Next up as our feature artist in The Designer Project is the ultra talented creative Rachel Darling and we are so thrilled to be sharing her work with you all! Rachel is a self-taught illustrator, artist and designer living in the coastal suburb of Largs Bay, South Australia. The designer finds inspiration from nature, everyday encounters with interesting textures and colours, and her home studio which she shares with a very cute and curious Jack Russel pup called Lottie.

Rachel has worked on a variety of different projects including children’s book illustrations, branding, stationary, event signage and public murals. Fortunately for us Rachel has a sweet spot for surface pattern design and has made a range of her gorgeous designs available in our Fabric Shop online! Rachel’s “Peninsula” Collection features beautifully illustrated motifs and a rich colour palette, and is inspired by the natural wonders around Largs Bay. Below we’ve shared a bit more about each of the designs and the types of projects we would love to see them used for. Keep reading to find out more about Rachel’s “Peninsula” Collection.

“Peninsula Posy” is the hero design of the collection, featuring delicately drawn motifs of flowers and plants which can be found on the LeFevre Peninsula in South Australia. “Peninsula Posy” is available in three colourways; “Black”, “Sand” and “Rust”.

“Peninsula Posy” would be a fantastic design to use for tableware, cushion covers and slip dresses.

“Spring Begins” captures the yellow flowers which first begin to appear in Rachel’s seaside suburb just as Winter comes to an end. Along with the blooms come sunshine, sweet-scented air, an eagerness for warmer weather and an abundance for new life. “Spring Begins” is available in two colourways; “Moss” and “Sky”.

“Spring Begins” would be a perfect design for either mid-length skirts and dresses as well as hair scarves.

“Train Station Blooms” is a fantastic reminder that beauty really is everywhere if you’re willing to look. The design is inspired by pretty yellow flowers unexpectedly found tucked away against a grey sky and railway tracks while waiting for the train one morning. “Train Station Blooms” is available in three colourways; “Dark Moss”, “Deep Sea” and “Stone”.

We think “Train Station Blooms” would be a gorgeous design to use for bedding, napkins and tablecloths.

“Neapolitan” is inspired by the array of unexpected colours found in the sand dunes of the LeFevre Peninsula. The design features intricately drawn botanic motifs and is available in three colourways; “Deep Sea”, “Foliage” and “Stone”.

“Neapolitan” would be a gorgeous design to use for evening wear and garment lining and trims.

“Wisp” features one beautifully illustrated floral motif which is carefully repeated to create an organic feeling design, balancing long strands of delicate leaves with gentle buds. “Wisp” is available in two colourways “Black” and “Sand”.

We think “Wisp” would be a stunning design to use for curtains and statement cushion covers.

“Beach Wattle” is inspired by the plant of the same name which grows in abundance along the LeFevre coastline, adding a sprinkle of sun yellow to the walking tracks. “Beach Wattle” is available in three colourways; “Green”, “Mustard” and “Sea”.

“Beach Wattle” would be a great design for overall dresses and wide leg summer pants.

“Yellow Daisy Magic” is inspired by the cute daisies which grown in bunches amongst the sand dunes of the LeFevre peninsula. The design is available in two different styles across four different colourways; “Moss”, “Basic Mustard”, “Ocean” and “Basic Ocean”.

“Yellow Daisy Magic” would be ideal for short-sleeved button-up shirts, small accessories and garment lining.

The possibilities really are endless with these designs and our suggestions above are just to get the creative wheels turning. Each of the designs from Rachel’s “Peninsula” Collection is available to be printed onto any of our stock fabrics. Simply head to our Fabric Shop online, choose the designs and then select the base cloth that’s right for your project!

We’re so excited to announce that our newest feature artist in The Designer Project is designer Tammy de Zilva. Tammy is the surface pattern designer behind Loopla – a Brisbane-based business which creates vibrant, retro-inspired designs with striking graphics and colours. Tammy’s designs are inspired by nature, everyday encounters, playing with her son and her extensive travels.

As part of The Designer Project Tammy has made a range of her eye-catching designs available to use in our Fabric Shop online – introducing the “Playground Stories” Collection. “Playground Stories” is inspired by the imagination and creativity found with children’s storytelling, with designs featuring whimsical motifs and colours that pop. Below we’ve shared more about each of the designs and have included some DIY ideas we think each would be perfect for. Keep reading to find out more about Tammy’s “Playground Stories” Collection!

