Tag Archives: fashion design

Snippets: Chats With Creatives – Series 1, Snippet 6

Snippets’. Chats with Creatives. Here at Digital Fabrics we love everything print, pattern and colour and we love to know what makes designers tick. This 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 list of questions to choose from so we will learn something new from everyone involved, should be fun!

Today on Snippet’s we are talking to Margot Warre from Margot Design, a Sydney based Textile artist and designer with a passion for supporting Local and Ethical Production.

Margot Warre Design_digital fabrics_custom fabric_fabric printing 3Tell us a bit about yourself and what your creative practice is, how and when you began:

Creative practice for me is all about telling a story through my designs. That story will be carried all the way through the complete integrity of the design – where the designs are printed, finishing style and packaging.

I want to tell stories about the city I love. When I first started designing it was all about the trends in NY, London etc which didn’t resonate with me. I felt that my country and city is so unique that we didn’t have to look to others for inspiration it is all around us. Inspiration and stories such as uniqueness of Sydney summer, the beach on a winters day and more recently the beautiful Art Deco buildings all over Sydney.

After I have the realised the story – I start researching images, sketching, painting patterns sometimes in gauche, water colour, texta, collecting scraps of fabrics, paper – a real mixture of process, never are two collections developed the same way.

The sketches are scanned and then played with in illustrator and photoshop to create the designs digitally. I started designing my own range of textiles after years of designing for some of the industry leaders, such as Warwick Fabrics. I moved back to Sydney after living in Melbourne and began my own ranges.

Margot Warre Design_digital fabrics_custom fabric_fabric printing 4Which part of the creative process is your favourite and why?

Putting a concept / mood boards together, sourcing images that communicate your idea and colour palette. I could look for images for hours.

Which five words best describe you?

I have been told and don’t disagree: Energetic, Fun, Personable.

How would you describe your work, and what influences your style?

It has a very distinctive style, it not pretty style but handsome and I would hope reflects how we live in Australia.

Margot Warre Design_digital fabrics_custom fabric_fabric printing 5What does a typical day look like for you?

I am up early and generally do most of my work after a morning workout before heading to my “day” job.

What would your dream creative project look like?

I would love to work on a full collection of prints, weaves, knits, embroideries all made here in Australia and then work with an amazing photographer to shoot the collection.

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

Loving what the Mirador team are doing with their textiles and knits

What has been your proudest achievement to date, creative or otherwise?

That changes, I had so many amazing moments working with Mokum and Warwick, travelling to international mills and textile trade fairs. But I do get a huge buzz when someone buys one of my designs.

Margot Warre Design_digital fabrics_custom fabric_fabric printingIf you could spend a day in another artist’s studio shoes who would that artist be?

Ahhhh that is SO hard – Sonia Dealunay

In another life what natural talent would you wish for?

I would love to be a dancer….. Another way of using my energy and being creative

If you could only use one colour in your work what would it be?

PINK! And all is shades.

Love your Locals:

City/Town/Village where you currently reside:

Sydney

Favourite spot for a bite:

Love Supreme, Oxford Street

Secret Inspirational spot:

Swims at Bronte pool on a winters day

Margot Warre Design_digital fabrics_custom fabric_fabric printing 2You can follow what Margot is upto: Website, Instagram, Facebook

Snippets: Chats With Creatives – Series 1, Snippet 1

Snippets’. Chats with Creatives. Here at Digital Fabrics we love everything print, pattern and colour and we love to know what makes designers tick. This 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 list of questions to choose from so we will learn something new from everyone involved, should be fun!

Today on Snippet’s we are talking to Shyanne Clark, the swimwear and textile designer behind ‘Printsea’ a print design brand who love to spread sparkle and magic and inspire others to do the same.

textile designer Shyanne Clark

The Snippety Snips:

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

I’ve been a textile fabric designer for the past 5 years. My style is very mermaidy and I love tropical florals, so my business PRINTSEA has naturally progressed to helping bikini designers find their signature style and launch beautiful labels.

I am such a cheerleader for people doing what they truly love, the things that make them all sparkly inside. I was always that kid that didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up, I didn’t fit in one of the boxes. I think it’s because I didn’t know this job existed or how all my talents could come together to be something. I adore what I do so much and its always growing and changing me. I feel so grateful that I listened to my heart and followed its windy path, you learn so much along the way and I would love that for everyone. I get giddy just thinking about it.

