Last month I was invited to host a repeat pattern design workshop with Spoonflower at the gorgeous fabric store Sew Over It in London founded by the lovely Lisa Comfort.
I teach regular workshops and love to share my skills to inspire more creativity. I always start my print design process with a drawing and from there turn my drawings into repeat patterns to create a finished surface pattern design. I was joined by eight lovely ladies who were keen to learn a bit more about pattern design, drawing and repeat pattern making.
Almost everyone will have owned a printed garment, piece of fabric, scarf among others in their lifetimes as it’s one of the oldest and more traditional fabric printing techniques so it was great to be able to show the group the differences in the types of patterns designs across the Sew Over It fabric collections in store. There were simpler block pattern repeats where shapes are repeated in a regimented fashion as well as more organic all over pattern designs. The focus of today’s class was the latter an all over print design and how to create one from scratch.
I started by demonstrating the repeat pattern making technique using some very simple drawings using textured pencils, pens and crayons to create interesting marks onto paper. They were all surprised at how simple the technique actually is and so I set them off with the challenge to create their own collection of repeat pattern designs by the end of the class.
We had a variety of art materials to work with from pencils and pens to watercolours and crayons so the breadth of mark making was lovely. The class were inspired by their favourite things, nature and the Spoonflower catalogue. It was wonderful to see their designs take shape as they grew in confidence throughout the session. Lisa Comfort herself even popped in to say hi and see how everyone was getting on.
It was so lovely to meet such a great group of ladies and be able to inspire and encourage their creativity. They all left with a brightly coloured bundle of pattern designs that they were ready to scan and upload to Spoonflower to turn into future projects. I can’t wait to see what they do with them!
To find out more about creating print designs for fabric check out my book How To Print Fabric for simple tips and techniques to start printmaking at home.
