Author Archives: Ella Mackay

New Fabric – 100% Pure Linen!

After months and months of testing, we are super excited to finally announce that we have everyone’s favourite fabric in our range…introducing Pure Linen!

Keep on reading to find out all about our newest print base fabric and get inspired for your next project!

digitally printed Pure Linen sample featuring ‘Gypsy Skull’ by Brianna Pawlik

Our Pure Linen is a divine mid-weight 245GSM fabric that is 100% Linen, and has a maximum printable width of 145cm. This woven fabric has the loveliest linen slub texture and a vivid white base colour, that ensures good colour reproduction when printed. This is an ideal fabric for home and interior purposes such as cushion covers, table linen, creative signage & banners such as wedding signs and curtains.

unprinted Pure Linen fabric

close up of unprinted Pure Linen fabric

When considering our Pure Linen for your next project please keep in mind that some fading after washing is normal for natural fabrics that have been used for digital printing. The fading often gives our printed natural fabrics a softer finish which suits the natural fibre itself. Fading can be minimized through the use of cold hand-washing and phosphate free detergent.

digitally printed Pure Linen fabric featuring ‘Strawberry’ design

digital fabrics_digital fabric printing_linen_pure linen_fabric base_natural fabric 2

digitally printed HEX colour swatches on Pure Linen

Sample swatches of Pure Linen are available through our Sample Pack Order Form in our ‘Natural Fabrics’, ‘Home and Interiors’ and ‘Super Pack’ sample packs on the website. Contact us to find out if this fabric is a suitable option for your next textile project!!

Carly Westbye -The Designer Project

We have absolutely loved sharing all of the amazing floral prints by artist Carly Westbye, and hope that you’ve enjoyed them as much as we have!

To coincide with Carly’s ‘Spring in Bloom’ collection being made available to all of our customers through our Fabric Shop online, the artist herself has put together a guest blog which further explains her self-taught design process, what inspires her designs as well as bit more about herself.

Keep reading to find out more about Carly Westbye and her wonderful floral designs!

‘Carly Westbye’

I am honoured to share my art through Digital Fabrics and look forward to bringing more designs to this unique network of talented designers.

‘Carly in her studio’

I am a Canberra-based designer and founder/owner of FinBok Publishing. I commenced my business as a Graphic Artist/Desktop Publisher and have spent the last eighteen years expanding on my design skills. My surface designs for interiors and fashion launched in 2016 and my designs have branched from collaborations, prints for personal use and expanding through to creators abroad in the textile industry.

‘Flame Pea Moodboard’

We are often asked what drives our passion to create and generally speaking for myself, I gain much satisfaction viewing the appreciation of those who support my work. Sharing the love of art and bringing a smile is what speaks to me. I have been creative since I was a child and have also been fortunate to explore a number of art shows where I have been able to sell my paintings.

‘Carly’s Design Workspace’

Most of my inspiration is drawn from nature and more recently I have spent some time observing my history and culture. I enjoy exploring nature’s contours, textures and colour palette. Together, I like to combine this with a variety of mediums, as I continue to explore new techniques and learn to work with organic materials sourced from Australian suppliers. I am currently working on many new designs to be released this year, all of which have been created using a unique self-taught technique. This method combines natural pigments that I mix with inks and gel mediums. I find this to be a rewarding process to see my illustrations and paintings brought together, as I continue to develop on my seamless signature style.

‘Whimsical Sketches’

The process in developing my designs will vary, depending on where I draw my inspiration from. Sometimes it begins with a walk in nature; other times a colour I am drawn to, a memory, or experience. My sketchbook is a big part of my life, and I never leave home without it. This is a journal that I hope will be treasured in my family for the years to come.

‘Ruby Blomst Sketches’

Each design is taken through a process that I have constructed over time. This process enables me to keep my designs on track during my creative thought process. My designs are structured with sketches, both initial and final stages, a colour selection process and consideration of purpose for print. All of my final designs are then imported to Adobe Creative Suite, where I then clean my files and prepare the layout for print production.

