Just Sheep

Just Sheep (White) fabric by eSheep Designs
(mockup courtesy of Spoonflower)...

For many years now, I've regularly come across fabrics featuring sheep that I've taken a shine to. Finally, after much procrastination and deliberation, I've now come up with my own.

Specifically, these sheep aren't knitting or spooling off wool. 

I know, I know; that's what sheep are good for. But not being a knitter, the sheep prints that have included knitting in the mix were never quite right for me. This fabric is for anyone who appreciates sheep... just sheep. In fact, that's what the collection is called: Just Sheep.

Completing a sheep themed surface design was one of the things that I wanted to share before retiring this blog. I have so few goals these days that it's an achievement in itself to be able to say that I've met one.

But while this has been at the back of my mind for a long time, it took a fairly recent inspiration to kick start the project.

Genesis of a fabric design...

Hubby gave me this card for my last birthday. Sheep have an unfair reputation of being mindless followers; this card gave me the idea of having one stand out in a crowd.

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I drew five sheep, with two in profile. That left me with three different faces to apply to three different body types. Once scanned, I was also free to resize, mirror and shift them, giving me a decent number of options.

In the end, I didn't need to draw a glittery rainbow sheep; just the adornment of a red flower on one of them was enough.

Just Sheep (Black & White Medium)...

I created four different versions, each with different sized print. All are variants of a red, black, gray and white colour scheme.

This one with black and white sheep has a 14" repeat.

Pillow sham and sheets (image courtesy of Spoonflower)...

It's suitable for things that require a larger scale, like home decor items.

Just Sheep (Black)...

This version with all white sheep on a black background has an 8" repeat; i.e., the entire design fits on one of Spoonflower's test swatches.

Placemats (image courtesy of Spoonflower)...

You can see the mockup of the fabric used here on a set of placemats ($26 USD for two).

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The second one with both black and white sheep (the opposite of the previous one) features the largest sized print. 

Just Sheep (White & Black X Large)...

The repeat is at set at 21", perfect for sewing up bigger home decor items. This 50" x 70" throw blanket sells for $138 USD.

Minky blanket (image courtesy of Spoonflower)...

The white sheep on white background version of this fabric has a 9" repeat.

Just Sheep (White)...

All designs are also available as a 24" repeat in wallpaper.

Spoonflower has added a new item to its line of home decor products, a wall hanging. (And as an FYI, they no longer sell face mask kits.)

Wall hanging (image courtesy of Spoonflower)...

They measure 16" wide by 24" long and are made out of linen cotton canvas with solid beech frames. Each one goes for $59 USD.

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The optimal process by which a hand drawing is digitized is probably not of interest to many of you, but I will make a mention of it here anyway. 

As I've related in the past, my graphics program of choice is Paintshop Pro. For fabric design, it takes scanned images and creates seamless tiles out of them. While it's possible to do it in a quick and dirty fashion using just the scans themselves, for smoother looking images that can be resized without pixelation, one has to trace the line drawings to convert them into vectors.

The tedious job of converting line drawings into vectors...

It literally took me several hours over several days to do this. I don't have a tablet and physical pen tool, so it's a painstaking task to use a mouse to trace. In the screen shot above you can see the little nodes that result from the tracing process; together they form contiguous lines. Each node can be manipulated to curve a certain way. So while it's not imperative to be absolutely perfect while tracing, any "outside of the line" errors must be corrected. At a low estimate, I probably had to "touch" 50% of the nodes. 

Improved vector image on the left...

As you can see above, however, the benefit of doing this is clear. Not only can spaces be filled in totally with colour (i.e., no pixelated white edges), the lines are solid.

It wasn't my plan to go to such lengths for this fabric, but in truth, the practice was good. Using the drawing pen tool in PSP has long been a weakness for me and when I go for extended periods without using it, I forget most of how to do so effectively. By the time I traced my last sheep, the process was becoming almost second nature.

That said, I should make it easier on myself — once and for all — and spring for an actual graphics tablet. (Which I have now done just this past week!)

Spoonflower allows you to sample multiple designs (up to 42!) on a single yard...

By the way, the Just Sheep collection is available for purchase here. Any ideas for what I can make out of the fat quarters?

'Til next...