Tag Archives: colors to inspire

‘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!

Meredith Simpson – The Designer Project

It’s been such a treat having Meredith Simpson as our Featured Artist for the month of October! We have loved sharing her adorable animal prints and hope you’ve loved them just as much as we have!

To coincide with Meredith’s ‘Aussie Cuties’ 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 one of a kind creative process and what inspires her work.

Keep reading to find out more about Meredith Simpson, her inspirations and design process!

Meredith Simpson

This collection was inspired by our beautifully unique Australian native animals. I feel we are so lucky to have such wonderful creatures that are native to our home, they are just so gorgeous that I had to draw them. It started off only going to be a collection of 3 or 4 animals but grew as people kept suggesting others that were their favourites.

Galah Bird Drawing

This design process has been a learning curve for me, as it is my first real experience using my artwork to create digital designs. I love drawing and painting and now also enjoy using my artwork digitally too – it has opened up so many more possibilities of how to share my artwork with others.

My designs all start off with hand drawn artwork. I enjoy working with both pastel pencils and watercolour paints, but find that for furry animals the soft texture I can achieve with pastel pencils is best.

Black Cockatoo Bird Drawing

To create my prints, I first used an editing program to remove the backgrounds from my pictures and to cut small details, such as leaves and gum nuts, from larger art works. I then used Publisher to experiment with various backgrounds and combinations, with the ever patient help and feedback from Ella.

Meredith and her daughter with her Animal Artworks

The Australian animals used in the ‘Aussie Cuties’ collection were created by me as part of me finding time to create art work for the enjoyment of it. I had been drawing lots of pet portraits and then drew some woodland animals for my sister in law’s nursery. I loved the freedom of drawing animals that weren’t for a particular person and wanted to draw our native animals because I feel they are just so beautiful and unique.

Titch the Tasmanian Devil Sketch

It was fun collaborating over email to create these designs and I am so thankful to the Design Project for their guidance and for this opportunity. I look forward to creating more from my artworks in the future.

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!

‘Aussie Cuties’ Textile Collection by Meredith Simpson

We’re super excited to announce that our next featured artist from The Designer Project will be ever so talented, Meredith Simpson!

The ‘Aussie Cuties’ collection was inspired by our beautifully unique Australian native animals. Meredith feels that we are so lucky to have such wonderful creatures that are native to our home and finds them so gorgeous to draw. Created from pastel pencils and that she finds to be the perfect medium for capturing the texture and softness of animal fur.

Keep reading to find out more about Meredith Simpson and her adorable animal designs!

‘Walter Wombat’ is a fluffball full of fun. Paired with our beautiful native gum blossoms, this print is pretty and playful.

‘Walter Wombat’ would be such an adorable design for kitchen homewares and garments such as aprons!

‘Native Cuties’ is a super cute print that features four of our iconic native animals: koala, echidna, platypus and wombat. The natural colours of the animals and the green gum leaves against the bright white background make the colours shine!

We love ‘Native Cuties’ for some fun fashion accessories like tote bags or even some kidswear!

‘Keeley Koala’ is the most gorgeous green print that features the cute Keeley koala together with her favourite eucalyptus leaves!

‘Keeley Koala’ is the perfect print for sweet accessories such as pouches and bags!

‘Quinn Quokka’, this cheerful, adorable print features the always smiling Quokka! The watercolour flower detail and warm colour palette make this such a joyful print that will make you want to smile too.

We think ‘Quinn Quokka’ would be an amazing design for home and interior projects such as Cushions!

‘Titch the Tasmanian Devil’ is a celebration of all things Tasmanian! This lovely print features Titch the Tasmanian Devil together with the beautiful Tasmanian Blue Gum.

‘Titch the Tasmanian Devil’ is a super fun print that would be perfect for projects such as a DIY laptop case or homewares such as Tea Towels!

‘Native Cuties 2’ is a sweet print featuring three of our unique native animals: dingo, quokka and Tasmanian devil together with our beautiful blue gum leaves. The natural colours of the animals and the native foliage against the bright white background make the print come to life!

