Tag Archives: custom fabric

Cotton Poplin Fabric

This time on the blog we’re focusing on one our most popular fabric choices from our range of Natural Fabrics – the Cotton Poplin! Even if you haven’t printed on our Cotton Poplin before there’s a good chance you’ve seen, used or worn similar Cotton Poplin fabrics. It’s a first choice fabric fora variety of products, garments and homewares.

Our Cotton Poplin is a high quality lightweight 100% cotton fabric which is both durable and versatile, and has a maximum printable width of 140cm. This plain weave natural fabric has a smooth surface making it great for designs with intricate and fine details. It has a warm white base colour and a matte finish. The Cotton Poplin’s tight weave allows for good colour reproduction when printed.

When selecting the Cotton Poplin please keep in mind that some fading as a result of washing is normal for digital printing on natural fabrics. The fading often gives the Cotton Poplin a charming and soft ‘worn’ look. Fading can be minimized through the use of cold hand-washing and phosphate free detergent.

Cotton Poplin is 105 GSM and has no stretch. It has a crispness to its drape and holds it shape very well, making it ideal for fashion garments such as shirts, dresses, skirts and kids clothing. It is a particularly good choice for Summer fashion! The fabric is also a popular choice for pillowcases, napkins, displays and beeswax wraps. We’ve included some reference images below which

image via Pinterest

Sample swatches of the Cotton Poplin are available through our Sample Pack Order Form on the website. Contact us to find out if this fabric is a suitable option for a textile project you’re working on!

Snippets: Chats With Creatives, Textile Designer Molly Fitzpatrick– Series 3, Snippet 2

Snippets. Chats with Creatives

Here at Digital Fabrics we love everything print, pattern and colour and we love to know what makes print designers tick.

This series we are focusing on textile designers as our creatives to get into the nitty gritty of the thing we love the most, textiles and surface design! We have asked a different set of questions relative to this and as always we hope to inspire others by sharing snippets of these creative stories.

Today we are chatting to Molly Fitzpatrick, a USA based textile designer who has designed for a wide variety of clients and products including major airlines, home furnishings, and baby accessories. She also works as a textile design consultant assisting with manufacturing and production needs as well as being the Founder and Creative Director of DittoHouse – modern, bold textiles for the happy modern house.

Tell us a bit about yourself, your brand/label name what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

My name is Molly and I own DittoHouse, a textile and surface design company based in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. My company got its start when we welcomed an adorable baby boy into our family four (almost five!) years ago. I quickly learned that comfy cozy blankets are an essential part of every happy house; blankets for the baby to play on, for our visitors to snuggle under, to throw an impromptu picnic in the back yard! Not only is it essential that our blankets be so cozy, but they must look at home in our happy modern house.

Where do you call home and what is your favourite thing about where you live?

My hometown is Cleveland, Ohio. I live with my husband and kids in our bungalow that we’ve redesigned together. We made the inside open and bright, with clean and modern lines. Will (my husband) has done all the work himself! My favourite part is my office/studio space, which is on the second floor. He created a walkway with a balcony to make it into a loft. It’s got lots of fun design details to facilitate creativity (built-in bulletin boards, lots of storage space, and a fun hiding spot for our kids to play in, too).

What 3 words best describe your creative style.
Rhythm, bold, colourful

Tell us a bit about what kind of studio, space or practice you run? Do you sell online or license your prints, do you do commissions or lots of freelance and what do you like doing the most?

I have three facets to my business: I work as a textile design consultant where I give creative direction to manufacturers on their textile products, I license my textile designs to companies, like CB2, and I have a product line of home textiles called DittoHouse.

Tell us about how you get your creative juices flowing, what is your process? Do you have a source of inspiration you want to share with us?

I love looking at my favorite textile designers and optical artists of the ’50s and ’60s for inspiration. Anni Albers and Gunta Stolz are two of my favorite textile designers. I love the optical art of Julian Stanczak and Richard Anuszkiewicz.

When designing a new collection or set of work what is your process and how long might you spend on this?

