spoon flower custom fabric printing

[AniaR]

http://www.spoonflower.com/welcome

A friend drew my attention to this, you can create your own prints for fabric and they'll print you yards and yards of it. Imagine, having your tail material printed with your scale design without you having to paint it on or silk screen it on! IT'S ECO FRIENDLY TOO. and just for kicks look at this awesome print: http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/607484

[Mermaid Saphira]

How cool is that? The feline fishy fabric looks just like my cat (minus the tail) LOL :D

[taom]

Problem: They don't carry spandex or any fabrics like that. Perhaps if we provided enough of a demand, though, they would add them!

[Mermaid Saphira]

aww they don't? sadness :*(

[Zirconmermaid]

Spoonflower has a fabric that is 4-way stretch and looks like it would work. What do you think?

Modern Jersey: $26.50/yard ($23.85 with designer discount)96% polyester and 4% spandex fabric
DETAILS


56" wide printable area (142 cm)
White, 6.5 oz per square yard
4-way stretch, 75% in width and 50% in length
Lightweight and stretchy with a super soft cotton-like hand
Crisp, bright color that washes well
Estimated shrinkage: 1-2% in length, minimal in width


Has anyone tried this fabric for tails yet?

[Mermaid Wesley]

Looks promising! Polyester works well in water. Can you order test swatches?


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[Zirconmermaid]

Yes you can order test swatches. It occurred to me that if I designed the fin as well as the scales it would be possible to make a nice tail without actually painting it.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

This one is very pretty!
http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/3388416

Oh just saw the other fish scale prints... They're all gorgeous!

The pattern, not color, looks exactly like the Fin Fun tails. I wonder if that's where they are printing their tails from?

[Prince Calypso]

wonder if there was enough demand if they would offer neoprene
i found a scale design on the sight that looks promisingly beautiful and it would be epic if they printed on neoprene
save me soem trouble having to paint and screen print scales onto fabric

[Princess Pearl]

There would need to be a HUGE demand, as neoprene is a much thicker material than regular fabric, so it would require modifications to their machinery. Custom fabric is a niche product as it is.


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[MermaidBrandie]

Looks promising! Polyester works well in water. Can you order test swatches?


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I was told polyester is awful in water because it weighs you down so much. Is that not true?



Also: this website is AMAZING. It's sad that it doesn't come in spandex (yet!) but it gives me so many ideas about making dresses!

[Mermaid Wesley]

Oh... I'm pretty sure my spandex has polyester in it.... hm...
edit: yes, alot of swim/performance fabrics are 90% polyester 10% spandex at joanne's

[Mermaid Wesley]

I'm super stoked about this website right now.

[Miyu]

I've loved Spoonflower for years - There's quite a few "Lolitas" in the U.S., and we can never seem to get our hands on appropriately-kawaii fabric, so a lot of U.S. Lolita designers do order from Spoonflower (with varying degrees of quality, but at least it's custom prints). I'd love for there to be an easy way to make colourful scaled spandex tails!

[Merman Orion]

Isn't a performance knit spandex or spandex like? That's one of the options for fabric on the site.


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[Mermaid Wesley]

I have some swatches coming! I will post pictures of the swatches when I get them!

[Mermaid Aika]

This one is very pretty!
http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/3388416

Oh just saw the other fish scale prints... They're all gorgeous!

The pattern, not color, looks exactly like the Fin Fun tails. I wonder if that's where they are printing their tails from?

It does look like their new scales (which they never announced). It is definitely possible...

[Mermaid Aika]

I have some swatches coming! I will post pictures of the swatches when I get them!

Can't wait to see them, Wesley!

[MermaidBrandie]

Hmmm good to know, Wesley! Weird that I was told that.


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[Mermaid Wesley]

ITS LOOKING GOOD!
2583625837258382583925840
Both have 4 way stretch the purple in performance knit the red in performance piquet he horizontal stretch is much more than the vertical. It's thinner than the other fabric I've made tails out of and it looks like a lining might be necessary. I'm running tests on them and hopefully will be making my nc merfest tail with this!
sorry about the weird sizes!


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[Mermaid Wesley]

The performance knit will develop runs as you see here
25841
But when I sewed a line in it it stopped the runs so that's good. It only seems to run from the top edge. It is less stretchy than the performance pique, but the pique seems like it's maybe too stretchy. The pattern will distort if I tug on it. It returns to normal but too stretchy isn't always best for drag and a nice fit. So I would suggest the performance knit so far. The swatches are five bucks each if you want to order them yourself. The pattern is my own design.


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[Mermaid Aika]

The performance knit will develop runs as you see here
25841
But when I sewed a line in it it stopped the runs so that's good. It only seems to run from the top edge. It is less stretchy than the performance pique, but the pique seems like it's maybe too stretchy. The pattern will distort if I tug on it. It returns to normal but too stretchy isn't always best for drag and a nice fit. So I would suggest the performance knit so far. The swatches are five bucks each if you want to order them yourself. The pattern is my own design.


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Cool!

[Mermaid Melusinah]

http://www.spoonflower.com/shop?utf8=%E2%9C%93&type=fabric&view=designs&shop=fabric&q=scales&x=0&y=0

[Grey Gambit]

This is a really cool find! And the scale patterns they have are pretty interesting.. It's really got me tempted on some of them to get a few yards.

Although I think I remember reading somewhere that if there's not more than 20% spandex in the fabric it won't work as well in the water? I'm probably not remembering correctly.. >.>;

[Miyu]

As long as it stretches and is mostly synthetic, it should be fine. Really, what the spandex is for is the stretch, but if you're not looking for a super-stretchy tail then any manner of stretch fabric should work - I'm making a tail from stretch velvet and it's not as stretchy as my spandex one, but it's working well so far. Really you just want less natural fiber in the fabric so it stands up better to repeated pool/water use without rotting away.

I am SO buying some of these fabrics when I can :)

[Mermaid Wesley]

Yes they are fine in water so far. I'm gonna do chlorine tests soon.


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[Mermaid Alea]

Has anyone seen that Spoonflower now has Sport Lycra? http://www.spoonflower.com/sport_lycra

This fabric looks very promising from the photos.