. It was good… but disappointingly brief. I think it was about a basic cotton lawn or something. At the end we both said “that’s it?!”. We wanted more. I myself could watch a dozen hour-long episodes on the subject. I already love to know how things are made, and when we’re talking about crafty things? I’m engrossed. Which is, I guess, what makes DIY crafty blog reading so much fun. Learning more and more about how things come together, and applying those things to the projects we want to tackle.
When I saw “A Field Guide to Fabric Design” available for pre-order over the summer, I put my order in in under 20 seconds. I knew that I’d love it, and had an inkling it might help me with a project/business idea that’s been bouncing around for months.
It finally arrived not long before the wisdom teeth thing. So it was on my bedside table, and with the kids taken care of by a combination of my husband and my Mom, I was able to really, really focus. (That might be why I don’t read as much anymore? Constant interruption? That and persistent exhaustion, so that if I do sit down with a book after the kids are in bed I’m as likely to fall asleep as read it.)
There’s a whole lot of ground covered in this book. Some already familiar to me, but the parts I enjoyed most explained how repeats in commercial prints work– and the limitations of presses, digital fabric printing options other than Spoonflower, and minimum quantities required for a traditional commercial run. Holy moly. So glad there are so many other options for fabric printing today. Also glad I got a photo of this book before one of my kids managed to draw on it.

I know it’s sort of a nerdy crafty book. Not everyone is interested in printing their own fabric. But if you are, the guide is comprehensive, thoughtful and beautifully designed. And Aneela Hooey’s Sherbet Pips on the cover felt like a welcoming face to me.

In the realm of fabric design, an update on Spoonflower I Spy: Swap 2.  I think we have our final list of 56, and we’re so very close to having the Flickr fabric set of 112 prints finalized. The process so far is much smoother than last time, with a few things I think could be improved if there were a third round. Some day. Beyond the organizational aspect, I’ve got lots of folks saying that they’ve either already ordered their fabric or they plan to within the next day or so. I’m excited to see the fabric begin to arrive. And also to get it back out the door before I manage to misplace any of it. Not that that happened last year. Shhhh, Care!

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Comments

  1. Katy Cameron says

    I think I saw this reviewed on a blog earlier in the summer and thought it looked fascinating. Alas, I have to admit that while I’d love to get down to designing some fabric, at the moment even a proposed redesign of my blog/website background is giving me headaches about finding the time and energy to do it! I’ll maybe keep it on my wishlist for a while though :o)

    As for the swap, I’d eliminate those annoying foreigners next time, they really just don’t get it ;o)

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