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I striking bag made more so by the fabric... |
Turns out that I wasn't the only one.
Apparently she had several inquiries about the fabric's origins from her
customers, who likely wanted to purchase it to replicate the look. The
unfortunate part was that she no longer had the information as to where it
came from or who had released it.
A tiny voice in the back of my mind suggested that it wouldn't be hard to
reproduce, given that it's just stripes.
But it wasn't until early this month that the idea was put into motion. (More on that later.) And to prove that the process is not difficult in the least, let me say that I accomplished this between trips to the kitchen to put dinner together. It probably took me about an hour in real time.
But it wasn't until early this month that the idea was put into motion. (More on that later.) And to prove that the process is not difficult in the least, let me say that I accomplished this between trips to the kitchen to put dinner together. It probably took me about an hour in real time.
The hardest part is to approximate the form and scale of the pattern. Without
seeing the fabric in person, I could only guess, but once you make a guess,
the rest of it falls into proportion based on that initial
assumption.
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| Establishing the pattern and the repeat... |
Anyway, I zoomed in on the bag's strap for guidance on this, because parts of the bag body are
hidden by black webbing. (Yes, those pure black stripes you see are not on the fabric.)
What I did here was jot down some notes as to the number and size of stripes
in the repeat. In the above picture, you can easily see that at the far right,
the pattern of thin gray and white stripes is the same as the thin gray and
white stripes that I've circled in red. So that establishes the range of the pattern repeat.
By my calculations, there are seventeen distinct areas to account for, from
single stripes of varying widths to three different sets of thin stripes, also
of varying widths.
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| My estimates of colour and size... |
Of course, I used
Paint Shop Pro
for this; it provided me with approximate colours and I was able to create
stripes of desired widths.
When all was said and done, I thought it was a decent looking facsimile. A
simple upload to Spoonflower followed by a quick proofing gave
me this:
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| A comparison (fabric image courtesy of Spoonflower)... |
Both are images on a computer, so matching is near impossible; but then, this wasn't an attempt to create a pixel by pixel copy
of the original. Per the name of the design (Homage to the Boxed Bliss Stripes), this is an homage. It's meant to capture the essence of the
original's appeal.
To emphasize: because it's just stripes, anyone with access and ability to use a graphics program can do this. It may take more than an hour, but it's definitely doable. (And I speak of Spoonflower as the producer of the end product because I've had an account there for over a decade, but other companies do exist.)
Spoonflower fabric is not inexpensive – an unfortunate characteristic of all "print on demand" fabric – but when you find (or create) a design that you truly love, it's an affordable luxury. (I assume that's why my Pride & Prejudice fabric continues to sell.) They also offer sales on a regular basis – and of course, Black Friday is coming up – which means that you'll likely be able to get a deal of some kind without waiting too long. Personally, I think that if you're making something that's meant to be special and perhaps one of a kind, it's totally worth it.
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| Table cloth option (image courtesy of Spoonflower)... |
I will also say, the fact that you have many, many (thirty at
time of writing) different fabrics from which to choose, ensures that your
project will look its absolute finest. Let's face it, we often have to "make do" with
our fabric. We may adore the print, but the material itself may be
woefully thin, so we have to reinforce with layers of interfacing.
(Or conversely, we may love a heavy duty upholstery material but are limited in how it can be used, due to the constraints of our sewing machines.) With
Spoonflower, you can choose the exact type of fabric that fits your needs and your project.
For those who aren't familiar with the range of fabrics available, here is a
closeup of their most basic selection, Petal Signature Cotton
(a basic quilting weight cotton in a 42" width):
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| Spoonflower's most affordable fabric (image courtesy of Spoonflower)... |
And here is a closeup of one of their more expensive options,
Cypress Cotton Canvas (a decidedly heavier, textured fabric in a
56" width):
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| A higher end option (image courtesy of Spoonflower)... |
My favourite Spoonflower fabric for home decor and bag making is their Lightweight Cotton Twill. It's middle of the road in terms of price and has delivered great results
for me.
Okay, back to why I decided to do this. Christine was having a supremely awful day and I thought this might boost her mood... which it did. So if you liked her Boxed Bliss test bag and want to make a similar one for yourself, go on over to Spoonflower, order this homage fabric and inject some bliss into Chris' day! BUT...
... maybe wait until next week when they will surely be running that afore-mentioned Black Friday promotion.
As a bonus, I promised to forward any commissions made on this design to Christine... there's already money in that bucket, but maybe let's make it worthwhile for us to do an actual transaction (given the fees involved with international money transfers) by making some more sales.
Oh, and if you've been eyeing some CWD patterns but haven't yet purchased, go on over to her site next week and check out what Black Friday discounts she's got going.
'Til next... 🇨🇦🍁
Wow Rochelle, that is amazing that you duplicated that stripe fabric! You probably know that I tested the Boxed Bliss bag for Christine. I did see a few people asking about the fabric. How incredibly kind to donate any fabric sales of the stripe fabric to Chris. My only concern is whatever company made the stripe fabric, could you be infringing on their copyright of the fabric by duplicating it? Or are stripes, dots, etc. not copyright protected as anyone can certainly make their own? Maybe a word about whether it can legally be copied in case anyone else wonders? And even though you are donating any money from the sales, it still might not be legal to use the fabric yourself if there are copyright issues involved?
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