Tutorial : Creating a Basic Fabric Repeating Pattern for Spoonflower

Having recently shown you some of my fabric designs, I thought it might be nice to give a quick tutorial on how to create a very basic, repeating pattern that can be uploaded to Spoonflower.

For those who haven't heard of Spoonflower, here is what they say about themselves:

"Spoonflower makes it possible for individuals to design, print and sell their own fabric designs. It was founded in May 2008 by two Internet geeks who had crafty wives but who knew nothing about textiles. The company came about because Stephen’s wife, Kim, persuaded him that being able to print her own fabric for curtains was a really cool idea. She wasn’t alone. The Spoonflower community now numbers around 70,000 individuals who use their own fabric to make curtains, quilts, clothes, bags, furniture, dolls, pillows, framed artwork, costumes, banners and much, much more. The Spoonflower marketplace offers the largest collection of independent fabric designers in the world. The site has appeared in the New York Times, Associated Press, Vogue, Martha Stewart Weddings, Make, CRAFT, ApartmentTherapy, Photojojo, and many other terrific publications and blogs."

Please note that the method I am documenting here is the one I use, which I find works well for me after some trial and error. I expect there are other (maybe better!) ways, but it should give you a starting point. 

To follow this tutorial you will need to install a scalable vector graphics (SVG) program.  This is a software package that allows you to create designs that scales, e.g. doesn't loose image quality if you make it bigger or smaller. I use Inkscape because it does everything I want and it is free - woohoo!  This tutorial explains what I do in Inkscape, but it will be similar in othe SVG programs, you may just have to hunt around a bit for the menu options.

So, let's assume you are desperate to make some great fabric for your craft project! Lets get started! 

Step 1 - Create a New Document

Create a new SVG document in your SVG program.  Set your document size to the fabric repeat size you require.  In this example I have set it to 8 x 8 inches (which just happens to be the test swatch size on Spoonflower).  I have heard through the grape vine that the Spoonflower website is happier with square repeats.  I can't say if this is correct or not, but to be safe let's make this example square.

Step 2 - Pattern Layer & Pattern Elements

Give your layer a sensible name as we shall be creating more later and a descriptive name will prevent confusion.  Create your fabric design elements (I've cheated here and just edited some images from a previous design of mine, Groovy Paisley). Don't worry about where to put them yet...

Step 3 - Rough Layout

...now worry about where to put them ;o)

I've opted for a very basic, square design with a flower at each repeat edge, to make it easy for you to see what I am doing.  So now you have your basic design, it is time to make it repeat.

Step 4 - 1st Repeat

I have deleted all but the bottom left flower. Because my flower is outside of the 8 x 8 inch pattern area, I will need to repeat it in the other 3 corners, so the whole flower is displayed once the pattern is repeated.  If the flower were not in a corner and just on a side (left or right / top or bottom) I would only need to repeat it on the opposite side.

 Select the item to repeat and then make a duplicate of it by hitting ctrl + D.  Initially you can't see the duplicate as it is directly on top of the original item.  You now need to move the duplicate to a repeated position.  To do this you need to know the size of your repeat, which in this case is 8 x 8 inches, and the x and y co-ordinates of the image you are repeating, which can be found in the tool bar at the top.

Now for some sums - ugh! ... but they are simple, I promise!

To move the duplicate flower to its repeat position in the bottom right I work out the new x co-ordinate:

current x-co-ordinate + width of repeat = new x co-ordinate
in this case, -0.603 + 8 = 7.397

So I type 7.397 in the x co-ordinate box of the duplicate flower and it shifts across to the bottom right corner of the pattern.

Step 5 - Completed Repeat

I create another duplicate flower for the top left corner and work out the new y co-ordinate:

current y-co-ordinate + height of repeat = new y co-ordinate
in this case, -0.587 + 8 = 7.413

Finally, for the flower in the top right I make another duplicate and give it the new x and y co-ordinates.

Still with me? The hardest bit is over - yippee!

Step 6 - Background Layer

I like to add my background on a new layer, as I find it easier to change it or hide it without accidentally messing up the pattern. Add the background layer underneath the pattern layer.

Step 7 - Background Colour

Create a square of your background colour.  Make it bigger than your repeatable pattern, in this case bigger than 8 x 8 inches.  This prevents getting the odd 1 pixel of missing colour around the border of the repeat.

Step 8 - Repeatable Layer

Add another layer, which we shall use to select the repeatable area.  Add this layer above the pattern layer.

Step 9 - Repeat Selection

On this new layer draw another square, as you did for the background colour.  Set its co-ordinates to 0,0, and its width and height to that of the repeatable area, in this case 8 x 8 inches.  The block will then be the same position and have the same size as your page (see Step 1).  You can make this layer a little opaque so you can see your fabric design underneath.

Step 10 - Create a Bitmap

When you are happy, select this square and then make the layer 100% opaque so only the select markers are visible but not the actual fill or border of the square. You are now ready to export the selected area as a bitmap.

For simplicity, set the dots per inch (DPI) to 150, which is the default Spoonflower expects.

Ta-daa!!! Your Repeatable Pattern PNG
 

Fingers crossed, you should end up with a PNG of your repeatable pattern!

Upload it to spoonflower and set the repeat to "basic repeat" to see the final result!

See this example here!

Please let me know what you think of this tutorial, and if any of it is too confusing please let me know and I will try my best to answer any questions.

Happy Fabric Designing!