How can I design my fabric?

You can use any method to design your fabric, using photos, scanned drawings or specialist computer programmes such as Photoshop or Illustrator, as long as it ends up in a suitable format. This means:

• It should be in a TIF or JPG file. Our printer likes TIF best.
• It should be at least 150 dpi.
• It should be in RGB colour-space.
• It should be no bigger than 40MB
• If you use Photoshop, or any software which makes use of layers, please make sure you flatten the image before saving it.
• It should not infringe copyright (see Terms & Conditions)

Once you have uploaded your design, you can see which repeat looks best – centred, half-drop, half-brick, mirrored or a straight repeat.

There are a number of posts on our blog, giving suggested ways of designing, if you're a novice designer.

How do I upload my design onto your web site?

You need to register with us and sign in. Then go to Create and follow the instructions. You may upload an image without logging in, and when you hit save, you will be prompted to log in or create an account at that point. Once you have created your account, you can then continue and save your design or purchase your fabric.

How do I buy my fabric?

If you want to buy a design you have just uploaded, you will be able to place an order during the upload process. We take payments using Paypal. The price includes VAT where applicable, but excludes P&P, which will be added at the checkout.

If you want to buy a design you uploaded earlier, go to 'my account' at the top right of the website and then click on 'My Designs' to look at your designs. You can then order from there.

If you want to buy someone else's design, go to our Market Place. If you buy someone else’s design, commission for the designer will be added to the price.

Which fabrics can my design be printed on?

We currently print on five fabrics: a 195gsm plain cotton, a 130gsm plain cotton, a  300gsm cotton drill,  cotton twill and tea towel fabric. All five are 100% cotton. For care instructions see below.

The 195gsm plain cotton is our most popular fabric. It is a medium weight cotton and very versatile, being suitable for some dress-making projects (skirts, summer trousers, etc), quilting, soft furnishings, craft projects, including embroidery.  This fabric is a natural white, which is similar to ivory.

The 130gsm plain cotton is suitable for some crafts and for many dress-making projects (dresses, blouses etc). It is also good for some quilting projects, particularly hand-stitched ones.  This is an 'optic white', which is a brilliant white.  (Think 'Persil washes whiter' ads.) 

The drill is a heavier weight fabric and is suitable for soft furnishing, bags and clothing items such as jackets.  This is also optic white.

The  twill has a similar weave to drill, but is finer and lighter weight.

The tea towel fabric comes on a roll, so the short ends have a nice selvedge, the long ends are unhemmed. Tea towels are nominally 50cms x 75cms, but the length is nearer 79cms.

If you would like a sample of our fabrics, you can order one here. These are free of charge.

We plan to increase the range of fabrics we offer as soon as possible, to include lighter and heavier-weight fabrics. If you have a fabric you would like us to stock, please let us know. If you would like fabric for a particular usage, but aren't sure which fabric you will need, tell us about that, too, and we will try to help.

You can order fabric by the metre in 2 widths, 150cm (60”) and 112cms (44”), as a fat quarter (50cms x 56cms) or as a swatch (20 cm²).  Please note that twill  and drill are not available in 112cms wide.

Our fabrics are not flame-retardant, so are unsuitable for nightwear.

How much does the fabric cost?

There are 2 prices, one if it's your own design, another if you buy someone else's design.  The prices below are for your own design.  Add 50p to fat quarters and tea towels and £2 per metre if you choose someone else's design.  (That's the designer's commission.)

Swatch (20cm x 20cm) £2.50

Fat Quarter £5 for plain cotton, £7 for drill and twill

Tea towel £6

112 cm wide light-weight plain cotton £15.50 per metre

112 cm wide 195gsm cotton £18 per metre

150cm wide 130gsm cotton £17.50 per metre

150cm wide 195gsm cotton £20 per metre

150cm wide 300gsm drill  £24 per metre

150cm wide twill £24 per metre

How is my fabric printed?

We use a wide-format (about 3m wide) digital printer – very much like the one you may use at home or work, but a bit bigger! We print with water-based pigment inks. This is the most environmentally-friendly way of printing, as there is very little waste of either ink or fabric. There are no nasty chemicals involved in pre- or post-treating the fabric, and no water. This also makes it relatively quick and inexpensive to print, compared with many other printing methods. And, of course, there is no minimum size requirement, so you can order fabric from as little as 20 cm².

How do I care for my fabric?

Drill should be dry-cleaned.

Hand wash your other fabrics or wash at 30° or less on a delicates cycle. Use phosphate-free detergents. If you use a detergent suitable for delicates it is much less likely to damage the print. Do not wring or rub.

Please be aware that fabrics may shrink by between 3 and 5%. Make allowance for this when making the fabric up, or wash it before you cut and sew it.

