Farmers Market
I'm so excited to share my new fabric collection with you! Farmer's Market is here and there is a flurry of sample sewing going on! The colors in this line are just filling little parts of my being with bursts of happiness every time I walk past. So let's talk about the line a little bit..
My inspiration was not quite necessarily just Farmer's Market in general but the feeling that surrounds them. I wanted to capture the sights, colors and yes-emotion that I feel when I venture out into the world on a bright Saturday morning to visit a Farmers Market. Vendors selling not only gorgeous fresh produce and flowers but their handicrafts as well. I wanted to create a line of fabric celebrating it all. I think that the world is becoming a bit of a scary place and I feel that it's part of the surge of popularity in sewing and crafting. People searching out ways to slow things down and simplify. There may be some that laugh at the idea of sewing being "simple" but really it is. Your skill may not be to the point where you can finish a project in one sitting, but if you practice, it will. You will develop a skill that isn't based on technology, television or high tech gizmos. It can't be taken away from you.
Does this sound like way too much thinking for a line of fabric? :) Possibly, but that really is what I've put into it. I hope that it goes out into the world and gives people a little bit of inspiration and joy. I spent so much time perusing etsy, ebay and the blogs of crafty people while designing this line. I tried to capture what I felt would inspire the indi designers and vendors that are selling their good in market type settings.
There are 3 color stories - Spring, Summer and Fall.
Spring is a grouping of soft pastels, peaches and greens with a sprinkling of aqua. Coupled with cream it brings forth romantic and soft projects and is a breath of fresh air in my otherwise color infused world! (Check out a sneak of one of my sewing patterns below!)
The Summer Colorway is a saturated collection of Popsicles, sunshine and cherries! You might notice my favorite flower (at least right now) in there. Third from the top, the lovely Dahlia. And then a little bit farther down-juicy cherries that look like they are ready for picking. A playful, swirly filled paisley in bright colors that delight my daughter. A seed print shaped to imitate the pomegranate. A hippie ornate print that reminds me of Henna and is affectionately named "Henna Garden." Oh what else can I point out?!
The Fall Colorway borrows colors from Pumpkins, pomegranates and sunflowers. 
All three color stories make me so happy, but what makes me even more excited is what you can do when you combine them! Just like the colors of the seasons, the colors of the 3 groupings blend together with each other. Pull from them and see what combinations you come up with. They create a look of "going together" without being too matchy matchy. Juxtaposition within itself.
The line is officially making it's debut at Quilt Market next weekend. If you would like to order it for your store, please contact your Michael Miller rep!
I hope you love the line - it was really designed for you guys. :) I have project all over our home made out of it and will share them soon. We are in the final push of market preparations before leaving Wednesday morning but I will try and post once more before we go.
A fabric designer huh . . . lifelong vision or lucky chance of fate?
A little bit of both! My first job was working in a fabric store. My mom pushed me into it so she could get a discount and a life long love affair for textiles began. I remember my favorite task was when the fabric needed organizing. All the other teenagers there hated that job and I always jumped for it!
I used to marvel at how it could all come about and when I discovered designer cotton fabrics I remember being utterly smitten. I read an article about Amy Butler and saw a picture of her holding her fabric and thinking how utterly lucky she was to have such a cool job. This was about 2 years ago. Then one day, someone told me I had no talent. (In many more words than that, but it was the general idea.) I knew they were just saying it to be hurtful and I tried so hard to not let it bother me, but hey-I'm only human. ;) So I decided it was time to do something big and just show the world what I could offer. The timing was perfect and I am now really grateful for that really crappy experience that hurt me to the core. I really try to not hold on to hurt for very long because it really only hurts...me.
Oh, and when might we get a glimpse of your new line of fabric?
Soon my friends, soon. Honestly because it debuts in 2.5 weeks and I have to get the sample yardage before then! The line was actually shown at the LA textile show a week or so ago and is being very well received and already ordered so it will be available pretty soon after I debut it on the blog! Same deal with the patterns! Here, take a peek at the logo, this will hopefully tide you over.
How do you even begin the process of designing fabric? (i.e. software, hand sketching, ??)
Each of my lines were done a little differently. Ginger Blossom was a process of trial and error. Most of the prints began as sketches that I scanned into the computer while they were still very rough and finished them up with the Wacom in Adobe Photoshop CS2. Farmer's Market (I've kept that quiet for so long to give GB a little time to shine and it feels so good to finally talk about it a bit!) was entirely drawn in the computer in Photoshop CS2. It worked out very well and while I created it entirely in the computer, it must be said that I don't use graphic style methods when creating my artwork. (using circles, straight lines etc.. to create artwork or cut shapes with..) There is nothing wrong with this, and it creates very clean graphics I just prefer a little bit more of a hand drawn look to my fabrics. Every now and then if you see a dot in my fabrics or obviously my stripes, these are done with shapes from the computer but I don't use those dot and stripe tools to make new shapes and artwork. All my non dot or stripe fabrics are drawn by my own two little hands. Clear as mud?
Do you work on more than one collection at the same time or just focus on one?
I only work on the artwork for one line at a time but will probably be working on the strike offs for the upcoming line at the same time. This can be hard! I've found that during the time my strike offs come, that's the only creative thing I can work on because that time period is so crucial! I've compared it to picking out 50 paint colors at once and having them all work together. If one is off the whole print can be ruined and you can only do so many runs. Dustin is a trooper and cooks all meals and changes all diapers when my strike offs are in.
How many fabric manufacturers did you submit your designs to and how long did it take to get a "yes"?
Hmm..this is hard to remember honestly. I think I spoke with about 5 manufacturers and was lucky enough to be offered contracts right on the spot. If you're trying to get into the business and this doesn't happen for you-don't fret. I spoke with manufacturers in person and I'm sure that sped things up.
Did you get a lot of rejections or did you have to choose which manufacturer to go with?
I was lucky enough to have choices. :) I chose Michael Miller for a few reasons. Their fabrics are consistently the best quality I've seen. At the time they didn't have any other licensed designers and I was sure to get special treatment and extra attention and training. (which I did and it was heavenly.) They have since added some new licensed designers all of whom I know and am very excited to work with. One in particular as she has been my friend for a long time and is so talented! This is all worthy of a post of it's own so stay tuned.
What kind of camera do you use? (Sorry if this is answered somewhere already)