At the moment I’m creating a signature range of beautiful hand designed, high vibrational pieces. There is such magic in colour and creativity. My hope is that each piece will add a little extra sparkle to your day and that owning a piece will feel like a precious treasure that brings you many heart swelling, quiet smiles and inspires your soul.

Shyanne Clark PRINTSEA_digital fabrics_custom fabric_fabric printing 7

Shyanne Clark PRINTSEA_digital fabrics_custom fabric_fabric printing 8

What would your dream creative project look like?

I’ve actually got a bit of a fascination with creating a print that would cover a whole aeroplane. Could you imagine a giant bunch of gorgeous flowers flying through the sky. Instant happiness I reckon. I wonder if Richard Branson would let me print wrap a Virgin plane for fun?

fabric design Shyanne Clarke PRINTSEA

In another life what natural talent would you wish for?

I’m pretty much tone deaf, sometimes I’ll sing + scare myself with how out of tune I am. I have always admired people that can make your heart swell with emotion from their singing voice. I’ve secretly wished that I could do this, but in saying that, I wouldn’t want to trade my talent of drawing flowers. Can I have two natural talents?

Shyanne Clarke PRINTSEA_digital fabrics_custom fabric_fabric printing 5

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

I absolutely love the moment when the inspiration strikes + your imagination goes all bright + sparkly. You can’t wait to birth this creation that’s swirling around inside. It’s just such a rush of ecstatic excitement. I love that part. The finished piece is pretty amazing too, but the journey is the best.

Shyanne Clarke PRINTSEA_digital fabrics_custom fabric_fabric printing 3

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

I adore Annie Everingham. Her paintings evoke so much feeling. They are so happy and beautiful. I could stare at their gorgeousness for hours.

Love your Locals:                                      

 City/Town/Village where you currently reside:

I live on the beautiful Sunshine Coast, some people say, it’s like what Byron Bay was 20 years ago.

Favourite spot for a bite:

There is a gorgeous cafe at Rosemount called ‘GURU Life.’ The brother sister team roast their own beans + it truly is enlightenment in every cup, they have delicious raw treats and the staff are super friendly.

Secret Inspirational spot:

Well if I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret! … I actually adore the Noosa National Park, it’s a stunning feast for your eyes and soul (and a good workout if you walk all 8kms.) On a great day you’ll see turtles, whales + koalas.

Shyanne Clarke PRINTSEA_digital fabrics_custom fabric_fabric printing 2

Feeling inspired by Printsea to start a swimwear brand? You can buy her E book here.  AND she is currently running a promo where you can purchase 1 print and get one for free with the code: PRINTME until August 17th, then you can print it onto lycra here at Digital Fabrics and start YOUR creative journey.

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You can follow what Printsea is upto:  Website, Instagram, Facebook.

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Colourful Bunch by Sharon Wilson

floral design Sharon WilsonNot going to lie it’s very nice getting sweet notes of appreciation from our customers, but more than anything we love receiving photos of makes and completed projects. We just love seeing what fabrics that we have printed has become. Sharon Wilson surprised us recently with images of her amazing colourful creations, box pleated skirt & boxer shorts, she used her photo to create this beautiful floral fabric. Her honest feedback and tips and tricks on working with Aerocorp fabric are truly appreciated and we are sure will be really helpful and inspiring to other sewers. Here is what Sharon wrote:

About 7 years ago I took a digital photo of this colourful bunch of flowers in Switzerland.  After seeing what Digital Fabrics could offer with their range of fabric types, I couldn’t wait to order the Aerocorp fabric and make a knee length box pleated skirt with waist yoke.  It turned out beautifully and there was even enough remnant to make a pair of boxer shorts .

print your own fabric, make your own skirt, fabric printingmaking shorts, sewing project, make your own clothes

  • I found the Aerocorp not difficult to work with.  As the website said, it did have a soft handle and cotton look and feel, however it was resilient, as 100% polyester is, but with a good press, it is easy to tame into place or make a crisp line where necessary.
  • Aerocorp fabric has a tendency to unravel immediately after being cut.  So don’t over handle it, and make sure that raw edges are tamed as soon as possible. 
  • The skirt has a lovely drape and swing to it.
  • I probably would not make a top out of it unless it was for a cooler climate and a dressier look.  
  • If the print is very busy (as this one was) you could even possibly get away with not ironing it – great for traveling. 