I like to work late at night when my kids are asleep – distraction free! When I’m working on a new collection, I usually focus on a specific idea that I want to put energy and love into, and something I feel is important to share with my audience. My most recent collection is inspired by one of my heroes, Malala Yousafzai, and her calling to empower girls through education. I hope to illustrate hope, power and light through my current designs.

What has been your proudest creative business achievement to date?

Generally speaking, I’m so proud that I am able to do the work I love to do, and am able to support my family with that work. Specifically, I still get really excited every time I see my designs in publications!

What advice would you give an aspiring textile designer in today’s challenging and competitive environment? Are there any resources you would recommend or websites that you couldn’t live without?

Do things you love! Give yourself challenges to keep yourself creating, and making new designs as often as possible (daily or even more). Make the things you wish someone else would make – fill the space and the need for things that only you can create, with your own special vision!

What would your dream creative project or collaboration look like? Tell us about why you would love to collaborate with them and what you find inspiring about their work.

I would looooooooove to create designs for Ikea! I really respect that Ikea has a intentional sustainability component to their company mission, and they are a retailer that I use and enjoy in my own home.

You can follow what Molly is upto: Dittohouse Website, Molly Fitzpatrick Studio Website, Dittohouse Instagram, Molly Fitzpatrick Studio Instagram.

Textile Collection Luxe

Recently when we’ve launched a new range of prints we’ve taken the time to put together a blog post that details the creative process behind the collection. We thought it would be a fabulous opportunity to revisit some of the past textile collections in our Fabric Shop and share the inspiration, techniques and methods that went into the creation of these designs. For this textile retrospective we’re focusing on one of our most popular ranges – The Luxe Collection. The range features 6 key designs, with some available in multiple colourways, resulting in a rich 10 piece collection.

Palazzo Colonna Rome – nikyrovis.com.au

Dulux Styling – we-are-scout.com

Villandry Wallpaper Styling – stylelibrary.com

The Luxe Collection wanted to celebrate the essential role that textiles and prints play in designing really sumptuous interiors. The layering of different colours and textures together elevates a space and gives it that luxurious feel. Our design team wanted to apply this same logic to a textile collection by playing around with different colours, techniques and imagery.

The first design element we worked on was colour. We wanted to select a colour palette that created a sense of opulence all on its own. The secondary colours of green and purple were selected as focal points, with distinct choices for each being used, including hot pink, sage green, indigo and spearmint. The colour palette has cool undertones throughout and is reminiscent of gem stones.

The creative process then varied for each of the designs. For the ‘Bold Rose’ prints, photographs taken at The Royal Botanic Garden were digitally manipulated to create moody large scale prints. The ‘Watercolour Pink’ and ‘Circular Peony’ were created from hand drawn watercolour illustrations which gives the designs a free-flowing aesthetic. ‘Mramor Ice’ was created using marbling techniques, which also provides an organic feel, whilst ‘Elephant Ear’ and the ‘Cutout’ prints were designed entirely digitally as a point of difference within the range.

This variation between designs creates a really interesting narrative throughout the collection where the prints can either work alone or harmonise beautifully together. The Luxe Collection is a series of statement prints certain to give any space a touch of flair.

We’d love to know what sort of project you would like to use these designs for, or perhaps the projects you’ve already used them for – so please get in touch! Designs are available in our Fabric Shop now.

Nailed It: Q & A Style Interview With Stavroula Adameitis From Frida Las Vegas

Nailed It. Creative business success story

Here at Digital Fabrics we love finding a new and interesting success story on a brand or business that is inspiring to the creative community. We thought it would be useful and informative to find out how these creative businesses nailed it, lessons learned on the way and tips they might have. We have asked them to share important “How to’s” and growth hacking tips for start-ups and emerging designers. Read it, get motivated and nail it yourself!

We are back for 2019 and we have a fabulous designer to get your creative juices flowing and your mind ticking! To get the year going we are chatting to Stavroula Adameitis, the artist and designer behind the fabulous label ‘Frida Las Vegas‘ an Australian brand known for its bright colours, pop art themes and humorous work with a big kitsch kick and homage to the 80’s. We had the pleasure of asking her a few questions about how she is nailing it and what she has learnt along her journey so far.

