What’s the deal, are your fabrics vintage reproductions?

Not reproductions, reimaginings. As a trained professional artist, vintage collector, and someone who manages an archive of vintage fashion catalogs, I draw inspirations for my designs from existing vintage fabrics and either reimagine a specific fabric design or create a design within the spirit of a decade. On my Spoonflower I have a specific collection highlighting fabrics that were directly reimagined from existing vintage fabrics*, all others are my own completely original designs with influence from a variety of vintage fabric designs.

*Although they are “reimagined” each fabric I bring back to life is very much a new creation, read more about that next.

Reimagined? Reproduced? What’s the difference?

It may seem a nuanced difference but reproductions take work created by another fabric designer and simply bring them back for sale without changes and without copyright considerations for the artist and their work. If I take inspiration from a specific fabric it’s either in the public domain and available to be reworked more closely, though I still do rework it, or I reimagine them by taking the elements of the original and redesign them so it visually reads similarly but is a stand alone work. More often, though, I research fabrics of an era and create designs based within the spirit of a design / style movement so that they could seamlessly fit in back in the day (or at least, that’s the idea). My work is all hand drawn from scratch - truly designer fabrics in their own right. I hand pick every color (a really intense process) and very careful consideration is given to pattern size repeats and scale.

Where can I purchase your fabrics?

Either on Spoonflower or via my Contrado shop. What’s the difference? Spoonflower offers a wide variety of fabrics you can have custom printed with my designs as well as home goods (wallpaper, bedding, curtains, pillows, and more - that you can shop through each fabric design you click) in case sewing isn’t your thing. A lot of my designs are created with home decor in mind as well as garments. Spoonflower prints fabrics both out of North Carolina, USA as well as Berlin, Germany - so either in the US or Europe, shipping isn’t terribly expensive. Contrado is a UK fabric company through which I was invited to offer my designs on as one of their partner artists. They create a range of very high end fabrics including real silks and, soon, a bamboo rayon. Though based in the UK they keep worldwide shipping very reasonable, too.

How do you choose what fabrics to design? Can I request one be reimagined?

Yes! You’re more than welcome to message me and request a fabric. I have a list of requests I try to work through but please keep in mind it takes a few months from design to being in print, so please only request fabrics you’re certain you love and will love in a few months time. I try my best to create as many as I’m able, and while I welcome requests, please know it’s not a guarantee it’ll be made - if you’re intent on having a fabric reimagined sooner than later I do accept commissions. Again, please message me to learn more about how I work that out. Otherwise, my decision for which fabrics I create comes down to many factors - fabrics I’ve come across in vintage fashion catalogs or as extant garments that stop me in my tracks, fabrics I wish were being produced that brought back a style or era, and my mood. There’s really no set rhyme or reason though.

Can I see your fabrics in use?

Yes! I’m working with my own fabrics to create clothes and design my own living spaces (the upside of being able to create things like this), and I share them here on my Vintage Sewing Blog page. I also post photos on my Instagram that you all share of ways you’ve used my designs too - so follow along to see or share your own creation.