The fabric order delivery was on time and well packed.  Inside was also a sample pack which I really appreciated because sewers really need to feel a fabric to gain good judgement on what to use.  I would definitely recommend this service and am tempted to order again some time in future.

If you are like Sharon have a creative project in mind and would like to print your own fabric, you can upload your design and start creating right away here.

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#printsinfashion | Flower Print Trend

prints in fashion floral print fabrics 1

Photo credit: Vogue

You an never go wrong with floral prints and according to Michael Kors’ Spring 17 Ready-to-Wear collection, this print is definitely in fashion!

digital fabrics style sew me
Bold Rose Midnight Purple Fabric

floral print fabric prints in fashion oaishe
Tea Rose Fabric

floral print fabric prints in fashion pink chocolate break
Tulip Time Fabric

Use it to to create a beautiful dress like Eryn from Style Sew Me, a pleated bodice circle skirt dress like Oaishe or a chic Spring jacket like Jocy from Pink Chocolate Break. The possibilities are endless and Digital Fabrics likes to bring your creative ideas to life!




Get inspired with these floral print fabrics and shop the floral print trend in the Digital Fabrics shop. All our products are 100% Printed and made in Australia.

floral print fabric trend
Bold Rose Midnight Purple Fabric
floral print fabric trend
Open Bloom Fabric
floral print fabric trend
Summer Floral Fabric
floral print fabric trend
Spring Flower Print Fabric
floral print fabric trend
Tea Rose Fabric
orchid print fabric world peace day
Orchids Fabric

How to prepare a layout legging pattern for fabric printing in Photoshop

Garment making and production can be daunting and a complicated process especially placement or engineered printing. A lot of time and effort goes into research and understanding where to start. We have put together tutorials on how to design, work with and prepare legging pattern for digital placement fabric printing. For this tutorial  you need to be proficient in Illustrator or at least have basic knowlage. Our tutorial is based on industry standards. This technic can be applied to printing other products such as bikinis, t-shirts, singlets , dresses etc.

How to prepare a layout/mark up legging pattern for fabric printing in Photoshop

Once you’ve completed the steps in the tutorial ‘How to use legging pattern in Photoshop’ You may want to print more than 1 design or more than 1 size, the most economic way to do this is to create a mark up/placement layout to have printed.

The following are instructions on how to set up in Photoshop, but could easily be done in Illustrator.

Start off by renaming the pattern layers to insure that you always have a pair of leggings.

layer_photoshop_markup_design_fabric_legging_printing

If you are only wanting the same size with different designs you can just Duplicate the leg layers. If you’d like to bring in different sizes you will need to repeat the steps in ‘How to use legging pattern in Photoshop’

In this tutorial we will be using the same size 10 but printing in new designs.

On the same artboard move files to the left hand side. you will notice that you can only comfortable fit 1 pair within the 147cm width with the current orientation; however there is a lot of wastage as illustrator below.

legging_layout_printing_fabric_design

Like a Jigsaw puzzle you will now need to start moving the patterns, you will need to make sure that you keep in mind that your grain line is parallel to the selvage. To do this, select the leg you’d like to rotate (select both layers) press Ctrl+t to open up the transform tool and while holding down shift rotate the image 360′ and make sure to move the pattern piece as close as possible to other leg (zoom in to make sure it is not overlapping)

tutorial_layout_markup_printing

markup_fashion_layout_tutorial_leggings_bold_rose

You can now start bringing in the other size 10 designs and play around with the layout. It’s best that you make the art board slightly longer than needed and once you’ve set up all the designs crop the excess.

Make sure you zoom in and double check that you haven’t overlapped any areas, when you are happy with the layout save as a JPG, TIFF or PDF.

layout_legging_tutorial_polish_abstract_orchid_black_white_bold_rose_floral_sports_luxe

You’re now on your way to have custom printed fabric which you will be able to make into comfy leggings.

design-your-own-leggings-digital-fabrics-class create-your-own-activewear-design-leggings-digital-fabrics-classes

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Design your own leggings – How to prepare legging pattern for fabric printing in Photoshop

Garment making and production can be daunting and a complicated process especially placement or engineered printing. A lot of time and effort goes into research and understanding where to start. We have put together tutorials on how to design, work with and prepare legging pattern for digital placement fabric printing. For this tutorial  you need to be proficient in Photoshop and Illustrator or at least have basic knowlage. Our tutorial is based on industry standards. This technic can be applied to printing other products such as bikinis, t-shirts, singlets , dresses etc.