‘Native Cuties 2’ would work perfect for some cute fashion garments like an adorable skirt or even some kidswear!

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

DIY Halloween Cat Bandanas Tutorial

With Spooky Season well and truly on its way, we wanted to give you a fun little Halloween DIY project to make for your pets…well, cats specifically!

Everyone on our team is avid cat lovers and most of us have our own fur babies to dress up. We always see cute seasonal looks for dogs but where’s all the fun cat costumes, right? Well with this tutorial, you can create your own custom Halloween bandana for your cats this October!

Get creative, keep on reading to find out how you can make your own Spooky Cat Bandanas!

What you need:

Custom Printed Fabric (we recommend our Ashton, Ebe, Oliver, Aerocorp and Cotton Poplin fabrics).
Scissors
Dressmaker Pins
Sewing Machine or Sewing Needle
Sewing Thread – you can match the colour of your fabric.
A cat of course!

Introducing our cats:

Method:

1. The most important step of all…order some wonderful custom printed fabric, you can design your own or order designer fabrics from our Fabric Shop. We recommend our Ashton, Ebe and Cotton Poplin for a natural fabric option or our Oliver and Aerocorp fabrics for a polyester (easy care) option! We’ve gone with our Ashton fabric which is a lovely lightweight Cotton Jersey.

2. Using a pair of scissors cut out a square shape, we’ve gone with 40 x 40cm, but you can go smaller or larger depending on the size of your cat.

3. Once you’ve got an even square cut out, you’re going to fold over your fabric diagonally – printed side to printed side, corner to corner; to create a triangle shape.

4. Once you have your triangle shape and all the edges match up, you’re going to pin together the edges so the fabric doesn’t move around when trying to sew.

5. Now it’s time to sew! We’ve used a sewing machine for our bandanas but you can easily use a sewing needle as well. You’re going to stitch a straight stitch, 1cm in from the raw edge starting from one of the corners. Sew around the sides of your triangle angle shape, leaving a 6cm open gap so you can flip it right-way out when you’re done.

6. Once you’ve got your pieces stitched together, from the 6cm opening you’re going to pull the inside out. Make sure all the corners are completely pulled out and everything is lying flat, as we’ll be stitching around each edge again.

7. When you’ve got your Bandana completely pulled out, so that the print is now on the outside; you’re going to top stitch 0.5cm in from each side, the whole way around. Make sure to tuck in the raw edge of the 6cm gap, pin it and stitch over this part as well. This will create nice, flat edges around your Bandana and a stronger stitch for durability.

You now have an adorably spooky Cat Bandana to dress your cat in for the Halloween Season!

Keep on scrolling to check out some more fun Halloween Prints that are available now in our Fabric Shop. You can order any of these prints on our stock fabrics and create your own custom cat bandana or any Halloween themed DIY project!

‘Bone Collector’ by Sami Sparrow

‘Zombie Ducks’ by Krystal-Anne Knafl

‘Vintage Halloween Masks’ by Sue Michael

‘Spooky Ink’ by Emilie Otto

‘Crows’ by Carly Westbye

‘Crows Gathering’ by Carly Westbye

‘Spooky Skulls’ by Ianny Bastos

‘Skulls and Roses’ by Ianny Bastos

‘Monochromatic Skulls’ by Ianny Bastos

‘Spooky Costume Cats’ by Ella Mackay

‘Spooktacular Halloween’ by Ella Mackay

‘Coffee Monsters’ by Louise Addison

Emilie Otto – The Designer Project

We have absolutely loved sharing these fun loving designs by creative Emilie Otto and hope you’ve loved her designs as much as we have! To coincide with Emilie’s ‘Life of the Party’ 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 one of a kind creative process and what inspires her work.

Keep reading to find out more about Emilie Otto and her unique design process!

‘Emilie Otto’

Hi, I’m Emilie Otto (aka Em).