“Happy Flowers” is a bright and cheerful floral print that features crisp shapes and a colour palette that packs a punch! With the vibrant colours set against a muted navy background “Happy Flowers” is a fantastic example of a versatile statement print.

“Happy Flowers” would be great design to use for summer dresses, cushion covers and towels.

“Floral Lines” is inspired by flowers blowing in the breeze on a sunny day in spring! The wonky lines nestled amongst the floral motifs adds a touch of playfulness to the gorgeous design.

We would love to see “Floral Lines” used for a cute summer playsuit or a retro style full piece swimsuit!

“Spring Joy” celebrates all the things we love about spring – birds chirping, pineapples being in season, flowers blooming and fun in the sun. This design is bursting with motifs and details and we simply can’t get enough of!

“Spring Joy” would be such a cute design to use for button-up, short sleeve shirts, hair ties and bandanas.

“Garden Bunny” was inspired by stories of bunnies frolicking through gardens and features super sweet, vintage inspired motifs. The combination of pink, blue and white results in a really fun feeling design.

“Garden Bunny” would be a great choice for kids clothing, pyjamas and summer bed robes.

“Bear Faces” is a super sweet novelty print featuring adorable bear motifs. The loosely drawn stripe in the background frames the bears beautifully and gives the design added dimension.

“Bear Faces” is a perfect design for kids clothing, kids bedding, boxer shorts and pyjamas.

“Going Bananas” is a playful, fruity print that transforms the humble everyday banana into an unexpected explosion of pink and orange fun! The design features gorgeously illustrated banana motifs with sweet spotty skin textures.

“Going Bananas” is a fantastic design to use for statement bedding, beach bags and wide leg pants.

“Beach Days” instantly evokes images of a summer beach holiday – chasing seagulls and indulging in tropical drinks and afternoon ice creams. “Beach Days” is wonderful, smile-inducing novelty print perfect for kids and big kids alike.

We think “Beach Days” is perfect for kids clothing, kids swimwear, pencil cases and cosmetic pouches.

“Licorice Allsorts” is a tribute to the old days of riding bikes to the corner store and buying lollies with your friends. This design pairs geometric forms and deliciously sweet colours to create the perfect nostalgic print.

“Licorice Allsorts” would be a wonderful design for co-ordinate sets and cute shift dresses.

Who doesn’t love listening to rain falling on the roof? “Raindrops” perfectly captures the joy of being warm and snuggled-up inside on a rainy day.

We think “Raindrops” would be a gorgeous design to use for tailored summer shorts and swimwear.

Each of the designs from Tammy’s “Playground Stories” collection is available to be printed onto any of our stock fabrics. Simply head to our Fabric Shop online, choose the designs and then select the base cloth that’s right for your project – it’s that easy!

Next up as our feature artist in The Designer Project is print and collage maker Ariane Nijssen and we’re really excited to be sharing her work with you! Ariane is the ultra-talented powerhouse behind surface design focused studio Aribombari. Ariane is a self-taught surface pattern designer from Perth, Western Australia, and after a twenty-year career in marketing she decided she wanted to focus on her creative side. Ariane ignited her love for paper, bright colours and texture when she discovered the endless possibilities that gelatine printing provides. Once Ariane’s designs began to stack-up she began branching out to collage and surface pattern as a way of sharing her work with others.

Nature proves to be one of Ariane’s biggest sources of inspiration, and she often uses real leaves and floral elements when printing designs at home. Ariane’s analogue print, papercut and collage methodology creates designs which retain the type of magic reserved for the hand-made. We absolutely love that Ariane has made a range of her gorgeously rich and detailed designs available to use in our Fabric Shop online and have shared the different types of projects we think they would be perfect below!

Ariane’s “Summer Treats” design began as a series of hand-printed paper pieces which were used to create individual mini collaged icy pole motifs. The layering of so many different textures and colours is what gives this nostalgic print it’s character!

“Summer Treats” would be a fantastic choice for children’s clothing and swimwear.

Oranges, lemons and kumquats – oh my! “Zesty Citrus” is a fresh feeling print with wonderfully bold fruit imagery. The original fruit slice motifs are made from small paper collages and is reminiscent of artwork from “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”.

We think “Zesty Citrus” would be a gorgeous design to use for kitchen accessories, tableware and statement cushion covers.

