Designing your own fabric can be so much fun–addicting, in fact. For example, after writing “DIY Fabric Design” for Threads #165, I have since spent countless hours on Spoonflower.com playing around with historically-inspired designs I’ve created, altering them, refining them, and ordering test samples. But all of this is purely for my own personal entertainment; I have no ambition to become a professional fabric designer. And if I did aspire to this, how would I get my designs noticed by fabric manufacturers? Well, to start with, I could have entered Bernina of America’s WeAllSew Fabric Design Contest on Pinterest a few months ago. The Grand Prize winner gets an introduction to a quilting fabrics manufacturer and the winning design is reviewed by the company.
Bernina recently announced the winners of the fabric design contest. Aspiring designers (who don’t already have a fabric line) were encouraged to pin swatches of their original fabric designs onto Bernina’s WeAllSew Pinterest board. Fabric prints created digitally as well as by hand were eligible. The winners were chosen based on design originality, creativity, visual appeal and versatility by a panel of celebrity judges, including Amanda Murphy, Tula Pink, Mimi Goodwin, Vanessa Christenson, and Angie Steveson. Two People’s Choice winners were selected based on the number of repins made on the WeAllSew Pinterest board. You can view all the entered fabric designs in Bernina’s Fabric Contest Entries pinboard. All of the designs entered are interesting, whether they’re simple or complex.
The winners are:
Grand Prize – Shakti Scircle of Kokomo, Indiana
First Runner Up – Candace Carr of Libertyville, Illinois
Second Runner Up – Shakti Scircle
People’s Choice Winner, Most Repinned Fabric Design – Jen Benoit-Bryan of Cicero, Illinois
People’s Choice Winner, Second Most-Repinned Fabric Design – Laurie Anderson of Columbia, Tennessee
Have you ever tried designing fabric prints digitally or by hand? For the inside scoop on designing your own prints, read “DIY Fabric Design” in Threads #165.
I can't help but wonder how the judging was done because both of the people's choice fabrics were so much better then the others. I could not help thinking that the ones that were picked as the winners looked like the fabrics you see in the bin that is discounted because no one wants it. I could not think of anything I would want out of grand prize or second runner up prints the 1st runner up maybe a table cloth or some fun top or pillow. Still neither of these would be my first choice.just not my cup of tea I guess.
I don't want to put down anyones work, but I also had the same reaction when I saw the winners. Not my cup of tea either! I was dissapointed and I did not enter the contest, so it wasn't hard feelings.
I agree with the above comments. The swirls being my favorite and the anchors my second choice. None of the previous fabrics caught my eye. I admire anyone who can produce original designs as I can't.
i agree...not my cuppa tea. glad i didnt enter as well.