Own fabric is the dream of each of us who likes to sew and, of course, we also like to look at fabrics and choose motifs and patterns. There are many motifs on the market. Knitted fabrics and tracksuits, which have their patterns printed by digital printing, are experiencing a big boom.
A few years ago, I also wanted to have my own fabric. Have an original motif on it that you design and it will be my fabric only and no one else will have it. And so I immersed myself in the search for information.
First I searched on Czech servers and blogs. Unfortunately, there weren't many materials about printing on fabric with your own motif. There were certainly options back then, but the printing was mainly foreign and only a few companies carried out "custom" printing.
From my research at the time on the topic: "How to make your own fabric", several results fell out:
- to have the fabric printed abroad by the meter / plus pay the postage, which usually exceeded the price of the meter
- to have the fabric printed here in Czech printers, but I have to choose polyester because they cannot print cotton
- to have a large amount of yardage printed to order, they can also use cotton, but I have to take maybe 100 meters from the pattern
- draw the motifs by hand with textile paints
- batik
Sure, the last option also makes my corners twitch with laughter. At the same time, I have fond memories of batik from my time as scouts, when we made beautiful t-shirts in our small Rosická clubhouse.
There is a pattern at the beginning
The first thing you need to have is a pattern. You can have your own pattern and create it as you wish, or you can purchase a license to the pattern from the pattern creator, or you can assemble it from elements for which you purchase a license. Anyway, you have to have it to print anything.
The pattern is usually a square or rectangle. The important thing is that the motif must be repeated regularly. Then we talk about a repeat pattern . this type of motif is also called a seamless pattern, i.e. literally a seamless pattern.
The two patterns that I have included as a sample are both repeating patterns. After printing on the fabric, there will be no gaps or "bitten lemons" anywhere
You can create your own patterns using programs:
- Procreate
- Affinity Designer
- Adobe Photoshop
These programs are the most used and the best to work with. I use the first two myself , and you will find instructions on how to create a repeating pattern or how to work with them soon on my Patreon.
You can purchase pattern licenses or elements here:
- creativemarket.com
- Shutterstock.com
- Etsy.com