‘Singapore Butterfly Sketches’

If you want to collaborate with us on The Designer Project and become part of this creative club, please apply! Send us an email with your portfolio and why you would like to be part of this initiative, and we will be in touch!

‘Spring in Bloom’ Textile Collection by Carly Westbye

It’s come that time again to introduce our newest featured artist of The Designer Project for the month of February! Introducing the wonderful Carly Westbye

Carly is a Canberra-based designer and founder/owner of FinBok Publishing. Her inspiration is drawn from nature, where some of her recent designs have captured some of the finer elements that are often missed on our tracks in nature. From her local nature reserves, to the coastline and mountains, places where she might be seen exploring natures contours, textures and colour palette.

Each of Carly’s stunning prints can be printed onto any of our fabrics, which means you can order custom designer fabric that’s tailored to you. Keep reading to find out more about Carly Westbye and her ‘Spring in Bloom’ Collection!

Whimsical Peach & Teal feature the Rose Quartz, Rosehip and the Zebra Finch. Both designs featuring a striking red and pink Rosehip flower and the sweetest Zebra Finch Birds. There is a choice between the soft and harmonious peach tones or the more deep and moody teal blue.

Whimsical Peach & Teal would work perfect for fashion projects such as kimonos, or silky evening wear and lingerie.

Singapore Butterfly features a subtle image of rose quarts illustrations hidden beneath an array of beautiful black and white butterflies. There is also a honeycomb pattern added to the design, giving in a delicate hint.

Singapore Butterfly would also suit fashion garments such as sarongs and shawls as well as scarves or a tote bag!

Ruby Blomst is a striking design that features bold red florals mixed with a swirl behind the soft delicate layers of the Rhododendron.

Ruby Blomst is a perfect print for activewear such as leggings!

Spring Summer Orchid (Blue, Night & Tan) features delicate orchid illustrations that come to life in three colourways. The subtle red tones in the Orchid pair well with each background, creating a new look with a unique flow across all three.

We think Spring Summer Orchid is perfect for skirts, dresses and blouses!

Iris is a beautiful design featuring the divine Iris flower. The purple colourway for this design brings a sense of warmth, joy, balance and spirituality. Think of the sweet scent on a sunny day at Floriade – Canberra’s Flower Festival!

Iris would is ideal for swimwear, dresses, blouses, or even a delicate scarf!

Koimaroo & Koimaroo Waters feature the Japanese Koi Fish, a reflection in time. The beautiful red fish pair perfectly with either the periwinkle colourway or the aqua colourway; both soft, subtle prints

Koimaroo Waters & Koimaroo are perfect for summer kaftans or sarongs, perhaps an outdoor cushion by the pool.

Flame Pea Flower is a funky retro design contains both illustrated drawings and digital illustrations of the Chorizema varium, or the Flame Pea, and sadly, this flower is listed as a threatened species (endangered) in Australia. This design embraces curves with a fun, vibrant colour for summer and is a sweet match for the Flame Pea print and Flame Pea Lines.

We think Flame Pea Flower would be amazing as a cool summer tote bag or zipper pouch! Maybe even a cute skirt or dress!

Flame Pea features the beautiful, bright Flame Pea flower. We are obsessed with this orange flower, which pairs perfectly with subtle floral motifs. This design embraces curves with a fun, vibrant colour for summer and is a sweet match for the Flame Pea Flower print and Flame Pea Lines

This amazing Flame Pea design would look great as some swimmers, activewear, or even lingerie!

Flame Pea Lines is a perfect match with the Flame Pea and Flame Pea Flower Designs. It features a digital illustration of the Flame Pea flower, coated in some wonderful stripes!

Flame Pea Lines is the perfect print for swimmers, kidswear, cushion covers, or even a beach towel!

All of our project ideas above are suggestions only as the sky’s truly the limit with Carly’s wonderful collection! Each of Carly’s designs can be found in our Fabric Shop, so head on over to be inspired for your next DIY project!

