I thinking I’m going to run with this idea and see exactly what I can make when I mix my jewelry with my quilting. The sky is the limit.

For now I’ve added a whole bunch of pieces using the scans to my Society6 shop…

I am slowly ordering swatches from Spoonflower and currently a few colorways are available as yardage with more coming super soon…

Also any designs available in my Spoonflower shop can also be used on Sprout Patterns. How cool is this dress? I want it so bad…

Seriously, there is so much more I can do here! Other shapes, more casting techniques, different colors, etc. I am so excited by this project and will probably be sharing more about it soon!

Betz has reached out and asked a couple designers to add their personality to a few of her patterns. In exchange for doing this blog post, I received a fully printed panel of my own designs printed on Eco Canvas through Sprout Patterns.

The design process on Sprout is really cool. You can choose from any design available on Spoonflower.com and add them to different sections of whatever item you want to make. I chose the Field Study Tote by Betz White and added my own fabric designs. I messed around with this thing for close to an hour to get the exact look I wanted. There were so many possibilities.

In the end this is what I loved the most! Isn’t the digital mockup neat? You can see exactly what your finished piece will look like.

The fabric takes anywhere from 1-2 weeks to come in, which isn’t bad for a custom product. I was so excited to cut in to mine I forgot to take a photo of my panel!

Once your fabric comes in, you need to go back in to your Sprout Pattern account and retrieve the instructions. They can be found in the Orders section under Your Account.

Another awesome feature is you get to keep the original pattern. Which means you could make a second, third, or fourth bag out of fabric you already have on hand too. You basically bought the pattern as part of the initial cost. I love that they included this.

The bag went together fairly easy. I did struggle a little with adhering the stabilizer to the Eco Canvas (which is like a backpack material. kind of shiny). I think this was my fault, since I didn’t wash the panel first. Spoonflower recommends you do! Don’t be me, wash your fabric.

I also learned a new skill with those handles. How neat are they all folded up like that?

The strap normally has a slider on it, so you can adjust it, but mine is on back order so I just temporarily tacked the fabric up as if there was a slider. Haha, I have the worst luck! I plan on adding it later once they come in. If you make this bag, it will look way nicer with a slider.

I’m very happy with how this bag turned out, and I like the options to use it as a tote bag OR a messenger bag. The material also feels very durable and I imagine it will hold up for awhile.

I will always be amazed by these new options to make customized items. It will never get old. I’m already dreaming up a Moneta Dress with fabric similar to the bag. I just need to feel more comfortable with my serger first.

If you’d like to mess around with clothing or accessory patterns on Sprout yourself, then just head over to their site. I also recommend going to Spoonflower and favorite whatever designs catch your eye. Having favorites will make them easier to find on Sprout.

Now go and make yourself some one of a kind pieces!!

Their website is pure genius. You get to choose from a large selection of clothing patterns, have it printed with any Spoonflower design and then just cut it out and assemble when it arrives. No need to buy the pattern or pin anything. The pattern really is printed right on the fabric!! It’s amazing.

All of the pieces have a white border around them, and are labeled very clearly so there is no question about where to cut.

For my first project I decided to try out the Kids Recess Raglan. I went with my own Stripes, Dots & Gems fabric design for the sleeves and Heidi Kenney’s Mermaid fabric for the body. I have been looking for a reason to use those mermaids, they are just too cute!

The fabric was easy enough to cut out, and the little labels were perfect for keeping track of what was what.

The hardest part for me, assembly wise, was the collar. I had never attached a collar using a serger before, so There may have been a few curse words used. (or a lot) I think if I practice more, I won’t be as frustrated next time.

I also didn’t attach the little blue tabs, because the frustration had taken over and I wasn’t ready for them. I regret that now, because that pop of blue would have been perfect.

Overall though I was very pleased with the outcome, and my daughter loved it even more!

So much so, it was very hard to get a good shot of her wearing it. She wouldn’t stop moving!!

I also tested out the Lane Raglan in an adult size and the Lined Zipper Pouch. They were both super easy to assemble, and hopefully I’ll have photos of them to share soon! I’m also eyeing the Moneta Dress, but I’m going to try it with plain fabric first, just to make sure I’m ready!

Long Story Short: Go check out Sprout Patterns, you will not be dissapointed!!

A few weeks ago I received an email from Zazzle.com with a coupon code for 50% off fleece blankets. I didn’t know that you could get custom made fleece blankets made, and the idea excited me. So I headed on over to their site and quickly uploaded a file and ordered myself a custom fleece blanket.

It wasn’t hard to pick out a design either. CT has been asking for the bedding set that I designed for the “Just Two Words” project a few months back. I haven’t figured out the best way to make it yet, and figured this would be the next best thing. I ordered the 50″x60″ size to try and mimic a large quilt.

I knew CT would be dragging it around with her everywhere, so I made the background dark grey instead of beige to help ward back stains as much as I could.

It only took a week for the blanket to come in, which I found pretty awesome for the fact that it’s custom. The actual blanket is super super soft and fluffy and the design was almost just right (I’ve since adjusted it, as you can see below). The colors are much more saturated than on the screen, but I like them better that way. Though I worry what that would do to an actual photograph.

All in all I am super happy with the finished piece and plan on ordering more in the future. Has anyone else tried out Zazzle’s other custom pieces? I’m eyeing a lamp shade bath mat currently.