Firstly, please tell us about how Frida las Vegas was born and how you came up with the very fun name?

The name ‘Frida Las Vegas’ was given to me by a dear friend when I unceremoniously signed up for an OKCupid.com profile some time in 2012 and didn’t want to use my real name on screen. I stayed on the platform for a grand total of 10 minutes before getting creeped out and leaving the online dating world forevermore but I noted the name ‘Frida Las Vegas’ had a catchy ring to it. I felt the combination of artistic feminine expression a la Frida Kahlo with a side order of tack-a-rama Las Vegas glamour really summed up who I was and what I wanted to express, so it was perfect to create work under this name a year later!

Your artwork is uber unique! What messages are you trying to share and what does your brand represent?

Thank you! My work is super nostalgic and reflects my personal obsessions with icons of popular culture, architecture, fashion and memory – many of which are distinctly Australian, which I feel is missing from the pantheon of Pop Art. Glamour and humour are central to the FRIDA LAS VEGAS ideology as these terms usually contradict themselves and I don’t think they necessarily should.

Visually, I’m interested in creating a universe that exists in its own timewarp, like a mash-up between art deco linework, 1980s Memphis Milano graphics and 1950s atomica. Ultimately my brand represents the self-actualising power of positivity, colour, confidence and humour.

Your colour palette is bold and bright, do you ever see this changing or is it integral to your work?

My colour palette is somewhere between a Barbie Campervan and a bag of mixed lollies and I can’t see this changing too much across mediums. I connect with bright colours on a deep level as they give me energy. If I ever use black as a major colour, I’m pretty sure will only be used as a background for multicoloured neon lights!

Do you work on Frida las Vegas full time? If so how did you make the transition and what experience have you found most valuable on the way? What advice can you give to fellow creatives thinking about making the leap?

Presently, I work freelance and split my time between clients, agencies and my own work under the FRIDA LAS VEGAS label. It’s all a juggle but I love constantly learning and evolving. There’s no roadmap through a career and I’m excited to see where the path twists and turns as new technologies and opportunities present themselves in the future. It’s important to stay open and flexible, regardless of your medium or industry.

Do you think you have a specific demographic, if so who are they and what do you think they love most about your work?

Anyone who appreciates vintage-inspired styling, a keen sense of humour and a love of colour is probably going to connect with my work. I’ve been told by customers that wearing FRIDA LAS VEGAS makes them feel fabulous and confident, which is the ultimate double-whammy compliment in my books and also the reason I do what I do!

Sydney is a BIG source of inspiration for you (obviously, because she’s fabulous dahhh-ling). Can we expect to see any work inspired by any of our other glorious Aussie cities?

I adore Sydney and feel incredibly inspired to call Sydney home, but am equally pumped to explore the mythologies, signs, symbols, faces and places of other Australian locales – especially the Gold Coast (so gloriously tropical and tacky!) and Adelaide always holds a giant slice of my heart, as that’s where I grew up and spent my first 25 years on the planet.

Who are your biggest inspirations and who tops your dream collaboration list?

I’d love to collaborate with Black & Gold or Home Brand, but this is definitely a pipe dream as they are both very elusive and exclusive! Fashion-wise, I love the work of Elio Fiorucci, Jeremy Scott, Thierry Mugler, Gianni Versace and 80s Barbie, amongst others. Cinema is also a massive passion, especially costume and set design – which is truly creative across the spectrum and allows filmmakers and their teams to construct entire ‘worlds’, something I find really appealing.

Ethical manufacturing is clearly very important to you (yass!). As another local business supporting the ethical fashion movement we’d love to hear what your motivations with this cause are.

Ethical manufacturing makes perfect sense. From a production perspective, it’s more efficient to foster relationships with local suppliers whom you can jump on the phone and workshop ideas with in the same timezone rather than dealing with overseas companies by email. My artwork celebrates Australia in all its forms, so it’s only fair my clothing truly reflects that celebration in how it is produced and constructed. I’m a big believer in practicing what you preach!

You recently entered the world of fashion with a product list growing fast! What led to you designing and creating these pieces and what might be next?