“Fish Market” is inspired by Ariane’s early morning trips to a local fish monger and features quirky paper-cut fish motifs nestled against a soft net-like check. The design offers a really playful approach to layout with the variation in motif size and direction.

“Fish Market” would work really well for kitchen accessories and bedding.

“Flower Power” is a colourful, abstract floral design made-up of individual paper collages and hand-printed paper. “Flower Power” is available in two scales: “Small” where the largest flower is approximately 2.5cm in diameter and “Large” where the largest flower is approximately 10cm in diameter.

The different options in scale ensures the “Flower Power” design can be used in a variety of ways. We would especially love to see it used for summer dresses and swimwear.

“Echinacea Flowers” features three different paper-cut echinacea flower motifs set against a bright turquoise background. The white framing around the elements really allows the colours to pop!

We think “Echinacea Flowers” would be a great design to use for summer dresses and bedding.

“Aussie Gum Bricks” feature individual brick designs made from hand-printed tissue paper. The rich, jewel-like colour palette was inspired by a flowering gum tree.

“Aussie Gum Bricks” would be a gorgeous design to use for a fun jumpsuit that can be dressed up and down.

“Flower Breeze” is a dreamy floral print that captures leaves blowing in a warm summer breeze. This design was made by mono printing actual lupin leaves and bits of grass. “Flower Breeze” is available in two colourways, “Yellow” and “Pink”.

“Flower Breeze” is perfect for silky, mid-length skirts, hair-ties and face masks.

All of our DIY making ideas above are suggestions only and we think the possibilities are truly endless with each of these designs. All of Ariane’s designs are available to be printed onto any of our stock fabrics. Simply head to our Fabric Shop, choose your design and then select the fabric base cloth – it’s that easy!

We’re absolutely thrilled to announce that our new feature artist as part of The Designer Project is graphic designer and surface pattern maker Louise Addison. Louise is the creative genius behind design studio Radge Design and brings fabric to life through her surface designs! Louise has always loved art and being creative and now enjoys working as a designer to help make people’s ideas a reality.

Louise’s surface designs include hand-illustrated motifs and textures and tend to be informed by a love of movements throughout art history. We feel very fortunate that Louise has made a range of her gorgeous hand-drawn designs available in our Fabric Shop online – introducing the “Paintbrush Faces” Collection! The collection features a rich colour palette and gestural motifs and linework which feel playful and versatile. We’ve included a little more info about each of the designs below including DIY project ideas to get the ideas flowing.

The “Paintbrush” design features loosely sketched forms and rough lines which create a deconstructed geometric style print. “Paintbrush” is available in six colourways; “Paintbrush Teal”, “Basic Blue”, “Mondrien Monday”, “Paintbrush Blue”, “Scarlett Saturday” and “Blue Sunday”.

We think the “Paintbrush” designs would be a fantastic choice for full, a-line skirts and summer dresses.

The “Basics” design is a contemporary take on the classic pinstripe design. The design features hand-drawn strokes in alternating lengths which don’t quite join up. The short perpendicular lines add dimension and fun to the print. “Basics” is available in four colourways; “Basic Blush”, “Basic Teal”, “Basic Scarlett” and “Basic Sunshine”.

The “Basics” designs are very easy to wear and would be a gorgeous choice for wide leg pants, jumpsuits and co-ordinate sets.

“Paintbrush Faces” is a bold, abstract print featuring deconstructed face motifs scattered amongst roughly drawn shapes, textures and linework. “Paintbrush Faces” is available in three colourways; “Wednesday Blues”, “Thoughtful Thursday” and “Funky Friday”.

“Paintbrush Faces” would be great designs to use for short sleeved button-up shirts, scarves and bandanas.

Each of Louise’s designs are available to be printed onto any of our stock fabrics and we cannot wait for you to fall in love with the “Paintbrush Faces” Collection! Simply head to our Fabric Shop, choose your design and then select the fabric base cloth – it’s that easy!

We are so excited to share with you that designer and artist Tracy Hall is our new The Designer Project feature artist! The Canberra-based creative combined her natural artistic abilities and hand-drawing techniques with her graphic design skills to create her bespoke business Trace of Colour. Trace of Colour focuses on creating gorgeous surface pattern designs and we couldn’t be more thrilled that Tracy has added a series of her beautifully detailed designs to our Fabric Shop online!

