Tag Archives: floral fabric

LeAnne Payne – The Designer Project

It’s been amazing sharing all of the wonderful designs by textile designer LeAnne Payne with you! We hope you’ve loved them just as much as we have. To coincide with LeAnne’s ‘Spring Picnic’ and ‘Australian Flora’ collections 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 creative process, what inspires her designs as well as bit more about herself. 

Keep reading to find out more! 

LeAnne Payne

Hello! my name is LeAnne and I am the designer for Leanne Mary Designs. It is wonderful to be here at Digital Fabrics, an Australian owned and operated eco friendly fabric manufacturer. Digital fabrics have selected some of my stand alone designs to bring to you first, a collection of fun, whimsical designs.

LeAnne Sketching in Studio

At Leanne Mary Designs our focus is to bring designs that provide the solution to your project needs. If you have an idea, let me know and we can collaborate to bring it to life! I am blessed to live in the most beautiful part of the world, Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia, where I live with my husband and one four legged friend. Our home is a peaceful haven from the busyness of the world and a place that I can create and enjoy my art, while getting inspiration from the bushland and lake. You will often see me stopping on our daily walks to pick up a twig or leaf because it has a great shape or colour, I find inspiration all around us.

LeAnne Sketching at Lake

I have always been an artist, dabbling away at watercolour, acrylics, digital, I even love coloured pencils. When I discovered Surface Pattern Design it blew my mind. I had never before thought of how the patterns on items came into being but once discovered I now see patterns everywhere! The moment I made my first repeating pattern is right up there in ‘Best moments of my life” I may just have emailed that pattern to everyone I knew I was so chuffed. And that was to be the start of an artistic obsession to make repeat patterns.

Watercolour Paintings

My process for making a pattern can start in a variety of ways but they all finish up the same way. With lots of refining in either illustrator or photoshop. I love the process of taking the motifs and making them into a repeat pattern but this is also the part that I take lots of time with. Going over each element to make a well balanced pattern. Why? Because I am passionate about art and illustrations and producing work that is quality and perfect for the project that you have in mind.

WIP Designs

I would love to see what you make with my designs, it is a buzz that never ends. Tag me on instagram @iamleannemary or send me a message: leannemary6@gmail.com
https://www.instagram.com/iamleannemary
https://linktr.ee/leannemarydesigns

‘Spring Picnic’ & ‘Australian Flora’ Textile Collections by LeAnne Payne

It’s come that time again to introduce our newest featured artist of The Designer Project…introducing the wonderful LeAnne Payne and her textile collections ‘Spring Picnic’ and ‘Australian Flora’!  

LeAnne is the designer, and everything else, behind Leanne Mary Designs. She lives, works and creates in the beautiful Lake Macquarie area of NSW. Her style is all about texture, water colour layers, chalky pencil drawings or a combination, all brought together in digital form. LeAnne takes inspiration from the beauty of Lake Macquarie, the lake and the bushland. 

What’s more fantastic is that the whole collection has been made available in our Fabric Shop online, meaning each of the designs can be printed onto any of our stock fabrics. Below we’ve shared a bit about each of the designs and the types of projects we think they’d be great for so keep reading! 

 

Spring Picnic Collection

Blue Floral with delicate White Leaves is a versatile design of complimentary blues, teamed with bright white. We love the combination of blue floral motifs against the white foliage and think this would be the perfect print for a mix of both Fashion and Homeware projects! 

A Riot of Wildflowers, the name says it all! This design showcases a collection of wildflowers in an array of colours, which are sure to inspire you to go and pick some flowers from the garden. Although a very busy print, the muted tones of the colours create a calm vibe to this design. This is a divine print for Fashion projects such as sleepwear or a lovely summer dress! 

Wobbly Check features a light grey base with pink and peach stripes, that cross over to create this wonderful check pattern. Checks are so on trend right now, but why have boring when you can have hand painted ones with a bit of a wobble! We think this print inspires Homeware and Fashion projects, such as fun cushions or a cute matching set. 