Krystal-Anne Knafl – The Designer Project

It’s been an absolute pleasure starting off this year’s series of The Designer Project with the ultra-talented designer Krystal-Anne Knafl and have adored sharing her funky and colourful textiles designs with you. Krystal has made a range of her designs available as print ready artwork in our Fabric Shop online, which can be printed onto any of our stock fabric base cloths. To provide some more insight into each of Krystal’s designs, the artist herself has put together a guest blog which details her process behind creating her designs as well as what inspired the prints in her collection.

Keep reading to find out more about Krystal-Anne Knafl and her surface designs!

‘Krystal-Anne Knafl’

Hi everyone, Krystal Knafl here from @missappledesigns. I am very excited to announce that some of my designs are now up for sale in the Digital Fabrics fabric shop! Exciting times for all of us, because you get to have some fun creating some amazing products and I get to enjoy hearing about the awesome things you make, which inspires me to design more. I’m looking forward to you all sharing some of the works you were inspired to create. When I was initially designing, I envisioned my designs on curtains, bedding, tea towels, pillows, dresses, skirts, maybe even some cheeky pencil cases and make up bags. There are some great ideas throughout the website and all over the great wide web.

‘Krystals Design Studio’

I thought it would be fun to share my inspiration and process behind my final designs including some photos of my main design space as well as stimulus images. The majority of my works are hand-drawn on my ipad pro using Adobe Fresco and an Apple pencil. I am a big fan of fun, funky and whimsy designs, but I do like to occasionally find balance through use of warm, more neutral tones.
I am a storyteller at heart and most of my works started from either an experience, feeling or observation. I have found that when an experience captures my imagination, I can put more heart into the final product.

‘Work in progress design’

Chickens With Hats was inspired by one of my lessons as a Secondary Teacher in 2021 when a student brought in a chicken that he had found on the way to school. This chicken became a big conversation point in the class which lead to me being inspired to explore what this chicken could look like with a hat on (much to the excitement of my students.) Sarah’s Orchard Garden was inspired by my friend Sarah’s growing orchard collection. I was obsessed with the colours and would get even more inspiration every time she added another one to her collection. Crazy Plant Lady was inspired by another friend of mine that developed a deep love/obsession with building a plant collection. She would share all these amazing photos of the plants like they were her own children. There were such beautiful design elements in the plants she shared which inspired me even more.

‘Work in progress design’

When designing, I’ll typically search for stimulus through images and particularly look at colours and lines that can work well together. From there, I’ll work towards creating motifs outlines and start experimenting with different colour palettes until I find one that works. Creating motifs can take anywhere from an hour to two weeks depending on how much work and experimenting I need to do.
I do have a ‘dedicated design space’ but I do love designing in spaces where I can relax and stretch my legs. Three of my favourite spaces to design are my couch while listening to music, my bed on a Saturday morning after a big week of work and on occasion down The Strand where I take in some sunshine and sea breeze.

Below are some images that inspired Sarah’s Orchard Garden some of the initial motifs I created before collaging them (Thank you, Sarah Risdale, for allowing me to use these beautiful images):

‘Orchard Motifs’

‘Orchard inspiration photos’

Below is an example of how Sarah’s Orchard Garden can be used. I found a super cute and easy baby doll dress no-pattern dress on Youtube and create this. It prints beautifully on fashion fabrics such as bamboo or fabric but would look incredible on some bedding fabrics. Get in touch with the team at Digital Fabrics about which fabric base would be suit your project.

‘Krystals Baby Dolly dress’

As a fan of fresh and delicious produce, I was inspired to create Summer Salad. A super cute and colourful design that brings out the natural fun and beauty of vegetables which would look amazing as a tote bag, tea towel or even some funky cushions! Or why not make a statement in the kitchen and create a fun apron. This print can also be ordered here in a wide variety of fabrics to meet your sewing needs.

