9 June, 2021

Fabric Review: Spoonflower’s Minky, Celosia Velvet and Performance Velvet

2021-06-09T15:02:49-05:00Everything Else, Fabric Reviews, Sewing & Design, Spoonflower & Fabric Design|2 Comments

Spoonflower just introduced their new Performance Velvet fabric and I thought that it was a great time to do a fabric review of the Three Plush Fabrics of Spoonflower. As always with my other reviews of Spoonflower fabrics, I just want to say that these are my own opinions and experiences with these fabrics. I don’t get any kind of promotional, incentive, or other kickbacks; I just like to be able to share some in-depth info with students in my classes and all of you out there trying to get started designing your own fabrics.

Spoonflower has three great fabrics with a napped or plush finish: Minky, Celosia Velvet, and Performance Velvet. You can click through any of those links to see the detailed specs on each of those fabrics.

What they have in common.

All three of the fabrics have several things in common. All three are 100% polyester and 54″ printable width. All three have a plush or napped surface, which vary in pile length from .5mm (celosia) to 2mm (minky). All three are heavier or thicker weight fabrics compared to quilting cotton.

All of the printed designs are technically sharp, because the plush fabrics move around as you brush your hand over the surface, that can make fine details disappear and edges look softer than if you print on a smooth fabric like Sateen or Poplin.

Key Differences.

Here are some of the key differences I noticed that might help you choose which fabric is best for your project.

Fabric Base Color

Minky and Performance Velvet are bright white, where Celosia has a little more cream undertone. I don’t think it effects the print colors substantially, but you would notice if your design had a lot of white space or lighter colors in it. You can see in the photo above that the pale blue on the bottom of the design is slightly greener on the Celosia Velvet because of the warm base color underneath.

Look and Feel of the Fabrics

All three are very soft to the touch, but I think the Performance Velvet has the nicest hand feel with a very soft surface and a thick plush feeling fabric. Although Minky is very soft on the surface, it is also the thinnest of the fabrics, so it doesn’t feel as substantial. Celosia Velvet has a plush that feels slightly stiffer, more of what I think of as “upholstery velvet”.

Each fabric also has a distinct finish. Celosia Velvet has a subtle shine that is my personal favorite. I think that little bit of reflection gives it a more luxe look than the others. Performance Velvet has a matte finish. It reminds me of a vintage cotton velvet that you occasionally find in a thrift store. Minky looks “furry” to me and I think you see the nap or the fact that it’s a plush much more obviously than the others.

Drape

I think this is one of the most distinct differences between the three fabrics. In the photo above I tried to demonstrate so you can see how each fabric behaves. On the left, I pinched the fabric and picked it up, so you can see how the folds fall naturally. On the right, the fabric is laid flat, pinched and twisted.

Celosia Velvet is the stiffest, even though it’s about 2oz lighter per yard than the Performance Velvet. It has a more structural feel and no stretch. You can see it falls in very stiff folds.

Performance Velvet is the next softer drape. Although it is technically a thicker/heavier fabric, it falls in softer folds when you pick it up and it moves a little more freely.

Minky has the most drape of the three, with a more liquid sort of movement. It is only 6 oz per yard compared to Performance Velvet’s 11 oz, so even though it reads as “thick” it is really lighter weight. You can see the “furry” surface of Minky most when it is bent or rippled. Minky is also the only one of the three fabrics with a little stretch on the widthwise or cross grain.

The Back

One thing I think is always missing is a little info about what the reverse side of these fabrics look and feel like, which really is important for some projects.

Celosia Velvet is the most “upholstery” like with a plain woven back. Although Spoonflower’s site says it is a knit, it’s definitely not, as you can see the structure and it frays exactly as you’d expect a woven to do. It’s not exactly rough on the back, but it feels sturdy rather than soft.

Performance Velvet has a backing that feels and looks a lot like craft felt. It’s soft and has a slightly brushed look. The Performance Velvet is much creamier white on the back than it is on the front.

Minky has a smooth knit on the reverse.

What can you make with them?