Let’s get creative friends, I’m so excited to share these fun filled fabric prints with you all! It has been one of my wildest dreams since I can remember to create bold, eccentric and joy filled designs to inspire people to create and feel authentically themselves. I am never someone who likes to blend into a crowd or follow the leader and I wanted these designs to reflect this.

‘Emilie painting in her studio’

This a slice of my first collection “Life of the Party” an eccentric mix of colourful coordinates. Curated for fun lovers, sun-seekers, and most importantly good times! These designs are created from hand carved stamps, which have been elevated using a variety of digital techniques. The bright colour palettes embody my favourite parts of summer. These designs where made to suit fashion and accessories projects, but the sky’s the limit.

‘Carving design stamps’

These designs didn’t come about in a conventional way, in fact it woke me up at 2am! I couldn’t stop thinking about carving little stamps and creating little still life artworks. It all happened within a matter of hours, I was listening to my favourite playlist hand carving wine bottles, crabs, lemons, and a range of flowers. I fell in love instantly and after finishing the carvings I could head back to bed for some more sleep.

‘Emilie using her handmade stamps’

Most of the designs are inspired by items I have in my studio, which spark happiness. Items have been collected from thrift stores, gifted, and saved to remind me of special moments. I love bright colours and love high contrast patterns, so these colour combinations feel very true to my style as a designer.

‘Emilie painting in her studio’

All of the designs I create are something that I would love wearing, most of the time they don’t start out with a purpose in mind. I focus on enjoying the making process and more often that not they turn into whatever they were meant to be, these stamps started as card designs but evolved into statement fabric designs.

‘Clothing Mockups of Designs’

Here are a few clothing examples that really get me excited, they have an element of comfort, are carefree and also let people’s personalities shine through. Any of the fabrics in this collection would work well on their own, they can also be mixed and match to really turn up the fun.

‘Emilie Otto’

My studio space is full of dancing lights, disco balls and prims hanging from the windows along with artwork from other designers who inspire me. It’s a chaotic space, but I always feel so inspired when I sit down at my desk and start painting.

I hope that these designs bring some energy and fun into your next DIY project.

Em xo

‘Life of the Party’ Textile Collection by Emilie Otto

We couldn’t be more excited to announce that our next featured artist from The Designer Project will be none other than the amazing Emilie Otto!

Her ‘Life of the Party’ collection is an eccentric mix of colourful coordinates. Curated for fun lovers, sun-seekers, and most importantly good times! These designs are created from hand carved stamps, which have been elevated using a variety of digital techniques. The bright colour palettes embody the best part of the Australian Summer.

Keep reading to find out more about Emilie Otto and her fun loving designs!

Play Time Ocean Blues is a feel-good vibrant print, featuring a few items that you would find at a celebration with friends. The colours are inspired by warm sunny days and sparkling blue oceans.

We think this is the perfect print for some funky swimwear, can’t you picture it as some board-shorts or a bikini?

Picnic Rug Candy is a vibrant gingham print, inspired by picnic catchups with friends. The colours are warm and are like those you can enjoy during a candy-coloured sunset.

This print would look fantastic for fashion garments and homewares! We love this colourway for a super fun picnic blanket or perhaps a summer dress.

Picnic Rug Dawn is a vibrant gingham print, inspired by picnic catchups with friends. The colours are cool and soft like those you can enjoy during a dreamy early morning.

Another amazing print for a range of fashion and home and interior projects, think flowing pants or cushions!

Stripey Bubblegum is a bold geometric print; it is a statement and fun take on traditional tartan. The colour combination is what make this print POP, which was inspired by watermelon flavoured candy.

This design is perfect for some summer accessories such as bucket hats or tote bags/beach bags!

Stripey Violet is a bold geometric print; it is a statement and fun take on traditional tartan. The colour combination is what make this print POP, which was inspired by wildflowers.

We think this print would work so well for a statement beach towel or even a new onepiece.

Sunday Sesh Mint is a hand carved print inspired by long days in the sun with friends, sipping on your favourite drinks. The colour combination is what make this print POP, which was inspired by Mint & Pink Gin cocktails.

