Estimated Turn Around Time: 8-10 Business Days
August 03, 2023 1 Comment
With Raspberry Creek’s custom fabric printing process, your options for fabric printing really are limitless. In order to make your custom order go smoothly, and to make sure you get exactly what you want, here are the steps for placing your custom order:
Step 1: Choose Your Design
With so many designs to choose from, this is probably the hardest step! You have three options: (1) print your own design, (2) choose a design from the Design Library – a collection of past Raspberry Creek prints, or (3) choose a design from the Designer Studios – a huge catalogue of designs created and uploaded by hundreds of designers.
If you do print your own design, the biggest tip is to make sure the design has a seamless repeat, meaning that the top edge has to match up with the bottom edge, and the left edge has to match up with the right edge so the pattern can repeat across the length and width of the fabric without lines or disruptions. There are lots of great tutorials on the web if you need help creating a seamless repeat on your design.
Step 2: Check the Boxes
Once you’ve chosen a design, you’ll see the ordering screen with a preview box, but first you’ll want to check the boxes next to the preview box:
The first box will only be visible if you are printing your own design. This box ensures that you have the legal rights to print your design. Make sure to read the Terms of Service before checking the box – I always recommend reading the fine print!
The second box will be visible no matter which design option you choose. Read the Fabric Printing Best Practices and Policies each time you order to make sure your design is printed on the right fabric. Full coverage designs work better on certain fabrics, and you want to make sure you have the right fabric for your particular design. These best practices also list the ways to avoid the most common ordering mistakes.
Step 3: Upload your Design (If using your own design)
Once you have checked all the boxes, you will then be able to upload the file with your design if you are printing your own design. Note that your file must be in .jpg or .png format to work. This is the design I chose for the tutorial. The violet print has a special meaning to me because it is in honor of my daughter Violet, who died as an infant, and was designed by my dear friend Diana.
Step 4: Choose the Right Scale
The correct scale for your design really depends on your project and your personal taste. I chose two different scales to illustrate how scale affects the final product. I wanted a smaller print for my daughter to wear, as it matched her size and has more of a ditsy floral motif, and a larger print for me to wear.
There are two ways to change the scale on the ordering screen: a slider and boxes where you can type the dimensions manually. When you adjust the scale using either tool, the proportions of the original design will always stay the same, but the design itself will get bigger or smaller.
The preview box will be your best means for determining the right scale. I think a helpful way to determine the right scale is to measure the size of one of the design elements. In my example, I used one of the larger flowers in the design to get a sense of how big the design would be in real life. When I adjusted my image width to 7 (the larger print), I could see on the screen that the flower would be about 1.25 inches across. And when I received the final printed fabric, I could see that was true.
When I adjusted my image width to 4 (the smaller print), that same flower was only about .75 inches. I could hold up a ruler to my daughter to determine whether .75 inches was the right size print for her.
Once you have the scale to where you think you want it, I find it helpful to look at all 3 views of the “Preview Zoom” located under the preview box on the ordering screen. You’ll want to verify how the scale will look based on a preview of 12” of the fabric, 24” of the fabric, and the full width of the fabric. Make a note of what your image width is so that you can verify the width in your shopping cart before checking out and finalizing your order.
Step 5: Choose Your Fabric Base
There are over 25 different fabric bases to choose from, and you can select your fabric type from a drop-down menu on the ordering screen. You can read more about each fabric type here: Fabric Types. There are lots of sewn up samples of the different bases in the Raspberry Creek Fabric Facebook group and also in other blog posts here, so you can do a search to learn more about different bases. If you’d like to feel the fabrics for yourself, you can also order a swatch book of every base offered here: Swatch Book. For my project, I chose the Linen Rayon Robert Kaufman Brussels Washer Linen, which I’ve sewn with before and absolutely love wearing, especially during warmer months.
Step 6: Finalize your order
Choose the quantity of fabric you want – remember the fabric is sold by the half yard, so put “2” if you want a full yard. Then press the “Add to cart” button.
In your shopping cart, you can verify the image width – make sure it matches the scale you wanted. You can also verify the fabric type and quantity before checking out and finalizing your order.
There you go! Now you will be all set to let your creativity run wild and dream up your perfect project (or several!) I sewed up the Amherst Shirt from Hey June Handmade for me, and the Juniper Top from Sew a Little Seam for my daughter. If you want to see more of my makes, you can find me on Instagram at @isewbestaftermidnight (link: https://www.instagram.com/isewbestaftermidnight/)
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Another way to get a better sense of the scale of a pattern is to expand the scaled picture so 1 inch on the screen is actually one inch. If you do this on a tablet you can then look in a mirror and get a very accurate picture of how the pattern will look.