Tree Line Gold is a hand drawn design, full of whimsical and quirky shapes that form tree lines, filled with all forms of doodles. We love the mix of Teal and Red, with that bold pop of Gold. This unique print would work so well for fashion garments! Think fun dresses or even kidswear. 

Terracotta & Sage Tile Petal are classic prints that feature hand drawn petal motifs in an off-white shade. The petals are rotated to form a four-petal flower, as an outlined version with a Sage Green background or a solid version with a Terracotta background. These prints have a retro feel, making them a great choice for Home & Interior DIYs! Perhaps some designer Cushions or Tea Towels for your home.  

 

 

Australian Flora Collection 

Bottlebrush & Wattle features hand painted water colour motifs with ink details, that bring the Australian bush alive. We love the pairing of the Red and Green with the pops of that Wattle Gold! This design would work wonderfully for any fashion or homeware project! Personally, we would love to see it featured on a range of stunning summer garments.

Wind Blown Gum Leaves Terracotta & Darkest Blue showcase delicate line drawings of leaves and gum blossoms in what appears to be white but is actually a wonderful soft grey. It pairs perfectly against the Rust and Dark Grey Blue backgrounds. These beautiful prints would be the perfect choice for any Home & Interior projects, such as Cushion Covers, Tea Towels or even Table Linen!

Australian Gum Leaves & Blossoms is another design full of delicate line drawn leaves and gum blossoms, which cascade over a textured light blue back ground. We love the simplicity of this design, as it makes it a fabulous choice for a range of projects – both fashion and home related!

Jenni Rogers – The Designer Project

We’ve absolutely adored sharing the delicious ‘Blooms & Bakes’ Collection by artist Jenni Rogers for this installment of The Designer Project!  

As passionately described by Jenni, “When I bake the texture and colours consume me – there is never ending inspiration from these subjects. It’s life and it is a part of us all”. Jenni’s creative process starts with feelings that she gains from the observation of these subjects. Then her mind starts to envision how it could look, usually painting from still life, photos or real life as in plain air.

We hope that you have all loved Jenni’s beautiful collection as much as we have! Each of Jenni’s designs can be found in our Fabric Shop online. Keep reading to find out more about Jenni’s work, inspirations and typical creative process! 

Jenni Rogers

Hi, my name is Jenni Rogers, artist, surface pattern designer and chef and I’m based in the beautiful Byron Bay Hinterland. I love creating paintings/patterns that combine two of my favourite things –  cooking and art. 

And I’m super excited to be included in the Designer project with Digital Fabrics, thank you!  

I thought I’d introduce myself by sharing a little behind the scenes look at how my patterns start, what my inspiration is and how my sketches and paintings evolve into the patterns you see here at Digital Fabrics. 

Almost all of my initial inspiration comes from food in some way or another whether it be raw ingredients, like how vanilla paste sparkles in the sun on a teaspoon (that may sound odd to you…lol ) or a messy table after a great meal shared with family and friends, with serviettes, plates stacked, etc. Yes these are the things that capture my attention!   

I find all aspects of food and cafes very emotional.  I often associate memories to food. I know when I bake bread, I think of my dad in the kitchen baking these enormous loaves for our family, my Grandma and I making little, sweet jam mushrooms with icing and pastry stalks and my mum and I destroying the kitchen through cake decorating, every bowl and appliance in the house was used. Our favourite recipes remind us of our loved ones – when we create them, in a way, it brings them back to us. My paintings and then patterns are a way of capturing those images. 

This is my initial process on how I create a pattern and it starts in the kitchen:  

1/Photograph whilst making the recipe – usually cake! 

2/ Eat baked goodies and share with family   

3/ Sketch out different elements within the baking process to see what looks good and to plan how the recipe will read and if its easy to follow. 

4/ play around with painting different parts of the process  

5/ This is the finished painting below.  I call it Recipe-art.

 

Once the painting is finished, I then use some or all of the elements within the painting to create patterns.  I start by scanning in my finished painting, basically pulling it apart on photoshop and then arranging them into repeat patterns.  I usually end up with at least 50+ patterns from each recipe, its actually hard to stop! 

High Tea Design WIP

And this is the finished pattern. 

“High Tea” and it’s available to use now within Digital Fabrics. 