Here’s a cute mock up of Summer Salad as a funky cushion to get you inspired:

‘Summer Salad Cushion Mockup’

I hope you enjoyed hearing about what inspires my designs, the process I undertake and some cool ways you can bring these all to life! You can view more of my designs in the fabric shop. The epic thing is you can choose a fabric base to suit your sewing needs, and the minimum purchase is only 1m! Don’t forget too that if you’re needing support to chose the right fabrics and get started, get in touch with the Digital Fabrics team and they will gladly help you out.

‘Krystal in her studio’

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and I hope I have inspired you to bring out some inner fun and creativity. Don’t forget to tag both @missappledesigns and Digital Fabrics in any projects you undertake with these designs!

If you want more fun and colour in your world, give me a follow on Instagram or Facebook.
Lots of love and inspiration,
Krystal Knafl

‘Everyday Experiences’ Textile Collection by Krystal-Anne Knafl

We’re super excited to announce that our next featured artist from The Designer Project will be ever so talented, Krystal-Anne Knafl from Miss Apple Designs!

Miss Apple Designs is about sorting inspiration from everyday experiences and turning them into fun designs. From chickens in classrooms to people’s gardens, each piece is digitally hand-drawn and given its own colour story. Ultimately, these designs are made to be a part of your own fashion story and hopefully inspire your fun and creative side as well!

Keep reading to find out more about Krystal-Anne Knafl and her fun loving ‘Everyday Experiences’ Collection!

Sarah’s Orchard Garden is inspired by orchard pot plants resting in the Queensland sunlight. These bright purple hues with pops of white and yellow provide layers and dimension that keep the eye flowing.

Sarah’s Orchard Garden would be the perfect print for fashion garments and accessories such as shawls and scarves!

Chickens With Hats is a playful print that is balanced out by warm, earthy tones. The Chicken motifs add such a fun element to the design and hats add a subtle layer of ‘extra’ to these adorable chickens.

We think Chicken With Hats would look amazing on some funky mens fashion garments! Think board shorts or button up shirts

Crazy Plant Lady presents various plant leaf motifs in wonderful shades of green. The contrasting pinkish maroon background really helps the plants truly be the feature of this piece.

Crazy Plant Lady is such a great print for any homeware project! Bedding, blankets and throws or even cushions as well!

Summer Salad is inspired by the beauty and colours of Australian produce. This print features a range of vegetable motifs, each in varying sizes and colours which creates a fun and colourful design. We love the combination of realism and Krystal’s own twist to the illustrations.

We think Summer Salad would work perfectly for both home and fashion projects such as tote bags or aprons!

All of our project ideas above are suggestions only as the possibilities are endless with Krystal’s funky and fun collection! Each of Krystal’s designs can be found in our Fabric Shop, so head on over to be inspired for your next DIY project!

Gouri Babshet – The Designer Project

It’s been so wonderful having the delightful designer Gouri Bashet, as our current feature artist of The Designer Project and have adored sharing her absolutely lovely textile designs. Gouri has put together a guest blog for you all, which shares a bit of background info on herself, some behind the scenes of her creative process and as well as what inspires her and this collection.

Keep on reading to find out more about Gouri Babshet and her creative style!

‘Gouri Babshet’

I’m a surface pattern designer and illustrator from India who is based in Melbourne, Australia with my husband and two kids. Being in Melbourne and surrounded by beautiful nature has become the source of my inspiration. My patterns and designs are known to be bright, cute yet delicate that are inspired from my love for nature and colours.

‘Delightful Roses – Olive Design’

I’m a former techie who is a creative soul since childhood. I am also a self-taught artist with an absolute love for drawing, crafting, scrapbooking and quilling…just to name a few! I like to think I have a keen eye for colours and just love to bring in bright, detailed and colourful aesthetics with a modern and feminine touch to all of my designs.

‘Work in Progress Design’

‘Morning Melodies Textile Collection’

Nature is my biggest inspiration. I take long walks in the nearby walking trails, creeks and wetlands and capture beautiful images of birds, animals and foliage that serve as a starting point for my design process. I put together a mood board with the images from my inspiration and color palettes that go with the current theme. Then I start by sketching loosely in procreate app on my iPad Pro which is such a versatile tool in art making.

