Spoonflower Fabric Help Tips Please

[twiddle66]

I wonder if any of you Spoonflower Pros could give me some advice on what fabric to choose when placing a custom fabric order for making clothes for Tinies?

By Tinies I am talking Mui-chan / Pukifee 16cm-17cm, and I want the lightest weight fabric with a fairly small weave.


Also, any other advice or tips to make my first time more successful would be GREATLY appreciated!

Maybe we could make this into a Spoonflower Tutorial Thread or something!

[kiki-chan78]

Dhawktx is probably the person that you'd want to talk to about this.

I'm currently waiting on a set of sample swatches to arrive. It's a cute set of plaids for a cosplay. When they get here, I'll be sure to post shots of them in this thread. They should arrive any day now! ^___^

<3

-Kiki-chan78.

[twiddle66]

Oh I can't wait to see it! Plaids have so much CHARM!
Thanks for your reply!

[twiddle66]

Anyone Else? I could really use some advice. Thank you all so much!

I am new here, but I will try to figure out how to contact Dhawktx - thanks for that -Kiki-chan78

[zirconmermaid]

The basic cotton is perfect for dolls. The batiste is somewhat sheer, and also nice but you will need a lining. Dhawktx has some fabrics that coordinate with ceanirminger's. Dhawktx convinced ceanirminger to make mini versions of her fabrics so that they are doll scale!

[dhawktx]

Anyone Else? I could really use some advice. Thank you all so much!

I am new here, but I will try to figure out how to contact Dhawktx - thanks for that -Kiki-chan78

Yay! You found me! I'll repeat what I told you in the PM, since with the new Spoonflower color calibrations everything is changed up color-wise. Oh, I added some more stuff too...

Hey there!

In my opinion, cotton poplin is going to be too stiff at that scale. I tend to use basic combed cotton quilting weight for everyday stuff and cotton sateen for fancier. The sateen weave actually makes it more flexible than the poplin. The cotton silk is nice ( I just got a sample printed on it), but for the money the basic combed is the best value. Make sure to get a fabric yard of colors, and I'd recommend the new one from Spoonflower designer Jane Walker. I have both of them, the official Spoonflower V2 yard and Jane's, and since the Spoonflower calibration shift their colors are DEFINITELY on the 'sadder' side. Jane's yard has MORE colors, and brighter ones, to choose from (so you know what you're getting), and after you order her yard you can get the PNG file from her for a dollar (see links).

http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric_items ... _id=596262

http://www.janewalker.us/color-chart-digital.htm

When you've got the PNG file you can use THAT with the eyedropper tool for the easiest way to nab a color you want, and the printed yard lets you SEE exactly the color you're going to get. It's nearly impossible to predict how a design will look otherwise.

Also, as far as the cotton voile is concerned, I'm more than a bit disappointed in the texture. At doll scale it gives more of the effect of a medium coarse cotton gauze. The batiste was a MUCH more finished and elegant fabric. *Le sigh*.

[dhawktx]

Also, when you make up your first set of designs, DO get the designer sampler...it's much cheaper than the $5 swatches and allows you to try the same design in several different colors. It also satisfies the Spoonflower printing requirement and allows you to go ahead and offer the design for sale to others..

If I want a bunch of swatches, how can I get them at a reduced price?

A Swatch Sampler is like an old-fashioned contact sheet; it puts an 8"x8" swatch of each design in a collection onto a single piece of fabric. A sampler for a collection of 1-5 designs is $12, 6-15 designs is $20, and up to 30 is $35. You can only order your own design in a swatch sampler. Two useful things to know about samplers:

At as little as ~$1.20 per swatch, this is the most cost effective way to order swatches at Spoonflower.

Swatches ordered on samplers meet the pre-swatching requirement for selling designs in the Spoonflower Marketplace.

To order one, all you have to do is put the designs you want on your sampler into a single collection. Here's how:

1. Under the 'My Studio' link, click 'My Design Library'.

2. Click the 'Create Collection' button. If you've never done this before, you can learn more about collections here.

3. Give your collection a name and some categories, and save it.

4. When you're back in the design library, there will be a drop-down box under each design where you can add it to your new collection.

5. To order the sampler, navigate to your collection by clicking 'Collections'. Choose the collection you would like to have printed as a sampler. Click the 'Get a Sampler' button. After confirming the view and price on the following screen, click 'Order a Fabric Sampler'.

[twiddle66]

WOW! My head is spinning! What FABULOUS answers! Thank you so much!

Now I can not wait until the weekend so I can get cracking on designing. I really can't thank you enough!

I did order the spoonflower color chart thingy for a buck a few months ago when I first heard of spoonflower. When it arrived I felt so intimidated by what looked to be major color shifts to the drabbier side---You explained that perfectly! I am going to order Jane Walkers as you suggetsed.

I guess to get started on something I will order a couple $5 pieces of other peoples designs from the shop--there are some adorable Kawaii critters that would look so sweet pieced together in strips and then cut into an a-line dress.

I have to go make dinner now. I will try NOT to badger the living crap out of you with a ton of spoonflower questions as I go-- but really you have helped IMMENSELY!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[kiki-chan78]

The plaids are here... I was also testing out two different types of fabric to see which one I liked better. They're both pretty spiffy.







<3

-Kiki-chan78.

[Lon]

Something I wondered about is using the built in recoloring tool to get the colors right. I made and bought swatches for 2 prints that should have been about this green but they came out more or a spring green. Fine, but not what I was looking for. I wonder if "recoloring" by selecting a similar green from the built in chart would help.