I would love to see what you make with my patterns and I hope this has inspired you to get busy creating!  Please tag both Digital Fabrics (@digitalfabrics) and myself on Instagram or Facebook.  

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetart_by_jenni  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetartbyjenni  

Happy Creating , Jenni  

  

This photo below is where I paint smaller artworks and working in photoshop.  

Jenni’s Art Studio

And this photo below is my art studio where I paint larger artworks and I can get a bit messy.  

Jenni Rogers

 

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!

‘Blooms & Bakes’ Textile Collection by Jenni Rogers

We’re super excited to be bringing The Designer Project back for 2024 and can’t wait to share all of this year’s fantastic artists and their incredible work! To kick things off for the year we’re introducing you all to the ultra-talented artist and designer Jenni Rogers and her ‘Blooms & Bakes’ Collection!

Jenni is an Australian artist, surface pattern designer and chef, who is based in the beautiful Byron Bay Hinterland and delights in creating paintings that combine two of her favourite things – cooking and art. She bought her first cafe when she was just 16 years old – The Chelsea Teahouse in Avalon. It was only later in life that she discovered her love for painting. This love is what lead Jenni to go on to create artworks depicting beautifully presented food. Jenni is in her element whilst baking beautiful cakes, biscuits, pastries and turning them into works of art.

Below we’ve shared a bit about each of Jenni’s incredible designs from her ‘Blooms & Bakes’ Collection and the different types of projects we think they’d be perfect for!

Brunch is a fun colourful hand painted watercolour. This design has everything you need to bake lamingtons from the butter, vanilla , eggs and cocoa powder to the Kenwood chef mixer and not to mention my favourite Falcon oven.

Brunch would be perfect for any kitchen homewares such as aprons, tea towels and oven mits!

Sunset Poppy is a warm floral print with hand-painted watercolour golden poppies cascading over a deep rich earth red watercolour background.

Sunset Poppy would work great for table linen! Think Table Runners, Table Cloths and Napkins.

Sunshine Poppies, a floral print that has hand painted water colour poppies in various shades of red scattered over a golden yellow splashed water colour background. This multi-directional pattern is bursting with sunshine.

Sunshine Poppies is the sweetest print for any bedding or blankets!

Whisk & Spoon is a checkerboard style print with alternating hand painted whisk & spoons. Soft shades of pale yellow and blue make up this delightful kitchen print complete with a spotty background.

Whisk & Spoon would be perfect for any kitchen homewares such as aprons or tea towels!

High Tea is a hand painted pastel watercolour on a white background. Eclectic pink and blue tables & chairs fill this checker style print, with everything for a High Tea, complete with teapot, cups and lamingtons. This is a soft and delicate print.

High Tea would look wonderful as some sweet pyjamas!

Cream Tea is a hand painted pastel watercolour on a light blue pin stripe background. Eclectic pink and blue tables & chairs fill this checker style print, with everything for a High Tea, complete with teapot, cups and lamingtons. This is a soft and delicate print.

Cream Tea is the most perfect print for lounge wear garment projects!

Honeycomb is a patchwork style design with a delicate golden thread weaving in and around the honeycomb pattern. This is a multi-directional pattern with soft and delicate pinks and yellows.

Honeycomb is a fantastic print for any fashion project! We’re thinking a lovely springtime dress.

Let Your Light Shine is an abstract pattern created from one of Jenni’s oil paintings, “Red Table” and pieced back together with a delicate gold thread. Vibrant bold colours of deep reds, burgundy, yellow ochre, white and gold.

Let Your Light Shine is another amazing print for any fashion project!

Sunshine is a hand painted watercolour floral print in warm yellows, rich ochres and a touch of purple. Fun, bold and inviting is how I would describe the feel for this pattern.

Sunshine is also a perfect print for some custom bedding and blankets!

 

We truly hope you love this beautiful collection as much as we have, and can’t wait to see what you create- the ideas are endless! Each of Jenni’s designs can be found in our Fabric Shop online.