Oh and for those few emails I received after posting the photo on Instagram, I did indeed add this blanket to my Zazzle shop for others to buy too. While I was at it, I played around with a few dozen other types of products. Some are a bit silly, but others are pretty neat!

Pin It]]> https://artschooldropout.net/blog/bursting-at-the-seams-with-love-fleece-blanket/feed/ 0 https://artschooldropout.net/blog/pattern-testing-comp-book-cover-sewing-pattern-by-angela-bowman-design/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pattern-testing-comp-book-cover-sewing-pattern-by-angela-bowman-design https://artschooldropout.net/blog/pattern-testing-comp-book-cover-sewing-pattern-by-angela-bowman-design/#comments Fri, 21 Aug 2015 11:49:05 +0000 jesseesuem http://artschooldropout.net/blog/?p=3985 Continue reading →]]> *Disclosure: As a sponsored pattern tester for Angela Bowman Design, I was provided a PDF pattern to make the sewing project in this post.*

As stated above in the required disclosure, I was a pattern tester for this awesome Comp Book Cover Sewing Pattern by Angela Bowman Design. I love pattern testing, so when I saw she was looking for testers, I jumped on it. It’s a pattern for a standard sized or mini composition book cover, with numerous options when it comes to pockets and what the cover is made from. You can make a quilted cover or a non quilted. You have a few options for the closure too. Basically you can make a cover to fit your exact needs!

I was late to the testing pool, so I only had two days to try this pattern out. I finished it in 1.5 hours. It’s that awesome. I went the quilted route, but decided to use some of my cheater quilt fabric from Spoonflower to make the process go by even faster. I also only added one large pocket on each inside flap (I don’t have photos of that part yet because CT has already claimed this as her sketchbook journal cover) and I went with an elastic closure. I made it about a week and a half ago, and its already been dragged around by a very energetic five year old. It’s holding up perfectly!

The pattern was just released this week, and it’s a very reasonable $5 to download. So if you’d like to make one of your own, go check it out! You can also read Angela’s post that talks more in depth about it all here.

I myself am not done playing with this pattern, so keep an eye out for more variations…

For me this was a no brainer, because you know, cooked crabs are orange! Im a Maryland girl born and raised, so crabs are a staple meal. They train you to pick crabs young here! Well, at least I was taught young. They are one of my favorite meals and I have loads of crab artwork and toys laying around the house.

I started by designing a basic repeat pattern for the umbrella itself. I started with the above sketch and went from there.

After I finished the umbrella, I felt like I should keep going. So of course I designed an entire line of crab fabric. I made sure to include some crab crackers and a mallet on some, then some Old Bay on others. Oh and I didn’t forget the uncooked blue crab in murky Chesapeake water! I made it all. Ha. I think this might be my new fabric line, I have plans to make an entire quilt using it!!!

You can find all of these prints in my Spoonflower shop, and maybe soon I’ll have some premade zipper pouches too, because “why not?”

Anyway, back to the Just Two Words Project…

I am still loving this and its been both challenging and fun each week. You should go check out Heidi’s post from this set, I love the direction she went.

Most of my sketches were embarrassing and ridiculous, so I won’t be sharing too many of them this time around.

In the end I felt like a Dachshund wearing a trendy all over print shirt covered in cameras fit the bill enough. I made it a double sided card where the front half of the pup is on the front and the back is, well, on the back. I can’t decide if I’m done with this, or if I want to revisit it. I don’t know.

Heidi actually did really well with this challenge and created an entire Stationary suite! I mean cards, letterhead, postcards and more. It’s crazy awesome! You should check it out.

The next theme is already in progress, and I can’t wait to share what I made!!!!

If you’d like to read more about this project, check out the first blog post I wrote about it.

I brought this frustration up to my friend Heidi not too long ago. She has been spending time watching the CreativeBug Fabric Design course and wanted to test out her new knowledge. She had the brilliant idea of giving ourselves weekly (or biweekly) design challenges that had a specific theme and end project. For the theme we would each choose a word and combine them. We also wouldn’t share anything we had drawn until the next week or so, that way the finished project was a complete surprise and we didn’t influence one another. The second I heard this idea I said “YES!” and possibly some curse words.

Last week was our first week and the theme was Bugs & Teacups and the finished piece was to be a repeat pattern. At first I was super excited and went straight to my sketchbook. I drew pages of bugs, started scanning them in and digitizing them. I won’t lie, I got super frustrated with the teacups and put off drawing them for as long as I could. I just wanted to draw bugs. I may have sent text’s stating just how much I hated Teacups…

We started this challenge on Monday, and I didn’t get to the teacups until Saturday night. I’m glad I waited though because I’m really happy with how they ended up. I placed a bug on each cup, except for one, which had a bug crawling out of it. Kind of like it was hiding among the bug illustrations. This concept is where I came up with the name for the line, In Plain Sight.

I’m not 100% sure what I will do with this collection. It was made for fun and to add to my portfolio. I DID order some spoonflower swatches just to see, but I can’t guarantee that I will sell fabric. I’m still trying to decide. the best part though? I can change my mind whenever I like!

I absolutely loved this challenge, and I loved seeing what Heidi came up with too. We both have very different styles and view things in different ways. She has this magic ability to make everything super cute, and I like to go the geometric route. This weeks challenge has already been chosen, and I’m really looking forward to Monday to share my idea and see what Heidi came up. Mondays wont be as bad now, huh?