‘Design Inspiration Moodboard’

‘Rough Bird Sketches’

These sketches are refined and transferred to Adobe illustrator to create vector motifs using colour palettes I create using adobe colour tool. The final motifs are tossed in a repeat pattern that can been transformed into beautiful fabric, home decor, stationery and other products.

‘Rough Bird and Floral Sketches’

‘Chirping Birds Design’

Summer DIY Dress from Unique Designer Fabric!

Recently, one of our wonderful team members Ella, took on the project of creating the most stunning party dress out of our newest natural fabric, Poppy!

Ella is our Studio & Production assistant here at Digital Fabrics and also works very closely with The Designer Project. Constantly seeing all of the amazing designs from our Aussie Designers, she decided to feature one of the prints for her dress. Ella has put together a blog post for you all, showcasing the behind the scenes of her latest project as well as her thought process and why she was inspired by The Designer Project.

Keep on reading to find out more!

When I first found out we would be stocking our new Poppy fabric, I knew I just had to make something from it. Organic Cotton Sateen…? Yes please!

I love to work on my own textile designs for my projects but this time, I decided to have a little scroll through our Fabric Shop online. Through working closely with The Designer Project designers, seeing all of their amazing collections in our Fabric Shop and knowing all the love that goes into them, I knew I wanted to order some prints to support our local artists for my next project.

Once I saw the design ‘Maggie May’ by Madeline Hawkins, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

‘Maggie May by Madeline Hawkins’

‘Maggie May digitally printed on Poppy organic cotton sateen fabric’

I then went on a hunt for the perfect dress pattern to match the vibes of the design. I came across DIY Daisy on Instagram and scrolled through her website and discovered her ‘Gathered Rectangle Dress’ tutorial.

I don’t tend to use patterns as I love to make up custom pieces that are perfected to my body shape, or just using clothes that I currently own and loved the shape and fit of to base my new garment on. For this project though, I wanted to find a pattern to work with so that none of this gorgeous custom fabric went to waste.

I love the shape and fit of Daisy’s dress, and how easy it was to put together! I ended up making a mini dress version to create a more ‘party dress’ vibe though. I ended up ordering 2 metres of Madeline’s print, but only need about 1 metre of fabric to create the dress (I’m a size 8/10 or S/M for reference)

Since I had another metre spare and a few off-cuts, I also used Daisy’s ‘Trapezoid Skirt’ tutorial to create another wonderful piece with the ‘Maggie May’ print and also a little bandana for my cat Luna (which she sadly did not want to wear for photos) !

‘Ella and her cat Luna’

Poppy was such a great fabric to work it, it was smooth and easy to sew and to gather as well! The print also turned out so beautifully on the fabric and the sateen sheen paired perfectly with the style of the design. It also happens to wash super well, even after a few washes it still looks lovely and bright!

‘Poppy fabric being sewn’

‘Poppy fabric washed and unwashed’

The dress feels so special to me, knowing I’ve helped support one of our Australian Designers.

Working at Digital Fabrics, I see so many wonderful prints come through our studio doors and am always wondering what amazing projects people are working on and what the fabric will be turned into. It’s always a pleasure working on my own projects using custom fabrics from my place of work. I feel very lucky being able to see the behind the scenes of it all as well as being able to create the finished piece.

– Ella x

‘Morning Melodies’ Textile Collection by Gouri Babshet

It’s come that time again to introduce our newest feature artist in The Designer Project and we are so excited to announce that the amazing Gouri Babshet as our designer for the month of December!

We are so lucky to have Gouri’s ‘Morning Melodies’ collection available in our Fabric Shop. ‘Morning Melodies’ is inspired by the nearby creeks and wetlands that are home to beautiful chirping birds, ducks, butterflies and the air filled with fresh fragrance of the lovely meadows. This collection is made up of hand drawn detailed delicate motifs with lots of texture and calming colours with a hint of feminine and vintage vibes that are perfect for apparels, home decor and various fabric products and accessories.