I’m always motivated to design what I personally want to wear and can’t find on the market. I’m not interested in trying to reach a mass audience, which gives me freedom to follow my instincts and design without boundaries. Presently I’m on the hunt for the perfect swimsuit that is fun AND flattering, with no luck from what’s on the market – so I’m working on making that happen!

What projects are on the horizon for Frida Las Vegas for 2019? Can you share any juicy plans or new product launches?

I’m working on an exhibition of neon and acrylic art that I’m MEGA pumped about, which is shaping up to be an extravaganza of extreme 80s glamour!

What is your advice for creatives at the beginning of their journey? Perhaps they are not sure on the product to create or the path to go down. If you could go back and give yourself advice, what would it be?

The best way to do is by doing. Skill up. Tool Up. Bar a few established professions, the concept of a career with a capital C is 100 per cent in flux right now – so stay ahead of the game with real, practical, hands-on skills that render you valuable and flexible for a changing world.

Find your own unique style. Don’t seek to emulate the work of one or two of your favourite artists. Instead, find inspiration from the random things that TRULY speak to you. Aim to ‘channel’ your influences rather than ‘copy’. Creating a style is all about how you mix up the mediums, styles, symbols and feelings of the things you love to create a product that is more cohesive than the sum of all its parts. Do this with your own personal flourishes.

Social media now consumes so much of our time and mental space, how do you manage this area and do you have any tips on how to stay relevant and fresh?

Social platforms are purposefully addictive by the nature of their interface design. With minimal ‘exit points’, it’s important to maintain boundaries with yourself and not get lost ‘in the scroll’. I strive to share my work in a tone that is authentic, relatable and not-too-serious. If a photo or video takes more than a minute to write a caption, I don’t post it because it means I’m probably thinking about it too much. Ultimately it’s important to not take social too seriously or let it define you – we are all human, not numbers!

As a business owner these days you have to have the ability to wear lots of hats, what is your favourite and least favourite hat to wear and why?

Posting orders at the post office isn’t my favourite part of the process but I’m trying to find beauty in the banal and see it as a chance to leave the computer and stop ‘n’ smell the (Cadbury) Roses!

Thanks Stav, what a fun and inspiring read!

You can follow along with what Stavroula from Freda Las Vegas is upto Website, Instagram,

How To: Create a Mirror Repeat using our Online Uploader

Designing abstract textural prints may seem like a challenge, but by selecting the Mirror Repeat Feature when using our Online Uploader, your designs can be taken to the next level with minimal fuss when it comes to repeating your design. Here’s an easy to follow tutorial put together by one of our fabulous interns from 2018 – Emily!

Firstly, start out by creating your own designs and then scan them into your computer. We recommend to scan your artwork at 300dpi and in RGB colour mode.

For our artwork we decided to play around with line-work and contrasting colours to create a high energy zig-zag effect.

Open the design in Adobe Photoshop. It’s at this stage that you can edit your artwork if it requires any tweaks, such as changing the colours or removing / cleaning up elements. Once you are happy with your artwork use the crop tool to crop your design into a rectangular tile.

Check the size of your image by selecting ‘Image’ > ‘Image Size’ from the menu bar in the top-left of your screen. If the dpi of your image is larger than 300, please reduce it to 300dpi. If the dpi of your image is less than 300 you can keep it at this size. Please note we recommend artwork for digital printing to have a dpi of at least 150 for best results when printing onto fabric.

Save the tile as a JPEG so that it is compatible with the Online Uploader.

Next head to our website! The Online Uploader is available either clicking here or by copying & pasting this link: www.digitalfabrics.com.au/custom-fabric into your browser. Use the Online Uploader to upload your design. After the file has loaded you should see it in the fabric preview window.

To the right of the fabric preview window you will see a list of options, including any changes that need to be made to your artwork size as well as the type of ‘repeat’ required for your design. When first uploaded your artwork will always be shown using a ‘full drop’ repeat. Select the ‘mirror repeat’ option. This will reflect your design tile’s edges when placed next to each other, resulting in a seamless repeat pattern of your textured artwork.