Tracy’s designs are inspired by the beauty found in the everyday and the natural world, and are all hand-drawn before being refined and put into repeat digitally. Tracy’s intricate illustrative style and her affinity for using both neutral and vivid colours creates a body of work which is rich and versatile, with each design telling it’s own story. Below we’ve shared a little bit more about each of the lovingly created designs and the types of projects we imagine them being perfect for – keep reading!

“Bouquet of Dahlias” features soft pom-pom like flower motifs inspired by Tracy’s own patch of dahlias in the garden. Unlike Tracy’s dahlias, these stay in bloom all year round!

We think “Bouquet of Dahlias” would be a fantastic choice for statement decorative cushions.

Tracy’s “Dragonfly” designs are personal favourites for the artist and were inspired by dragonflies zooming around the garden. The design features delicately drawn dragonfly and flower motifs and is available in three colourways “Dancing Dragonflies” (pale blue background), “Dragonfly Garden” (purple flowers) and “Dragonfly Green Garden” (green background).

The “Dragonfly” designs are a perfect choice for a flowy summer dress!

“Brilliant Glowing Jellyfish” is a glorious celebration of vibrant colour and soft magical forms and transports you to an underwater party. The bold design was inspired by Tracy’s fascination with the ocean and its weird and wonderous creatures.

“Brilliant Glowing Jellyfish” would be a fantastic choice for men’s boxer shorts or briefs.

“Maypole Flowers” is a stunningly bright and colourful design which features clusters of quirky bouquets set against an intoxicating vermillion backdrop. The design is a perfect choice for those who love adding colour to their outfit or space.

We think “Maypole Flowers” would be an incredible design to use for swimwear.

“Tapestry of Butterflies” is also inspired by Tracy’s garden and captures the change of the seasons, with flowers beginning to bloom and butterflies fluttering amongst them. The design pairs warm autumnal colours with pops of cyan and blue which gives the artwork a contemporary feel.

We think “Tapestry of Butterflies” could be used to create a gorgeous blouse, swimwear or dress, it also will be great for upholstered footstool or ottoman.

Be swept away by Tracy’s “Tower of Giraffes” design, which features majestic giraffe motifs nestled amongst a deep and brooding background. This a mid to large-scale design with the largest giraffe motif approximately 20cm in length.

“Tower of Giraffes” could be used for a super cute children’s tipi design.

“Lush Tropical Paradise” brings the tropics to you! The very lush design features carefully drawn bird and leaf motifs. The selective use of colour allows for hints of red and pink to really pop against the green rich artwork.

“Lush Tropical Paradise” would be a great choice for halter neck dresses, blouses, jumpsuits.

Tracy’s “Octopus Lace” designs were inspired by a visit to the local aquarium where she was particularly intrigued by the tentacles and underside of the gorgeous creatures. Tracy’s approach to illustrating the octopus motifs results in the intertwining of their tentacles appearing like fine lace. The designs are available in two colourways, “Octopus Lace” (soft pink background) and “Octopus Lace Dark” (rich brown background).

The “Octopus Lace” designs would be a gorgeous choice for tableware, activewear, wide-leg pants, jumpsuit, dresses and tops.

“Tropical Paradise Leaves” is a timeless rendition of a tropical style print with beautifully drawn botanic motifs. Tracy adds pops of pink to the otherwise warm, neutral colour palette which gives the artwork dimension and personality.

We think “Tropical Paradise Leaves” would be a stunning choice for decadent feeling curtains.

“Zebra Heard Stripes” was inspired by a dazzle (herd) of zebras stampeding through a savanna. The result is a fantastic monochrome print which puts a spin on classic striped designs.

“Zebra Heard Stipes” would be a great choice for a co-ordinate two-piece outfit or women’s suit, leggings, board shorts, swimwear, jumpsuit and rashvest.

“By The Light Of The Moon” features intricately drawn moth motifs set against a textured olive green backdrop. If you look closely in the background you can see hints of the moon captured at it’s different phases.

“By The Light Of The Moon” would be an excellent design to use for gorgeously upholstered footstool or ottoman.

We’re over the moon that Tracy is taking part in The Designer Project, with each of the designs show above being available to print onto of our stock fabrics. Simply head to our Fabric Shop, select the design you would like to print and then choose which of our fabrics you would like it printed on – it’s that easy!