Andrea Maurer – The Designer Project

It’s been so amazing sharing all of these beautiful designs by textile designer Andrea Maurer with you! We feel to privellaged to have not only one..but two stunning collections from her. To coincide with Andrea’s ‘Warm Winter’ and ‘Coming Home’ collections being made available to all of our customers through our Fabric Shop online, the artist herself has put together a guest blog which further explains her self-taught design process, what inspires her designs as well as bit more about herself. 

Keep reading to find out more! 

Andrea Maurer

Hello! I’m Andrea Maurer and so excited to be included in the Digital Fabrics designer project. A selection of my prints will be available as part of their print on demand offering which I think is just a wonderful option for makers and creatives to have unique fabric without the minimums required by other suppliers.

Flowers are my go to inspiration! If I could spend my days surrounded by flowers and basking in the sun I would! My colour palette usually leans towards soft tonal colours and would say this is inspired by vintage wallpapers and textiles. My style is naturally feminine and I love creating a whimsical timeless feeling in my prints.

Andrea in her studio

My process often begins with an idea of a composition or at least of one or two elements. Once I get these original ideas onto paper I can see the rest of the print coming to life. This blossoming of an idea usually leads to many elements that help create a collection of prints which have originated from the original feeling of those first few sketches and paintings.

Once I have finished drawing or painting I then can’t wait to get my artwork digitised and imported into photoshop so I can clean them up and start playing around with a composition for a print. I scan them in and am always amazed at how well everything translates onto my screen! I love the flexibility of working digitally and being able to change the colours and composition to create a different feeling than if it was left on paper. After putting it into repeat the print is born and can be made into absolutely anything which is such a thrill!

Original watercolour motifs for ‘Winter Pantry’ Design

I love using mock ups to see how my print would look once it is made up into something and the way it looks on folds of fabric and wrapped around the body or onto a product. This process is really addictive and makes me want to turn everything into a print, which I nearly always try to do.

Winter Fruits Design

I am so passionate about creating and love the studio space in the corner of my home that allows me this sacred time to create amidst the chaos of being a mother to a tiny human. I try to keep paintbrushes and pencils close by so that when I have a spare moment I can create without much fuss. It’s important to me to see the artwork that I’ve created in the past and love, this helps me to know that I can do it again and builds my confidence to keep creating even if I’m not feeling 100% inspired in that moment.

Winter Fruits Product Mockup

I’m so grateful to be a part of this platform of other designers doing amazing things and whose artwork I love! I hope some people resonate with my prints and I can’t wait to see the creations and designs that come of it.

Thanks Digital Fabrics!
– Andrea x

 

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!

‘Coming Home and ‘Warm Winter’ Textile Collections by Andrea Maurer

For our latest installment of The Designer Project, we’ll be featuring the work of artist Andrea Maurer with not one…but TWO amazing textile collections – ‘Coming Home’ and ‘Warm Winter’ ! 

The ‘Coming Home’ collection is about Andrea coming home to herself in motherhood.  She realised that her motherhood wasn’t holding her back, but is in fact the source of inspiration if she lets it. Think of a beautiful array of flowers that have been given the space to flourish, each tender delicate leaf turning out rewards the sun proudly in its unique but confident way. It means allowing some failed shoots, embracing the broken damaged leaves and imperfections. This collection of prints combines her findings in nature, her sketchbook scribbles, digital interpretations all in soft dreamy colours that bring her happiness. It’s Andrea coming home to herself.

The ‘Warm Winter’ collection was inspired by warm European summers dreamt up during our winter. Imagine brick line alleyways with the flowers in bloom and the smell of baked goods being baked and the cosy insides of a home with in season fruits and vegetables. Andrea wanted this collection to take her there and bring warmth through its colours.

We think these two collections are utterly perfect for fashion projects! Think of stunning dresses and most luxurious garment sets. They would also be perfect for sweet homewares such as table linens and perhaps even tea towels!

 

Coming Home:

Happy days is a fun floral print consisting of loose sketchy flowers finished in watercolour in warm hues.


Oddly Calm is a print that was her form of meditation one day. She hopes it brings calm to you when you see it. The design features a series of watercolour squares in a perfectly imperfect odd arrangement.


Wattle is a cute little block print featuring a wattle sketch in muted soft tones.