I’ve used all three of these fabrics for different projects: Sara Coat (left), Filter Other Offset Jacket (middle), SeaSerpent Pillow (right). (you can click on any of those titles to read more and see larger photos)

Before Spoonflower had introduced either of the velvet options, I decided to try making a coat out of Minky. Because the Minky is so relatively light weight and stretchy, I actually backed all of the fabric with an inner lining of a lightweight twill before I sewed this coat so it looks much less drapey than it really is. That was a good choice for this project. It has a great texture, almost like a faux fur and the cuffs were made with velvet ribbon stitched in stripes. It was easy to sew, although I think my choice to line it also helped with that. If I were going to make a throw or a cuddly quilt, I would go for Minky with something else as a backing because it is so drapey; the others would make very stiff blankets.

The Filter Other Offset jacket is made from Celosia Velvet and I think the photo almost captures some of the sheen. Because velvet has a nap that wants to “push” the pieces out of alignment with each other as you sew, this took a lot of pinning and I really appreciated the walking foot on my sewing machine. I have also made a number of tote bags and other project bags from Celosia and everyone always comments on how nice it feels. I think Celosia makes a project look lush. I don’t think Celosia would be really great for clothing other than outerwear type uses. It really doesn’t have much drape so it’s good for structured or tailored shapes. I have also done a little upholstery with the Celosia Velvet.

The pillow was made from a sample fat quarter I ordered of the Performance Velvet. It’s a great pillow fabric! It was easier to sew than the Celosia (with much less slipping) and I really like the way it felt substantial and it went together so fast. I would really like to make a jacket from the Performance Velvet next. I think because it is a little softer/drapier than Celosia that it might make a great casual jacket or a winterweight skirt. I also think Performance Velvet would make great stuffed toys.

The fabric design featured in this post is called Wildflowers. It is made from a cut paper illustration made from handpainted paper and is available in my Spoonflower shop.

16 August, 2019

Design your own Fabric Inspired by Textile Traditions (FULL)

2019-09-29T12:12:39-05:00|Comments Off on Design your own Fabric Inspired by Textile Traditions (FULL)

The Museum of Russian Art is pleased to invite you to a hands-on workshop with Becka Rahn in conjunction with the exhibition Village Wardrobes: Traditional Dress from Western and Central Ukraine

Be inspired by the shapes and colors of the costumes in Village Wardrobes: Traditional Dress from Western and Central Ukraine and create your own digitally printed fabric design.  Artist Becka Rahn will help you to create your own pattern inspired by the exhibition, then show you how to manipulate it using simple software to help you make repeating shapes and textures that can be printed onto fabric or paper. You don’t have to know anything about sewing or computers to be able to create your own surface designs; beginners are welcome!  Each participant will get a swatch of their fabric design to keep and have the opportunity to contribute to a collaborative project that will be on display at the Museum.

This workshop will be available on both October 1 and October 2 at The Museum of Russian Art  |  6:30-8:30 pm

CLASS REGISTRATION:  TMORA Members  $20  |  General Admission  $25

Each workshop is limited to 12 participants.  Advance registration is encouraged.  The Museum of Russian Art features free parking directly across the street (Diamond Lake Road) in the Mayflower Church parking lot.

16 August, 2019

Mini Spoonflower Tutorial: Two ways to see your designs as finished goods

2019-08-17T10:16:15-05:00Spoonflower & Fabric Design, Tutorials, Videos|2 Comments

Spoonflower recently rolled out some cool new changes to their website and the ways you can look at designs. Instead of only seeing a swatch or a fat quarter, you can now see your designs mocked up as sheets, curtains, pillows, tablecloths and more. And it’s now built in to the site; you just have to know where to click. I made this mini video tutorial (10 min) to show you two ways you can look at these new mockups, both as a shopper and as a designer. I think they are both great ways to help you visualize the scale and impact of your designs. If you don’t see the video thumbnail here, click Read More > below.

Want to learn more about designing fabrics for Spoonflower? Try out my online intro class! It’s free and will walk you through a design from idea to upload.

22 October, 2018

Designing stuffed toys with muslin mockups

2018-10-22T10:53:17-05:00Sewing & Design, Spoonflower & Fabric Design|1 Comment

The Spoonflower design challenge this week was a cut-and-sew project that fit on a fat quarter. I love designing these kind of things. Some of my very first Spoonflower designs were sets of stuffed toys (Goldilocks and the 3 Bears, Red Riding Hood) where you could make all of the little characters as dolls or finger puppets and then they had their house which was a bag to store them all in. All of the pieces fit on a fat quarter and you just cut them out and sewed them together. The way this design challenge was set up you could make a cut-and-sew anything. Many people made stuffed animal toys, but you could do things bags, headbands or bibs as long as they fit on that 21×18 inch rectangle.

