Swatches

For my first My Fabric Designs order, I decided to get swatches of my designs to see how everything translated from computer screen to textile.

I have to commend their customer service - every one of my emails has received a quick response with answers to all my questions.

From placing the order to delivery took nine days, right in the window of the 7-10 day delivery noted on the website.

And now that I have the fabric in hand, I have to say that it is rather thrilling to see my own design printed on fabric!

For my blossoms, I added a subtle texture to the image to see how much would come through in the printing.  The short answer is, not that much.  I think a heavy hand is probably better for this process than subtlety.  The edges are slightly fuzzy, but I was expecting that.

The colors also seem slightly muted on the cotton textile.  

But now that I know that, it is an easy adjustment.  That may also be a function of fabric choice.  Silk, for instance, takes color more vibrantly then cotton.

And about that grain line . . . I may have set myself up by being paranoid, but there is a definite issue here.  Most of the cotton swatches were pretty close to being on grain.  The linen silk blend, however, was printed extremely off grain.  Looking back at my swatch book, I see a similar issue, although not quite to the extent of the polka dots.  So I am definitely going to stay away from parallel and perpendicular lines!

The larger pieces (fat quarters) that I ordered are not nearly as off, but that may be due to the fact that the silk/cotton blend is slightly more stable and less shifty than the linen blend.

Overall, I am quite impressed with the outcome and cannot wait to start sewing with some of my new fabric!  I am also curious to see how this process will hold up in the wash . . .

[Disclosure:  My Fabric Designs provided me with a credit which was used to purchase this fabric, but the opinions posted here are my own.]