Coming Home is a soft watercolour print featuring gum leaves and native banksias


Summer is a linear repeat of local leaves foraged on my walk and hand painted. This print is finished in a vibrant summer peach tone!


Flourish is a loose line, watercolour print, featuring the most stunning floral motifs in an olive green tone/


Neutral Native is a series of hand sketch native plant elements in soft muted colours


Golden Bloom is a warm golden print featuring native plants hand picked and digitised – inspired by Indian block prints.

 

Warm Winter:

Peachy Watercolour is a warm peachy print consisting of loose watercolour swirls, flowers and leaves.


Soft Leaves is a vintage inspired print consisting of loose watercolour leaves in warm sunny tones.


Sunflower Fields is a lovely ditsy sunflower floral in warm yellow and peach tones.


Wildflowers is a watercolour confetti floral in pink and lilac hues.


Winter Fruit is inspired by warm sunny kitchens in the cooler months, this print consists of citrus fruit and sunflowers painted in watercolour.


Winter Pantry  was inspired by the comfort of the kitchen in winter and painted in a loose watercolour style.

 

We truely hope you love these beautiful collections as much as we have, and can’t wait to see what you create- the ideas are endless! Each of Andrea’s designs can be found in our Fabric Shop online.

Dominique Collins – The Designer Project

It’s been an absolute blast sharing the playful work of Dominique Collins for our current installment of The Designer Project and we hope you’ve fallen as in love with her designs as we have! The Brisbane-based designer creates illustrations and print designs which typically incorporate bright vibrant colours and hand drawn motifs . We’re so thrilled to have Dominique’s ‘Whimsical Nature’ collection available in our Fabric Shop and are keen to see all the inventive ways our fabulous customers will use them! As part of Dominique’s feature the designer has also put together a guest blog which details her typical creative process as well as the things that inspire her! We’ve shared the blog post below so keep reading to find out more about Dominique and her charming designs!

Dominique Collins

Hi everyone! My name is Dominique Collins, everyone calls me Stixy. I am over the moon to be working with Digital Fabrics as part of the Designer Project. I currently own and run Stixylin, a very new illustration and pattern design business, I only started this in May 2022. I live in sunny Brisbane, with my hubby and two energetic children who keep me on toes and push me to create new designs and illustrations each week, with all their little requests (I love it!). I am following my dream as a creative freelancer so I can spend more time with my family while doing what I love.

Workspace + WIP Designs

Recently I took the leap to be a full-time artist/designer/business woman while being a full-time mum of two. I have been passionate about art and creating colourful designs since I was a child living in South Africa. Most of my work is self-taught and I love exploring different mediums, but found Procreate and Adobe Fresco are what I love to use the most (not to mention those apps being easy to travel with as you only need to take your iPad).

Fabric Testing of Falling Blueberry Leaves

I am excited to share my curated collection of pattern designs, creative inspiration and process and give you a sneak peak at my workspace. My work is still new and evolving in ways I could only dream of, with nature and family as my biggest inspiration. My work typically incorporates bright vibrant colours, hand drawn motifs and illustrations.

Work in Progress Falling Soft Blueberry Leaves

A little sneak peak into my workspace and how I got my dream space. We build our house two years ago and I designed it with a front office, featuring a great big floor to ceiling window which offers the best natural light. My workspace is generally clean with my iPad, computers and some fabric swatches and maybe a workbook. While creating I am always at my desk or on the couch, even sometimes outside. Depending on my creative mood, you will find me wondering the house with my iPad in hand and a big pot of coffee or tea floating around.

Dominique working on Blooms and Shrooms Design

Most of my inspiration comes form being outdoors, either with the kids or while running/cycling. Nature offers such a great inspirational palette of colours and shapes. My curated collection reflects this with rainbows, leaves, snakes and flowers.

My creative process will vary depending on what I am creating. I will often be prompted by something in nature that catches my eye and quickly try to sketch it or take a photo of it to use as a reference. I will sketch my ideas digitally on separate layers so I can adjust and move motifs around before creating the final design. Often I will get creative input from my son or daughter on new ideas and colours or if I am feeling stuck. During my creative process, I will search Pinterest for images to go on my mood-board to help select a colour palette and maybe alternative ideas to help me bring more life to my designs.