This design is so perfect for beachy/pool attire, think a loose over shirt with matching shorts!

Sunday Sesh Violet is a hand carved print inspired by long days in the sun with friends, sipping on your favourite drinks. The colour combination is what make this print POP, which was inspired by Lemons & blueberries.

We love this print for a fun kaftan to throw on at the beach!

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

Madeline Hawkins – The Designer Project

It’s been such a treat sharing these wonderfully sweet designs by illustrator and pattern designer Madeline Hawkins. We hope that you’ve enjoyed all of her amazing prints as much as we have!

To coincide with Madeline’s ‘Scenes from a Daydream’ 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 one of a kind approach to creating surface patterns and what inspires her work.

Keep reading to find out more about Madeline Hawkins and her beautiful designs!

‘Madeline Hawkins’

Heya! I’m Madeline, Artist behind Wilder Studio. I create whimsy illustrations, from which I design into repeat patterns for textiles. I work from my home studio based in Murwillumbah, NSW – a beautiful, creative and vibrant town where my little family and I reside. I have lived and breathed drawing since I could hold a pencil and have in recent years found a love of home textiles. When I put two and two together and began teaching myself online, I knew I had found where I wanted to play – textile pattern design!

‘Madeline Hawkins in her studio’

I’m super excited to have an array of Wilder Studio repeat patterns available here at Digital Fabrics. This collection of handcrafted, stand-alone patterns speaks of romance, femininity, nostalgia and wonder. Inspired by the likes of Lewis Carrolls ‘Alice in Wonderland’, these patterns are an ode to day-dreaming.

‘Madeline creating in her studio’

An ideal start to a morning in the studio consists of music, a brew and a little playtime- sketching or painting anything that comes to mind with no pressure to turn it into anything. Then I’ll get stuck into whatever I have on the to-do list.

‘Madeline working on original paintings’

‘Madeline colour matching her design’

When designing a repeat pattern for a client, I generally write down a bunch of descriptive words of what the general feel is I’m wanting to create, and a rough description of the colours, layout and orientation and any other parameters the brief has set. I then have a little rough sketch of motif ideas. Sometimes these may be used in the final design, otherwise they are set aside with the rest of my notes for when I begin illustrating. I love using watercolors and gouache for romantic florals, but I’m most fond of inkline pens, poscas and pencils for whimsy, detailed illustration.

‘Close up of Madeline’s studio’

I love watching my illustrations come to life on fabric and seeing others make something with a piece of my imagination. It’s really a collaboration with other creatives. I think there’s the most magic in collaboration. The coming togetherness of it. Expressing ourselves and inspiring others to do the same. A ripple effect of creativity. It brings me deep joy as I hope my prints inspire joy in others.

‘Madeline’s studio’

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!

Britney Munday – The Designer Project

We absolutely loved sharing these amazing prints by Victoria-based designer Britney Munday! To coincide with Britney’s beautiful “Pressed Flowers” + “Retro Resilience” collections being made available online to all of our customers, through our Fabric Shop, the artist herself has put together a guest blog which further explains her one of a kind approach to creating surface patterns, a bit about herself and what inspires her work.

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

‘Britney Munday’

Hello all!

I am Britney, the designer behind B.A. Munday Designs and I am thrilled to be a part of Digital Fabric’s Designer Project. I am currently based in the Gippsland area of Victoria but originated from the United States. One thing that has stayed constant in my life is living in rural communities that have a love for simplicity and nature.

‘Collection of painting by Britney’

As a child I was very shy and never was one to draw attention to myself; art was the exception. After moving to Australia, I put on hold any artistic endeavours and focused on living life, getting married and having kids. There then came a time when I had been a mom for so long, I forgot what I even liked anymore. That’s when Surface Pattern Design entered my life. I have spent the last 2 years cultivating my artistic style, connecting with other artists, and loving the idea of bringing beauty to the world with my designs.