Congratulations! You now have a repeat design all set to be printed on the fabric of your choice and applied to any project you can imagine!

Snippets: Chats With Creatives, Textile Designer Beck Ng – Series 3, Snippet 1

Snippets. Chats with Creatives.

Here at Digital Fabrics we love everything print, pattern and colour and we love to know what makes print designers tick.

Today we are chatting to Beck Ng from Fabric Drawer, a Melbourne based surface designer and maker who has a passion for pattern! She creates prints often inspired by nature and the things she has seen and done throughout her life, these are available for license or purchase. She also makes things from her printed fabrics and sells them at markets and online here

We love her style, whimsical and folk like florals that look great on our favourite thing, fabric! Her work has been featured in lots of awesome places including the Print and Pattern website, the latest Flow Calendar and she is currently a finalist in the Frankie Good Stuff Awards so you can vote for her here!

Tell us a bit about yourself, your brand/label name what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

I’m a designer, maker, mum and pattern lover from Melbourne. My creative journey started in graphic design, but took a side step into patterns when I started a textiles course. I created the label Fabric Drawer (in 2012) to showcase my love of patterns, for licensing and also for use on my own range of products. I started out designing patterns and didn’t begin making my own products until a few years later.

Having my own business allows me to create my own style of work and turn it into a product that people can purchase and take home (or gift!). So far, I make each and every product myself and have been committed to sourcing materials locally where possible. I also enjoy the process of licensing my work, which means I work with clients to have my designs on their products. I really enjoy being involved in all facets off my creative business; it’s a never ending learning process!

Where do you call home and what is your favourite thing about where you live?

I live in Melbourne, close to the city and I enjoy the convenience of being able to walk, bike or tram to most places.

What 3 words best describe your creative style.

Inspired by nature

Tell us a bit about what kind of studio, space or practice you run? Do you sell online or license your prints, do you do commissions or lots of freelance and what do you like doing the most?

My creative business does a little bit of everything. I license my designs, make products from my work and sell at markets around Melbourne.

I started out in art licensing through an art agent in America. They represented me for almost 3 years and I was fortunate to have my work sold/licensed on products such as greeting cards, party ware, gift bags and wall art. I have learned a lot about the art licensing industry and am finding it an area I’d like to get more and more into. It’s still a big learning curve for me and it’s certainly challenging finding my own licensing opportunities without an agent.

Outside of the licensing, I have made my own collection of products from my patterns. I’ve been doing this for about three years now, starting out very small by sewing a few products and selling them at markets. Initially I didn’t sell very much, but as I kept going, I started to sell a bit more at each market and have now been able to be part of some of the larger design markets in Melbourne. I sew everything myself, which is a very time consuming process, but has been the best way to make small quantities and keep things local for now.

I find licensing and making products both a rewarding process and I think that having my own range of products has helped the licensing side of the business.

Tell us about your creative space, what are your tips for keeping a creative studio space organised? What would your dream space look like?

To be honest I don’t have much of a creative space. I have seen pictures of other creative studios, and I love the idea of a light filled space, with your computer on bare desk and pieces of your work and work that inspires you decorated around the wall and studio. In reality, I work in my bedroom, lounge room, dining room (I have a laptop) and small nook in a room (for sewing). It’s not very glamorous, but I guess I wanted to share that so people realise you don’t need the perfect set-up to get started and be creative. Sometimes constraints are needed so you can focus on creating. That said, I wouldn’t mind the type of studio space I described above!

When designing a new surface design collection or set of work what is your process and how long might you spend on this?

I keep it pretty simple and start out my patterns by drawing on regular plain white paper with a pen or pencil. It’s good to have a bit of a story or theme in mind, but I don’t always start that way. When I feel like I have sketched up enough motifs, I photograph them and bring them into my computer to start tracing them in Illustrator. I love using Illustrator because of the flexibility it allows to scale and change colours. From there I start working on the hero print, then build out the secondary and simple coordinates. I try to have a minimum of 5 patterns per collection. I have been known to put together a collection within a couple of weeks when I’m under a bit of a deadline, but it could take a month or months if I take my time.

Which part of the creative process is your favourite and why?