Snakes in Leaves Digital Sketch

An example of my kids helping me, will be when my daughter told me how she imagines snakes gathering in the leaves, their beautiful colours and how they flow from one destination to the next. From this I was able to create Snakes in Leaves Peachy Pink. All hand drawn in procreate with the colours and shapes on the snakes selected by my daughter.

Rainbows Forever Work in Progress

Design Workspace ft. Rainbows Forever Design

Rainbows Forever was inspired by the rainy days in Brisbane and the beautiful rainbows that followed every storm. Everyone has down days just like the storms, we need to remind ourselves that there is a rainbow after every down/stormy day. The pattern started as a single digital watercolour painting and then I started to play around in procreate to make it into a seamless pattern. This was one of the first patterns I created this year and by far still one of my favourites.

Blooms and Shrooms Original Sketch

Blooms and Shrooms Original Sketch Closeup

Blooms and Shrooms Moodboard

Blooms and Shrooms was first created as a whimsical illustration and has since been re-worked into a seamless pattern. The motifs are inspired by vibrant mushrooms and my daughters love for pretty little flowers. She helped me select photos for my moodboard from Pinterest to help create the inspiration and guide for creating this pattern. I used a magnolia tree and morel mushroom colour palette to create a bright yet whimsical feel. Once I finished drawing this illustration in procreate, I exported it to Adobe illustrator to create it into a pattern.

Sewing!! I have never tried making a dress with a sewing machine even though I own one. Its about time I took the leap. Definitely a new skill I would love to learn as there are so many great designs on Digital Fabrics. I would really love to create a Rainbow Forever Skirt to brighten my day everyday.

Design Workspace

I hope you enjoyed my work and the behind the scenes of my creative process. I look forward to seeing what you will make with these lovely designs. You can view more of my designs in the fabric shop and I would love to see what you will create with them. Please tag both Digital Fabrics and myself in any projects or crafts you make with these fabrics.

Follow me on Instagram or Facebook to view more designs and how I make them. Heaps of Love Stixy.

 

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!

Julie Bunyard – The Designer Project

It’s been an absolute pleasure sharing these stunning prints by designer Julie Bunyard and we hope you have all enjoyed her designs as much as we have!

Julie is a freelance designer for print studio and fashion brands, working by hand in watercolours and gouache and digitally in Procreate. Her goal as an artist is to create prints that will make you feel good when you wear them, use them, or have them in your home! You might recognise her ‘Tasmanian Waratah‘ design from our lovely Cooper fabric samples as well! To coincide with Julie’s ‘For the Love of Australian Natives‘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 Julie Bunyard and her beautiful designs! 

Julie Bunyard

Hi everyone I’m Julie, a surface pattern or print designer, designing under my own name Julie Bunyard Designs. I design freelance for several print studios around the world, which I love, but even though my designs are out there on homewares and garments, I rarely get to see them. Which is one reason why I’m thrilled to be a part of the Digital Fabrics Designer Project. You will be able to buy fabric with my designs printed on it, and I can’t wait to see what you make.

Julie’s Workspace

I live in Hobart; I can see the beach from the front of my house and at the back is the bush; I am surrounded by nature. I often pick flowers or leaves, gather shells, and take photographs on my daily walk, to use as inspiration for my designs.

Design Inspiration

But probably the biggest inspiration has been growing up in the 60s with a dressmaker for a mother. There was fabric everywhere in the house, cupboards full of fabric. Bought simply because it was beautiful, and we ‘might’ make something out of it one day. I no longer sew, but I still have boxes of beautiful fabrics and an addiction to searching Vinnies for vintage fabric scraps. Have you heard the saying ‘she who dies with the most fabric wins’, well that was us.

Leucadendron Paintings

Apart from my vintage fabric collection obsession, I also get great inspiration from design books, I love collecting them. And I can’t forget to mention two of my absolute favourite designers, Vera Neumann, and Suzie Zuzek for Lilly Pulitzer, both women were inspirational designers and businesswomen.

