I don’t know how many of you are familiar with Spoonflower.

I have been watching/checking in on the service for a while now. I actually signed up for the Beta, but never did anything with it. Well, a couple of weeks ago, in prep for our newest pattern, I designed my first fabric and took the plunge.

The design part and uploading the design was pretty easy for someone familiar with a photo editing program. The help files available on the site were useful, but if you don’s speak the language of resolution, pixels and the like, I would imagine that you would have a rough time of producing something that we would all call yardage. I made up at least 5 designs, did several layouts and the fabric that shipped was just meh..

The quality of the fabric left a lot to be desired. I went with the quilting weight cotton, there are several choices including knit, and it didn’t hold up to washing. The cotton just didn’t break down well in the wash. It got raised areas on it where the dye didn’t take, so it basically looks like I need to go over it with a lint roller (tried, but it didn’t do anything). I went with a medium dark color and Spoonflower warns that they print all the designs on white fabric, so dark designs my not be the best choice, but I expected something a bit better.

The fabric itself was the real disappointment. Pins left holes, there was no flexibility to the textile and only after much ironing could I get any sort of drape. I can get better stuff, granted not my own design, from Joann’s premium quilting line and a step above that from my wholesaler. Price was ok for a custom item, 18 dollars a yard. Double what I pay for nice fabric retail.

So my review is fun to play with, but stick with the big fabric houses