I really enjoy the process of piecing a surface pattern together. It’s feels a bit like a jigsaw puzzle; fitting each motif into the right space and then working on the right colour palette.

What would you say is the biggest challenge when running your own creative business, what is your favourite and least favourite part?

Time! There is never enough time. I don’t work on my business full-time and never have. I have a part-time job as a graphic designer, sometimes I freelance too and have two young girls to look after. Usually I would have to work on my creative stuff when the kids are in bed, or if I have any small snippets of time throughout the day. I would love to focus on my creative business more, but the reality is I still need some bread and butter income.

My favourite thing about having my own business is that I can create whatever I like. As a graphic designer, you’re bound by what the client wants, so having my own work gives me the freedom to express myself creatively.

My least favourite part is social media. I feel like it’s a bit of a time suck, and am spending more time on it then I’d like. I do try to post regularly to share my work (because opportunities can come out of social media) and build my brand, but I kinda wish I didn’t have to.

I feel like being a creative is a bit of a labour of love, so you need to be passionate about what you do, because it’s not a huge money maker for most. Persistence and consistency is important. Keep creating consistently and by the end of the year you’ll have a good body of work. With licensing and collaborations, it can be a disheartening process, because it’s not that easy to sell or license your work, especially when you are starting out. Often you’ll contact companies and they don’t even respond! But keep persisting and asking around, while continuing to build up a stronger folio of work and through this hard work, things can start to happen.

Facebook groups can be immensely helpful connecting with other surface designers. I’m in a few surface pattern / licensing groups and it’s great way to get some advice. I’m part of a meet-up group of other designers who are specifically interested in licensing their art. Skillshare is a great resource for doing some short courses at a reasonable price. I did the Make It In Design Module 3 course, and I felt that was helpful to get me started. There are quite a few online courses, but they can be costly. I’d probably recommend starting with free or low cost options first and see where that takes you, before investing in an expensive course.

What projects or collaborations from last year stuck out, good or bad and what is coming up over this year that you would like to plug!

I loved being involved in some of the bigger design markets, such as Markit, Finders Keepers and Makers and Shakers market last year. It’s great to be amongst other creatives and interact with customers directly, even though I’m quite an introverted person. It’s a lot of work though, preparing for markets when you make everything yourself, so I haven’t planned any markets for this year so far.

I also really enjoyed working with Apiary Made on their range of beeswax wrap designs. It’s been great to work with a local business whose values sustainability and ethically made products. I have collaborated with another couple of brands, but I will share the details when the product comes out as I’m not sure when this will be happening. Licensing can be a bit of a tough road, but I’m hoping I get to work with more clients in the future.

Where would you like to see your work featured?

I would love to have my own range of fabric one day. I love the idea of seeing what people would make with my own fabric.

You can find out what Beck from Fabric Drawer is upto: Website, Facebook, Instagram

Textile Collection Native Whimsy

The end of year break is almost upon us! It’s a time that feels undeniably Australian for many of us, with road trips to the beach, seafood on Christmas Day and the annoying song of a mosquito to keep you up at night. We let this drive our creativity for our latest textile range, and have produced a range of prints inspired by the uniqueness of Australian flora and fauna. We’re excited to introduce our last range of prints for 2018, our Native Whimsy Collection.

Sprinkled Gumnut

We feel like the magic of Christmas invited our inner child to take control of our approach to this range as were drawn to naïve, rounded forms, reminiscent of the images found in children’s books. This sweet illustrative style gave a soft finish to typically jagged plants and bushy animals.

Digital Fabrics_custom fabric printing_native whimsy_rustled feathers_3

Ruffled Feathers

Digital Fabrics_custom fabric printing_native whimsy_rustled feathers_4

Ruffled Feathers

The elements which feature in the Native Whimsy Designs were first drawn with pencil before being brought to life with watercolour paints. The inky textures of watercolours suited the sweet drawing style we has embraced. The hand-painted nature of the designs provides textural balance for otherwise simple motifs.