How will my fabric be delivered and how much does postage cost?

We aim to print, treat and pack your order within a week; in most cases, it will be quicker than that. We use Royal Mail 1^st class post.  Please note, however, that larger orders may be sent via a courier.  In these cases, the order may take longer to reach you, as couriers often take longer to organise, and don't work Saturdays.

Fabric samples are sent free of charge.

Within the UK, swatches are post free. For all other orders we charge a flat rate of £3.50.

Within Europe, postage on swatches is £2; for all other orders the flat rate is £10, for tracked delivery.

For swatches sent to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA, postage is £3; the flat rate for all other orders is £12.50. For other countries, please email for details.

We will email you when we post your order, so you know when to expect it.

Which countries do you deliver to?

We deliver to all parts of the UK, Europe, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and USA. For other countries, please email for details.

What if I change my mind?

Unfortunately, because ours is a bespoke product, once we have sent you a confirmation email, your order will be in the print queue and we cannot accept cancellations. We cannot accept returns because you don't like your fabric when it arrives. For this reason, we strongly advise that you order a swatch of your design so that you can check that the design works (no gaps in the repeat, etc) and that the colour is as you hoped. It is your responsibility to ensure that the design works; we do not check your design-work before we print your fabric.

What if there's a fault with the fabric?

We check all orders before they leave us, so there shouldn't be any problems. However, if a fault does slip through, please contact us immediately (within 5 days of receiving your order) and we will sort it out. We print onto 100% cotton, which means that there may occasionally be natural imperfections in the fabric. This is all part and parcel of natural fabrics. We cannot accept responsibility for design faults – gaps in the repeats, etc. You must check the design before you ask us to print it. The best way to do this is by ordering a swatch printed with your design. A 1 pixel gap at the edge of your design may not show up on the computer, but will show as a white line on your print.

Colour

With our water-based inks you can create millions of different colours. Colours display differently on different monitors and on different fabrics. The difference between a screen (coloured light comes out of the flat surface) and fabric (light bounces off the surface which folds and drapes) means that colours will look different. Different fabrics may also affect the way a colour looks. Our pigment inks may print lighter than you might expect, especially where darker colours such as dark red and black are concerned. Because of this, we recommend that you order a test swatch before ordering large quantities of a design.

We don’t check your files. Our system is automated, enabling us to print your fabric economically. However, this means that we will not spot any mistakes you may have made, or try to match colours for you. Before ordering fabric, please check that the colours are correct and that the design repeat works. Any mismatch or gap in the design will show on the fabric.

Dark colours which are similar may blend together when printed. Good contrasts print better. Please note that pigment inks on natural fabrics such as cotton do not render a true, saturated black. To avoid black looking more like dark grey, it’s best to use it in small amounts. Dark colours work well as detail, although they may be lighter than you expect. They do not work so well in large blocks.

We print on white or natural fabric, and do not use white ink. White is created by an absence of ink.

With digital printing, it is possible to use fine detail, as long as there is good colour contrast.

‘Seconds’

Any fabric printed, but considered not suitable to be sold, will be used by or given to charity. No commission will be paid on these print runs, as the fabric will not be sold.

Can I sell my designs?

Yes, you may. When you upload a design, you may choose to keep it private or make it available for anyone to see and buy. We ask you to buy at least a swatch of your design (to check that the design works), before you make it available for sale.  Once you have bought at least a swatch, go to your designs in your account and click on the design you have bought.  You will now have the option of clicking on 'Make Public'.  Designers receive commission on all sales of their designs, of £2 per metre, 50p per fat quarter. There is no commission on 20cm squares. Ultimately, we plan to automate this service, but for the time being, we will pay commission (once it has reached £10) by refund to your paypal account on the 1^st working day of the month.

Once you have made your design public, you will not be able to change it. If you wish to make changes, you will have to upload the new version.

Copyright for designs remains with the designer at all times, but we retain the right to make use of any designs uploaded to our site for marketing purposes on our web site, social media or other media. This may include printing the design for advertising purposes. We will not pay commission on these print runs as they will not be sold.

Design competitions

We hold regular design competitions and challenges, currently once a month.  Each month, we give you a theme to inspire your design. 

If it's a challenge, designs are displayed on Facebook, as well as the blog and you can vote for the designs you like, or leave a message for the designer.  We usually give entrants the opportunity to make their entries public free of charge.

When it's a competition (3 to 4 times per year), we will either find a guest judge to select a winner, or display the designs on Facebook, where you will be able to vote for your favourites.  The designer with the most votes wins 3 metres of fabric (usually), printed with their design. These will, of course, be available for other people to buy, as long as the designer is registered with us. Ultimately, we will hold the competition here on the web site. Check the blog for details of current themes, closing dates, etc.