Print Your Own Fabrics

Rebekah Posted on January 20 2023

Can't find what you want? Something just not quite right? Welcome to the world of printing your own fabric. Its an exciting time to be alive. You can have nearly anything you want (restrictions apply).

There are a few requirements.

First up, you have to have imagination. When printing your own fabrics. Imagination is key. Because you are printing from a small swatch or pattern you can't really get a good sense of what is what. There are no glossy room shots or fancy guides that give you an indication of what it is going to look like at the end.

Secondly - colour matching. Colour matching from a swatch of fabric a sample or even it you have the Hex codes is dangerous. Variations appear between batches (this applies to even paint, wallpaper and normal fabrics). Although we can try our hardest we can never guarantee 100% accuracy.

Third: The design.

If you are an artist or have a clue about graphic design you can probably create your own patterns or artwork to print. If not or just don't have the time we have a team of artists or head to Shutterstock - over a million designs to choose from (let us know before downloading and images so we can check suitability).

Fabric Suitability:

Where is the fabric going?

Hot - Bright sunny room? You need a fabric base with a high U/V filter (but be warned most printers/suppliers do not guarantee against fading anyway so do your research).

Loads of kids jumping around? You need a fabric base with a high abrasion (Martindale) value. Check your fabric before deciding. We generally like fabrics above 30 000 Martindale's. Anything higher is a plus.

Curtains? Some consideration needs to be done before selection. Is it a sheer? A blockout? What kind of window or heading? There are too many options to mentions. Our friendly team can guide you on this.

Check out our outrageous Manuka curtains below, printed on a Brooklyn Sheer and lined with heavy blockout lining.

One of our local customers did a super fun job. She selected a pattern from Shutterstock.

We then measured up and did the calculations: Her couch was was wider than the widest fabric we had - so we flipped the pattern and printed it on its side rather than vertically. This meant she had no seams in the middle of her couch. We then printed some swatches and got it 'mocked up' for her to approve before print.

Let me just add here. Changing designs before print is acceptable. Once printed or in the printing queue we can not alter designs.

Fabric Swatches printed on several different bases (pictured below). Although I have to say - these do the final project no justice. Luckily our customer had courage to go through to the end!

Fabric Mock Up:

The mock up done of the fabric being printed sideways to illustrate how the pattern will look being printed this way. The mockup was way more exciting that the swatches.

And finally the finished piece. What an amazing transformation. We were thrilled to bits with the Chrysanthemum couch and our brave and trendy customer.