Sprinkled Gumnut

Native Whimsy pairs big bold colours, such as hot pink and emerald green with plenty of white negative space and earthy neutrals. The result is a set of prints which makes wearing colour, or introducing statement hues into the home, a breeze.

Eucalyptus

The Native Whimsy Collection is a celebration of the wildlife that doesn’t make the regular ‘animal print’ or ‘floral print’ cut. We’d love to know what you think of these designs and how you think they would best be used so get in touch! Prints are available in our Fabric Shop now.

Textile Collection Tutti Fruity

It feels as though we’ve been hit with a heatwave! & what better way to celebrate things heating up than with a fun new range of textile prints that simply scream Summer. For these designs we’ve been inspired by the beautiful simplicity of summer fruits. We are very excited to introduce our new Tutti Fruity Collection.

Creative inspo came straight from our green grocer, and we were really excited to create a range of playful designs that celebrated simple motifs familiar to everyone. The range includes a quirky minimal print, a tangerine dream and a seriously sweet statement print.

A mixture of acrylic paints and watercolours were used to create the artwork for this range, resulting in a range of interesting and juicy textures. The hand-painted nature of the designs gives the range a lazily elegant feel.

It wouldn’t be a summer fruits inspired range without plenty of colour, and our design team did not hold back. The collection features plenty of bold colours and primary brights in perfect contrast to ensure balance within the prints.

The Tutti Fruity collection has been designed as a celebration of enjoying the little things, and we must admit we are definitely enjoying the change of season. We love to know what you think these designs would be perfect for so get in touch. Prints are available in our Fabric Shop now.

New Chevy Fabric

We have another very exciting addition to our fabric range which we are dying to introduce. Please meet our newest polyester fabric, the Chevy! We think this will be a particularly exciting launch for those with budding summer fashion projects!

Chevy is a polyester / spandex blend (92% polyester / 8% spandex) which provides the fabric with a little stretch. The small amount of stretch provides the fabric with some give, making it a really comfortable fabric to wear.

The fabric has an off-white base, with a chevron weave and a matte finish. The fabric’s composition and finish, results in strong colour reproduction when printed, making it an excellent choice for projects with bright and deep colours.

Chevy is a mid-weight 170 GSM fabric that is both durable and smooth to touch. Chevy is ideal for fashion garments designed to have structure to their form, whilst still being super comfortable to wear. We think the Chevy will be perfect for light suit jackets and blazers, bomber jackets, pants, culottes, shorts, skirts and dresses.

Tata Naka

Vogue Spain

Markus Lupfer

Whilst we think this fabric is most suitable for fashion applications, it’s durability, printed colour results and resistance to creasing would also make it a great choice for some interiors and events projects, such as tablecloths and banners.

Sample swatches of Chevy are available now through our Sample Pack Order Form. Get in touch with any projects you think our Chevy would be great for!

Snippets series 2 – Snippet 5 Kalaii Creations.

Snippets’. Chats with Creatives. We are back with series two! Here at Digital Fabrics we love everything print, pattern and colour and we love to know what makes designers tick. This second series is all about asking some fun and different questions and learning about the inspirations and ideas behind the artist and their work. We hope to inspire others by sharing snippets of these creative stories. We gave the artists and designers featured a varied and different set from series one list of questions to choose from so we will learn something new from everyone involved, should be fun!

Today on snippets we are talking to Stacey from Kalaii Creations who is an artist and designer who loves working with watercolour, creating textile art, and helping creative brands with their surface pattern and design needs as well as teaching workshops! She has a flair for colour and a style that is elegant, playful and enchanting.

Tell us a bit about yourself, your brand/label name what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

My name is Stacey and I established Kalaii Creations in 2016 when I was on maternity leave with my second baby. I needed a little bit of me time, and participated in a creative workshop and from there I was hooked! My creative streak was reignited. I was always very interested in drawing in my school years, and did art through high school, but lost track of it all during my later years. I am so glad to have found it again! I started by making an Instagram page, and sharing some of my artwork, and soon had orders coming in for custom pieces and I just decided to explore it all, and it has opened up a lot of doors for me. Now I host creative workshops with Workshop Brisbane, The Craft Parlour on the Gold Coast, in shopping centres, and I am soon to help teach a textile design workshop, with you here at Digital Fabrics which I am very excited about! Currently I focus on watercolour art, graphic design, textile design and creative workshops ranging from knitting, watercolour art and textiles. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future.

