I finally did it! I've been wanting to have the fabric I print (I use a silkscreen process that's a combination of what I learned in Pat Pauly and Kerr Grabowski classes) reproduced by Spoonflower. It's been at least 3 years and I finally made it happen.
It started with a 3-one month online Photoshop Elements classes taught by the Pixeladies. These gals know their stuff but more important, they know how to teach. And they're FUN!
I was a three time Photoshop loser/dropout, couldn't get the hang of it, till I found Kris and Deb.
I had some of my prints professionally photographed and started designing them in Photoshop Elements to make repeatable patterns . I was pretty successful but I have a ways to go.
Here's my first actual wearable garment using fabric I had printed using Spoonflower. It's their Cotton Spandex Jersey. I like the fabric. The black background came out sort of heathered, which I actually like. The Pixeladies have done a whole blog on the blacks you get with different companies.
I must have goofed on the sizing though. The motifs came out much smaller than the original piece of cloth. I'll have to figure out what I did. I don't mind this size but I'd like to know how to size my designs so that I get what I want.
Here's the original piece of cloth. It's 1/2 yard, about 52"wide. The "windows", which is what I call this fabric, are each about 5-6" tall.
It's much easier to silk screen pieces that are about 1/2-1 yard. Then have a company print more yardage. I'd been trying to print several yards myself but it's just too danged hard to get what I want. Plus, when I print smaller pieces I can combine them into one file on Photoshop. Here's an example.
I started out with these three panels. Each is about half a yard.
And combined them in one Photoshop file that turned out like this.
I had it printed in their Signature Cotton which I'm not all that thrilled about. I'd like to find a company that uses really fine garment quality fabrics.
Something interesting happened when I put on a garment using my fabric but commercially printed. It didn't have the same energy as when I wear garments in the original cloth. I hadn't expected that. There's something tangible and exciting about wearing the original that is somehow lost when they are reproduced. That doesn't mean I'll stop doing it but it was interesting.
I plan to take these three classes again when they offer them in a few months.
It was a super productive way to spend during COVID confinement and I'm glad I got something like this accomplished during that time. I would never have done it otherwise.
What did you get done during COVID that you're proud of???