I struggled with this one a little bit. I was going to re-do a sheep stuffed toy pattern that I had in my Etsy shop years and years ago. I thought it would be easy to convert since I had already pattern tested it. But I just wasn’t excited about it and it’s a little fiddly to sew together.

Then I thought about a conversation I had with my friend Megan, who owns a local yarn and fabric store called Knit & Bolt. For a class I was teaching, I interviewed Megan about trends she saw in fabrics – what sells, what doesn’t sell, what do people come in looking for. One of the things that came up was cut-and-sew panels like these. They are popular at her shop, but one of the things she noticed about them is that although they seem like a really great beginner project for new stitchers, often the actual sewing parts are really difficult. She had an example of a cute cowboy doll, but the neck and arms were very skinny, which made it hard to turn right side out and stuff. The way that other parts attached to the body was complex. The shapes that you needed to sew were tight curves, which can be challenging for a beginner.

So I decided that I wanted to design something that was actually a beginner sewing project. Of course I came up with this pretty close to the deadline for the challenge (because don’t you always do your best work on a deadline?) So I thought about it and decided to rework some artwork I had already drawn.

I drew these labradors for another design challenge entry for tea towels. They were inspired by a photo of a pair of mid-century ceramic statues of little black and white dogs. I thought they were really cute and it would be fun to rework them for a different kind of cut-and-sew design.

The best part is that they are really simple shapes, so they would be easy to stitch. I removed their tails and redrew them so that they were part of the artwork on the back of the dog. No skinny bits to stuff and sew. I added a wide seam allowance around each piece. The instructions say to sew with a 1/4 inch seam allowance, but I made my border a bit wider than that so there was a little room for wobbles in the sewing line. By making the seam allowance in the same color as all of the outlines in the art, you won’t see a white “gap” at the edges if your sewing isn’t quite perfect – the color will go all the way into the seam. There are still a few curves around the ears but they should be accomplishable for a novice stitcher. Then because I think that it’s always fun for your stuffed toys to be able to do something, I used the rest of the fat quarter to make reversible bandanas for the dogs, which you just fold in half, stitch the edge and then fray it out to make a fringe.

I didn’t have time to actually get these guys printed and tested before I had to turn in my design challenge entry, but I didn’t want to post something that was completely untested. So I made a muslin mockup. Because I drew this original design in Illustrator, I just converted my shapes into a line drawing and printed it out.

I taped the line drawing up to a bright window and traced my lines on to a piece of muslin with a sharpie. Then I could cut and sew a sample to scale and make sure everything worked out just right. Super fast prototyping! I can’t wait to get the finished printed sample so I can make up some with the final design, but this was enough for me to make sure everything worked and fit together.

27 June, 2018

Spoonflower Handbook Master Class: Fabric Design with Photoshop

2018-06-27T14:44:02-05:00, |Comments Off on Spoonflower Handbook Master Class: Fabric Design with Photoshop

The focus of this workshop will be an introduction to working with Adobe Photoshop (Fall) or Adobe Illustrator (Spring) as a fabric design tool. We will spend 2+ intense days getting to know the tools in each software to make seamless repeats, layers and more. Several of our class exercises will build on concepts presented in The Spoonflower Handbook, taking these projects “beyond the book” with more advanced tools and skills, as well as one-on-one instruction.

This session will focus on working with Adobe PHOTOSHOP to design fabric. Becka will teach you how to use the basic tools in Photoshop to edit, add layers and design seamless patterns using Photoshop. The goal is to help you understand how the Photoshop tools and techniques work so that you can make the designs you have in your head. Class time will be focused on practice with tools and techniques like creating seamless textures, learning how to work with layers, and understanding the settings for tools to accomplish specific effects. Becka will have samples of all of the Spoonflower fabrics and talk about optimizing your design for printing on different surfaces, troubleshooting your designs and choosing the right fabric for your project.

For this class, you do not need drawing or painting skills; no experience with Photoshop, Illustrator or fabric design is necessary, although you should be familiar with the Spoonflower site and comfortable with basic computer functions.

See all of the details at https://www.beckarahn.com/masterclass

Go to Top