Where do you call home?

I have been based in South Brisbane, Queensland, for most of my life (I moved from NSW when I was just a baby).

What 3 words best describe your creative style.

Feminine, Boho inspired, Vibrant

Which part of the creative process is your favourite and why?

I love the initial stages of creating, when a client comes to you with their vision, and their inspiration, and you get a rush of exciting ideas and ways in which you can help them. I love being able to see what I will paint in my mind, and then how I can manipulate that in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator and then still always be pleasantly surprised at the finished result.

What does a typical creative day look like for you? How do you stay on plan and organised?

A typical day for me is a little bit of a hot mess actually! I have two kiddies under 5, and I also work at a Brisbane based university for 3 days a week and thus arrange my creative design work at varying stages around this. Mostly I work at night, once the kiddies are asleep and I host my creative workshops on the weekends. I stay on top of my workload by completing little bits every day, and stay organized by using a Passion Planner. I write down all my clients needs and deadlines, and I also write down all the personal designs, and tasks I want to achieve within my business, which keeps me focused!

What would your dream creative project look like? Who or what is your dream project, client or job? Tell us about why you would love to collaborate with them and what you find inspiring about their work.

I would love to further explore the possibilities of having my designs feature more on active wear and swimwear out in the market place. I would love to be custom creating designs for people left right and centre! I find it so exhilarating when you see your artwork making a product pop! I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to work with Sarah from @saltysparrowbikini on her new line release coming later in the year. I would also love to work with @midoribikinis. I love their designs and aesthetics and feel my designs would fit well with this brand.

Which other artists/ designers/ makers, artists or creative people are you enjoying at the moment?

I am currently in love with @jessswan_art I love the colours she uses, the shapes, tones everything! It is mesmerizing watching her work!

Tell us about your creative space, what are your tips for keeping a creative studio space organised?

It is my dream to soon create a creative space. Currently I work from my dining table (I know there are many of you out there just like me) and I also have a very small old fashioned house which does not leave a lot of room for arts and crafts and product storage. I use a combination of storage draws and desk space to stay on top of my organisation at home. I am hoping soon to extend our house for multiple reasons, and I may just sneak in a little studio while I am at it!

What has been your proudest creative business achievement to date?

My proudest creative business achievement to date and a dream come true is an upcoming swimwear design project I have been able to assist with. Sarah from Salty Sparrow Bikini (@saltysparrowbikini), has chosen my designs to feature on her first swimwear line which I am over the moon about! I am also super excited to be working with Jemma from Newymummyblogger on the designs for an upcoming project she will be releasing soon. But I will keep that hush hush for now 🙂 Another major achievement for me is being able to work so closerly with Digital Fabrics to help teach textile design classes. I keep pinching myself about this amazing opportunity!

Tell us about how you get your creative juices flowing, what is your process?

I love speaking with new clients about their design ideas and inspirations, as often their ideas require me to push my artistic and creative boundaries each time. They make me think outside the box and think of ideas/combinations that I would not have ventured into, if it was not for their influence! This is my favourite part! Then I usually research their inspiration and competitors to get a vibe for the type of project I am working on and then I get to creating. I usually see the end product first, and then work towards creating the elements to bring this to reality.

What projects or collaborations from last year stuck out, good or bad and what is coming up this year that you would like to plug!

I have loved working with Workshop Brisbane, The Craft Parlour, Sarah and Jemma, and also Lauren from @cocokini_ (another bikini designer who has also featured my designs)

I am super excited to further develop my relationship with Digital Fabrics and help by teaching textile design class for beginners, and I look forward to printing some more fabrics for some special pieces I have in mind. Watch this space! My next venture is the release of a cute little day clutch, great for the beach, where I have collaborated with Kate from @blue_eyed_girl_creations who has helped to sew the clutches for me. I can’t wait to see what people think of them.

You can follow what Stacey is upto: Website, Instagram, Facebook

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