Keep reading to find out more about Gouri Babshets beautiful designs!

Chirping birds is a lovely print full of little birds and stunning florals! This design has a and fresh calming colour palette of blues and pinks against a white background.

Chirping Birds would be the perfect print for kids projects such as baby swaddles and blankets and kids clothing too!

Delightful Roses – Navy features a print full of detailed hand drawn roses and butterfly motifs. We love this combo of soft pinks and dark blues with that pop of light blue!

We would love to see Delightful Roses – Navy on some lovely makeup bags and fashion accessories such as scarves and scrunchies!

Delightful Roses – Olive features a print full of detailed hand drawn roses and butterfly motifs. The peachy tones paired with the olive background and pops of navy blue pair perfectly together!

Delightful Roses – Olive would be great for fashion accessories such as tote bags and beach bags!

Morning Blooms consists of a variety of native Australian florals in a divine peach and blue colour palette. The scattered flow of the floral motifs make it such a versatile print.

We think Morning Blooms is great for both fashion and home projects, think blankets and dresses!

Ducks is the Lake is a gorgeous print featuring the sweetest little family of ducks swimming in a calm Lake. The duck motifs are so adorable and look perfect with the blue ‘lake’ background.

Ducks in the Lake would be perfect for homewares such as baby blankets and cushions!

Geometric butterflies is a blender pattern with butterfly motifs and tiny blooms arranged in geometric fashion. We are loving the peachy tones of this print!

We think Geometric Butterflies is the perfect design for accessories such as zipper pouches and makeup bags!

All of our project ideas above are suggestions only as the sky’s truly the limit with Gouri’s wonderful collection! Each of Gouri’s designs can be found in our Fabric Shop, so head on over to be inspired for your next DIY project!

Ideas for your leftover Fabric Scraps

Whether you have been making your own garments for years, or are just starting out, there is nothing better than sitting back and admiring your finished works. Our brains get a kick out of engaging our artistic side, and getting creative helps release those feel-good endorphins. But, with any work of art there is always the clean-up part which can be a bit of a drag. And, if you’re anything like us you are probably wondering what you can re-use as opposed to throwing your custom fabrics straight into the bin. As proud supporters of the slow-fashion movement, we are big fans of limiting our carbon footprint in any way possible and fabric wastage is no different.

So instead of putting those fabric scraps into the bin, here is how you can re-use your fabrics to not only make some funky new creations, but also do your part to help break the wastage cycle.

Mesh Beach Bag

Summer is here and that means plenty of beach days, and this creation from Sew Simple Home not only looks great but also keeps that pesky sand where it belongs. All you need is your spare fabrics, some matching thread and mesh fabric which you can buy online or at stores like Spotlight. The mesh allows you to store your items and simultaneously acts as a sift for any sand or dirt.

Scrap Busting Shorts

We hate to harp on but summer really is the DIY designer’s dream when it comes to quick and easy clothing and accessories. These shorts are a great project made by our friend & creator, Carly B using her leftover Digital Fabric Scraps (scroll to the bottom to read how)! and are perfect company with the mesh beach bag to go over any bikini bottom or one-piece.

HalfSoyBean has a terrific YouTube channel and with some matching thread you will be on your way to busting out some brand new, sustainably-made bottoms for those warmer months.

Scrap Key-Fobs

Keys – we all have them and we all easily lose them. How many minutes have you wasted trying to find the house keys, that letterbox key or your spare car key? Those days are long gone with Lo and Behold Stitchery’s scrap key-fob.

You can wave goodbye to tacky key rings or uninspiring lanyards and those smaller fabric scraps with some basic sewing supplies, clips and a basic key ring. Be careful though, you may start getting requests from loved ones for one of their own, or better yet, they make a perfect present for that special someone who needs their keys permanently hung around their necks.