‘Raw floral sketches’

I recently found out I have ADHD which means my style is always flowing and adapting to whatever my brain is passionate about in that moment. I usually stick to florals but will sometimes throw in a geometric or abstract design just for kicks. The same goes for the medium I use to create the artwork for the patterns. Sometimes I draw solely on the computer, other times its pencils, pens, and painting. I love to learn and try new things and designing affords me that opportunity every day. The result is a style that is true to who I am; colourful, passionate and a bit all over the joint.

‘Britney’s Gouache paints’

There are no limits to what I can be inspired by. Inspiration, for me, often comes in the form of listening to podcasts, reading, movies, music and of course Pinterest. Art seems to be an embodiment of all the things passing through my brain and being absorbed into my heart. My desire to keep progressing and creating is motivated by the stories of people who have built their lives by following their passions.

‘Floral Paintings by Britney’

At the end of the day, I absolutely love what I get to do. Not only do I get to display my inner joy on fabric, I get to communicate with people from all over that only want me to succeed. Having that kind of support is new to me, but it makes a world of difference. I appreciate the opportunity Digital Fabrics has given me in being able to connect with so many people on their platform.

I love seeing people find their own joy when they use a fabric I designed and hope I can continue to bring that to others for years to come. To follow my life as a designer, find me on Instagram @munday_designs

New Collection: Cup Of Honey

To conclude the summer season, we’re celebrating with our brand new Cup of Honey Fabric Collection. Showcasing a range of fun designs, it’s sure to inspire some DIY projects that are as sweet as honey!

We’ve drawn our inspiration from the idea of a sweet summer picnic for this collection! The process began by hand painting a variety of elements using watercolours, these were then scanned and arranged into these wonderful designs using Photoshop. To help ensure the collection was versatile, we chose to use a different scale for each design. When playing around with the colour palette, we found that the pink and green tones were an excellent combination and the touch of yellow added a radiant pop!

Our first design is Dilly Daisy. It features delightful pink florals against a sunny yellow background. The bright colour palette, mixed with the lovely watercolour textures has SUMMER written all over it!

Next up is our Picnic. A playful gingham print that features a striking vibrant green hue. This design is absolutely fabulous and will easily remind you of a fun picnic rug!

Our third design is Spell. Our charming Spell features a delicate pink and red bark speckled pattern, which could be used for a range of different products.

Finally, we have our Fern. This tropical feeling design featuring beautiful green watercolour textures on a soft pink background. It’s sure to bring back vacation memories!

We think the designs can be used for a variety of products and garments such as blouses, skirts, swimwear and bedding. The bright colour palette is sure to keep you feeling sunny during the colder seasons and will keep you inspired with whatever you choose to create with them.

Textile Collection Ella

It’s that time again! Our design team has been busy at work to deliver you a brand new range of elegant designs. We’ve chosen to create seasonal feeling prints, contrasting in style to our previous floral filled collection, and guaranteed to inspire. Introducing our new Ella Collection, which is available now in our Fabric Shop now!

For this collection we were inspired by continuous line drawings which sparked the creative process of creating gorgeous, minimal designs. We took inspiration from the Divine Feminine, researching the female form, facial features and bohemian iconography. Picasso and artist Kris Trappeniers were also used as a reference to help guide the illustrative style of the collection. We then began to hand-draw a range of illustrations, experimenting with different pencils and markers before settling on the use of a black fine-line marker, to create a universal look to all the designs.

Picasso

Kris Trappeniers

Once we had a series of illustrations, we selected the drawings we wanted to use for the designs and scanned them for further development. Both Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop were used to clean the hand-drawn artwork and experiment with scale and layout.

Different colours and tones were tested during the creative process for each design. Before we settled on a soft, earthy colour palette to compliment the feminine nature and simple elements of the collection. The warm colours, inspired by nature, create a harmonious flow throughout the range. For one of the designs we found two different colourways worked particularly well, and decided to feature both of them in the final collection.

The prints include various scales throughout the collection which we think are perfectly suited to fashion applications. The minimalist artwork and diverse colour palette makes them incredibly versatile for a wide range of creative projects. We’ve included some reference imagery below to help get those ideas flowing.

Image via Pinterest

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