How to prepare legging pattern for fabric printing in Photoshop

Open the PDF file in Illustrator. You can purchase our digital leggings pattern on our website or use your own.

Copy and paste the size you would like to use within the same file, we have selected size 10.

Photoshop_design_pattern_fabric_printing_leggings

Delete all details and notches within the pattern piece and select the pattern shape and fill in black.

fashion_legging_design_digitalfabrics_printing

while legging is selected copy and take note on the sizing.

selection_legging_size_prints_fabric_lycra

Open Photoshop and select a new artboard, keep the pixels and resolution the same, just make sure you’ve selected RGB color mode. Click OK and Paste pattern piece as a smart object, click enter to place.

Double check that the sizing is correct by selecting Image>image size, in this case it is only a few points off which will be fine.

Design_tutorial_fashion_legging_black

Next you’ll need to increase your artboard size to fit the other leg, change the width of your artboard to the width of the fabric you’d like to use and select the anchor points to extend from corner.

tutorial_design_fabric_digitalfabrics_legging

Copy Layer and while selected transform (Ctrl+t), while still selected right click on top of the layer and select Flip Horizontally, you know have a pair.

fabric_printing_tutorial_design

photoshop_tutorial_legging_fabric

With both layers selected you will need to select transform again (ctrl+t) and while select cover over to rotate, when rotating make sure you hold down shift to make sure it rotates correctly.

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Copy and paste the design you would like on your leggings and place layer on top of the one of the pattern legs.

pattern_legging_fashion_design_printing

Right click on the design layer and in the drop down menu select create clipping mask.

layers_photoshop_design_fabric

clipping_mask_design_legging_luxe_sports

Repeat for other leg

Group all layers and centre.

Your file is now ready to print!

leggings_sportsluxe_fintess_sport_fit_fashion

Soon you’ll have your printed fabric which you’ll be able to whip up into these comfy leggings

legging_sports_luxe_design_fasion_rose_print

 

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DIY Maxi Dress| DIY with Digital Fabrics

DIY Maxi Dress with Digital Fabrics
A maxi dress is a wardrobe staple that every woman needs. It’s feminine, easy to wear and DIY.

Ovoke shows us how you can DIY a maxi dress with Digital Fabrics. Our mission at Digital Fabrics is to help you to bring your creativity our amazing ideas to life! Shop this and more fabrics in our Fabric Shop

50 Creative Ways to Wear a Scarf | Design Your Own Scarf Workshop

25 ways-to-wear-a-scarf - design your own scarf workshop
Have you ever bought an item that you were excited about at first only to see it disappear in the back of your wardrobe a few weeks later? Buying new things is exciting but a lot of times we don’t wear it as much because we lack inspiration on how to wear it or don’t know how to style it with our existing wardrobe.

September marks a change of seasons. Some of us are transitioning into Fall while others are getting ready for Spring season. No matter what season it is, a scarf is one of those accessories you can use all year long and here at Digital Fabrics we have a cool workshop coming on September 17 that allows you to design your own scarf! It will be your design, your print, your colors, the ultimate expression of your personal style wrapped into a scarf. Sign up HERE

To get you inspired in the meanwhile we wanted to share 50 creative ways that you can wear your Digital Fabrics scarf!

In this video Wendy’s Lookbook shows you 25 ways to tie a scarf.

And if you also want to tie your scarf as a top, skirt or body wrap check out Pink Chocolate Break’s video with 25 styling tips.

Which look is your favorite? Let us know in the comments below!

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Digital Fabrics Sponsors 8Create: The Wearable Art Challenge

digital fabrics 8create wearable art challenge
Digital Fabrics is the proud sponsor of 8Create: The Wearable Art Challenge.

If you are fashion designer and love to test your skills, apply today. Eight lucky entrants will bring their original designs to life in a three-day fashion workshop at Westfield Warringah Mall. Each will create a custom piece of wearable art in response to a design brief developed by our competition mentor: `
Henry Roth – Host of Project Runway Australia.

The winner will receive:
• A two-hour exclusive mentorship session with Maticevski at Westfield Bondi Junction
• $2000 in Westfield Gift Cards
• $500 gift voucher from Digital Fabrics for custom fabric printing

Check the Westfield website for more details