Homemade Heat Packs

Hoosier HomeMade are on the money with their homemade heat pack.

The beauty of this project is they have multiple uses outside of keeping warm in the colder months – where it be for nursing injuries, treating blocked pores or those time-of-the-month cramps. All you need for this little gem is your spare fabrics, matching thread and some long-grain rice and in no time you will have a funky little gift idea for the upcoming festive season.

And there you have it! Four quick and easy projects that utilise your spare fabrics, just in time for Christmas. Happy creating.

Custom Handkerchiefs by Sue Michael

One of our wonderful Designer Project Designers, Sue Michael, had the amazing idea of putting together some Hankie designs as a fun DIY idea for our customers. She collaged a series of prints together where multiple squares would be prepared, with their seam allowances included, so that purchasers could have the designs printed onto a metre of some of our suitable stock fabrics (we recommend Cotton Poplin or Poppy) and be able to cut out, then sew, to make a set of home-made hankies!

This is such a fun and easy DIY project, making it perfect for even the most beginners at sewing! Sue has put together a blog post, talking about why she was inspired to create these hankie prints and what

hankies mean to her and her family. Keep reading to find out more.

‘Shell Trail Handkerchiefs’

‘Mammoth Skiing Handkerchiefs’

During my childhood, hankies were used in daily life in my home. A skinned knee could use a triangular hankie on the way home, faces were scrubbed with Mum’s saliva-moistened hankie when dirt on the cheeks was an unsightly problem, the children could be cooled with wet compresses at their necks and wrists, coins could be bundled into knotted hankies when on bicycle excursions, orange peel could be collected, and Mum had drops of perfume on hers that she kept, always at the ready, in her handbag. My first housekeeping skills were honed with a stack of hankies to iron each week…triangles or squares…it was my choice. There was sharing of hankies when tears fell, of course. Dad’s blowing of the nose sounded out like a foghorn during hay fever season. I can still remember its musical note.

‘Sue in her studio working on a hankie design’

A modest piece of cloth can be carried close to you and provide reminders of qualities such as back-up, usefulness, freedom, recovery and even healing. Images can be updated from traditional designs, less pretty and less in balance, perhaps, whilst concurrently directing curiosity, organising visual information, and promoting humanist qualities. My ancestors have left many treasures including a box that houses vintage hankies. Some are finely textured plaids, some have been hand-appliqued and embroidered. There is a bride’s silk hankie, hand-made and kept as a precious ‘gift handkerchief’. Many of these vintage hankies have very delicate edgings.

‘Vintage Hankies Box’ digital fabrics_designer fabric_sue michaels_hankies blog 6 ‘Vintage Hankies’

Alongside the box of hankies, sits two vintage baskets of sewing notions, including old laces and trim borders. Not only could these present-day squares be cut from the large joined cloth lengths, they could have further embellishments at their edges, either with added trim, edging stitches, or applique.

A link to handkerchief edging hems from the Smocking Arts Guild of America on YouTube, shares techniques:

Most of the images for my handkerchief’s have been hand painted, collaged from paper, or printed with simple printmaking techniques without a press. I like to assert the ongoing art-making traditions that provide contrast to the perfect lines and smooth colour rendering of computer software’s image making. I also chooses a variety of themes and art methods, reflecting the diversity and choices within daily life. Whimsy and an urge to create new traditions are stylistic features.

‘Lace and Trimmings for Hankies’

‘Vintage Hankie’

With a hankie, I could rinse freshly picked plums at the backyard tap during my childhood. My Nana had placed an old hankie over the tap of her rainwater to collect the wrigglers. I attended children’s parties where precious, hand-made favours were wrapped in fresh hankies within new cups for each of the guests. This is much like the Japanese gift-wrapping tradition of furoshiki.

‘Lace and Trimmings collection basket’

Whatever the task of a hankie, it could be washed, ironed and stored for future use, in a universal cycle that has always been.

Check out our Fabric Shop now, to order some of Sue’s wonderful hankies!

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