Flowering Gum Paintings

I’ve been trying to narrow my style so it’s more consistent and cohesive, because I’ve been told that’s what I should do, but I struggle. I get distracted by wanting to try different techniques and materials. Recently I have been exploring working digitally with Procreate on the iPad. But if there is one thing that is a constant in my work, it’s colour. I love using colour and seeing the way it can change the feel of a design and how different colours work together.

Silver Dollar Gum Paintings

All the elements of For the Love of Australian Natives Collection started with me collecting plants from the bush around my house. Each plant was painted in water colour before the hand work was then scanned and opened in Photoshop where I created a layout and decided on final colours. The thing I love about working with watercolours, is when the colours bleed into each other creating new colours and gorgeous rich blooms. You will see this technique used in the Collection.

Design Work in Progress

I spent over 30 years working in a tonne of different jobs before I stumbled upon surface pattern design and realised that it was what I wanted to do. It makes me happy, and my hope is that my designs make their users happy as well.

To follow my design journey, follow me on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/juliebunyard_designs/

Julie’s Workspace Moodboard

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!

‘For the Love of Australian Natives’ Textile Collection by Julie Bunyard

It’s come that time again to introduce our newest featured artist of The Designer Project…introducing the wonderful Julie Bunyard and her textile collection ‘For the Love of Australian Natives’! 

‘For the Love of Australian Natives‘ is a colourful mix of Australian native plants painted in watercolours.  Suitable for a range of textiles and products, from garments to homewares.  Some of the designs such as the ‘Silver Dollar Gum‘ and ‘Tasmanian Waratah‘ feature mesmerizing watercolour blends and bleeds, creating interesting colour blends.  While others such as ‘Pink Leaves‘ is more stylised and monochromatic.  It is the vibrant colours in this collection which are the standout feature and sure to bring a sense of style and luxury to any project! 

All of Julie’s beautiful designs can be printed onto any of our fabrics, which means you can order custom designer fabric that’s tailored to you. Below we’ve shared a bit about each of the designs and the types of projects we think they’d be great for so keep reading! 

‘Flowering Gum’ is a stunning, bright, watercolour design in pinks, purples, blues, and greens, on a crisp white background. It features an Aussie favourite, the Flowering Gum! 

We think ‘Flowering Gum’ is the perfect design for any women’s fashion garments such a sweet summer dress 

‘Silver Dollar Gum’ is an elegant hand painted watercolour design featuring the classic Eucalyptus leaf. It’s full of rich blues, greens, and a touch of yellow.   

‘Silver Dollar Gum’ would look incredible as some fashion accessories such as Tote Bags!  

‘Tasmanian Waratah’ is a fun and vibrant design in tones of rust, red, green and a hint of blue. We love the hand painted watercolour Waratah flowers! It has us thinking of our Waratah fabric. 

 ‘Tasmanian Waratah’ is utterly perfect for any and all Home and Interior projects! Think Cushion Covers and Tea Towels. 

‘Leucadendron’ features watercolour motifs of the Leucadendron plant in bright shades of pinks, purples and reds and brings a fun twist to the classic Leucadendron. The white background really makes those colours pop! 

 We think ‘Leucadendron’ would be fabulous for fashion accessories! We’re thinking Makeup Bags and Pouches, Tote Bags and Scarves of course! 

‘Pink Leaves’ is a crisp design of pink leaf illustrations against a white background. The watercolour texture of the leaves really brings life to this design. 

 ‘Pink Leaves’ would be super cute as a statement garment! A fun dress or pants? Perhaps a luscious long skirt! 

‘Wattle’ is a loose hand painted watercolour design featuring our beloved Wattle in it’s classic shades of green and yellow, with just a hint of pink.  That bright vibrant yellow always brings some colour to our Australian Winter. 

‘Wattle’ would be the perfect addition to your home! Whether it be on some lovely Cushions, Tea Towels or maybe even Curtains!  

‘Blue Native Flower’ features the most stunning bold blue tones that really bring an extra something to this design! It pairs well with the hand painted watercolour details throughout the floral motifs. 

‘Blue Native Flower’ would look great on a range of products from leggings to homewares! 

