Wednesday 16 July 2014

Forest Friends fabric finaly gets a home!


This has been a very long time in coming but I have finally started to make things with the fabric that features my Forest Friends design.
I made a cushion cover as it was a quick and easy project to sew. I used a 50cm square piece of the forest friends fabric and some blue piping and bias binding around the edges and on the opening at the back to finish it off.
The fabric is available to order from Spoonflower - prices depend on the choice of fabric and the amount.
I have to say that I have been extremely impressed with the service I have received from Spoonflower. They are an American based company, so this does mean that it takes longer for products to arrive but they are by far the most competitively priced fabric printing company I have been able to find. Several new companies that use the same business model have sprung up recently; one of which is Woven Monkey in Derbyshire, UK. I got excited when I found out about Woven Monkey as I thought that the cost of postage plus fees I get charged by the bank for paying a non-sterling currency amount might make it cheaper to use them. Unfortunately this isn't the case and I don't think they have as big an audience or as savvy a marketing strategy as Spoonflower, which if you are looking to sell your designs to the public is pretty important.





The other thing that I really love about Spoonflower is the online community of fellow designers, sewers, makers and crafters who frequent the site, they are all very supportive and there is a genuine enthusiasm from people for each others work. It is very rewarding to log on to the site and see the comments that people have left for you on a design you have been working on in isolation. When people started buying my fabric I got a real buzz from it and I will admit that I have become a little bit addicted to checking my 'Design Analytics' to see how many 'likes' I have. Slightly narcissistic behaviour I know but it's great when people appreciate what you do!