 

The possibilities are truly endless with Julie’s ‘For the Love of Australian Natives’ collection. Our ideas above are suggestions only and we hope they’ve gotten your creative wheels turning! Each of Julie’s designs can be found in our Fabric Shop online. 

Aiai Zhang – The Designer Project

We’ve absolutely adored sharing the beautifully detailed work of Sydney-based designer Aiai Zhang and hope you’ve loved her designs as much as we have! Aiai’s designs are inspired by the harvest season where the leaves turn orange and yellow while fruits grow ripe and juicy. To coincide with Aiai’s “Orange Harvest” collection being made available to all of our customers through our Fabric Shop online, the artist herself has put together a guest blog which we’ve shared below! The blog takes a closer look at Aiai’s creative process, detailing every step from initial sketch to final design. The blog also includes gorgeous photographs and process images which really help tell the story of Aiai’s work and the “Orange Harvest” collection. Keep reading to find out more about Aiai Zhang and her stunning designs!

Aiai Zhang

Hi everyone! Aiai here from @breezybirdstudio. I’m very excited to let you know my Orange Harvest collection is now up on the Digital Fabrics shop. You can choose any of these designs to print on a variety of fabrics for your next sewing project, whether it be a garment or homeware decor, we can’t wait to see what you make! 

Now you might be curious to know how this all began. Well, nature provides the biggest source of inspiration for everything I create. Travelling to new places definitely helps keep the creative juices flowing. However, most of the time I gather ideas from little things in everyday life. It can be a blooming flower in the garden, unusual patterns on the trees, shrubs waving in the breeze or a cute animal running through the neighbourhood. When I intentionally look for ideas, they seem to appear everywhere. 

Mood Board for Collection

An inspiration board provides a reference point for the entire collection. It helps pull together all the ideas swirling in my head. This is why I have a habit of taking and collecting random images that stand out to me in my surroundings or online. Once I decide on what elements to use, I move onto the most enjoyable part of the process – painting up motifs and choosing a colour palette! 

Floral Watercolour Painting

My favourite mediums to use are watercolour and gouache. I paint each element in various forms. The image on the left is an example of the original scan of “earthy bouquet” & “earthy bouquet blue”. I then clean and edit the artwork in photoshop and turn it into seamless repeats. Because of the variety of forms and values within this large motif, I created two prints from it with two colour ways. It is definitely the most versatile print out of this collection that is suitable for both fashion and Interiors. 

Here are examples of how “Earthy Bouquet” and “Earthy Bouquet Blue” would look like on children’s PJ sets. Which one do you like more? Get in touch with the team at Digital Fabrics to chat about printing base fabric options that are available for your sewing DIY project. 

Earthy Bouquet Floral Mockup

 

 

Earthy Bouquet Floral Mockup

Now let’s look at another print from its original form. “Orange Bouquet” was inspired by the ripe and juicy oranges bursting with colours from the harvest season. I used my favourite earthy tones to paint this design, such as flesh tint, yellow ochre, permanent rose and burnt amber. I then took it to the computer, cleaned it up and turned it into a seamless repeat. 

Watercolour Oranges

Watercolour Stripes

Below is the final print “oranges on stripes” looks like after digital adjustments. The second colour way with a blue background creates a lovely contrast against the foreground. This design is to celebrate the earthy colours and shapes from nature. I hope you love it as much as I do! 

Oranges on Stripes Blue

Oranges on Stripes Pink

So, all the magic happens here – my home studio! This is where I emerge myself into creativity. I absolutely love experimenting with colour palettes. From soft subtle tones to happy bright colours, I love to incorporate them to express different feelings in my designs.

Aiai’s Studio Space

Thank you for reading this far! Having a great idea of an upcoming project that you can use one of my designs for? Please check them out via my Digital Fabric online shop. 

We can’t wait to see what you make! Please tag both Digital Fabric & myself in any crafty projects you undertake with this collection of fabrics. If you would love to follow my creative journey, I can be found via Instagram and Facebook. See you there! Warmest regards, Aiai 

Oranges Bouquet and Floral Ditsy Orange Gingham

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!