Designing Fabric For Your Art
A six-hour intensive workshop in turning your own artwork and visual material into fabric designed specifically for your art.
What if you could make exactly the fabric your artwork needs?
In this six-hour intensive workshop, you’ll learn how to transform visual material you already have into a finished fabric design created specifically for your own artwork. Bring a drawing, photograph, painting, collage, handmade paper, texture, or other visual material that interests you. We’ll look at it differently—pulling out shapes, details, colors, and textures that can become the building blocks for something new.
Rather than learning how to make a traditional repeating pattern, you’ll explore ways to manipulate and combine your source material using scale, layers, cropping, repetition, color, and composition. We’ll look at different possibilities for the finished fabric, from all-over patterns and loose arrangements to large-scale compositions and panels. The goal is to figure out what you want the fabric to do in your artwork and then build a design that accomplishes it.
Your fabric might become part of an art quilt, a background for embroidery, a surface for stitched embellishments, or an element in a collage or mixed-media piece. You’ll learn to make design decisions based on how the fabric will actually be used—not simply how it looks as a pattern on a screen.
No previous surface design experience or specialized software is required. We’ll use a simple, browser-based digital workflow and a manageable set of techniques for working with your own imagery. Along the way, we’ll also explore tools such as Adobe Capture and Repper that can help you see your source material in unexpected ways.
You’ll leave class with a finished, print-ready fabric design ready to upload to Spoonflower. The physical fabric will be ordered after class and arrive a few weeks later.
An optional Zoom follow-up will give us a chance to see the printed fabrics, talk about what worked (and what didn’t), and troubleshoot as you begin using your new fabric in your artwork.
During the workshop the students will…
- Bring their own source material and identify the elements that could become fabric.
- Learn simple ways to isolate, simplify, and manipulate imagery.
- Experiment with layers, scale, cropping, repetition, color, and composition.
- Explore different approaches to fabric design—not just traditional repeating patterns.
- Use free and low-cost tools such as Pixlr, Adobe Capture, and Repper to experiment with their imagery.
- Develop a design specifically for an intended artwork.
- Prepare a finished, print-ready file for Spoonflower.
What makes this class different?
This isn’t a surface design class about selling fabric. It’s a workshop about using fabric as an art material.
Students aren’t designing collections, developing products, or learning how to market their work. Instead, they bring visual material of their own and learn how to transform it into fabric that has a specific purpose in their artwork. They might create fabric for an art quilt, combine it with embroidery, use it as a background for stitching, cut it apart for collage, or incorporate it into a larger mixed-media piece.
And this isn’t a one-and-done workshop. After your fabric arrives from Spoonflower, an optional Zoom follow-up gives us a chance to see the results together, troubleshoot any surprises, and talk through the next steps for using your fabric in your artwork. Because what you see on your screen isn’t always exactly what comes back in the mail—and you don’t have to figure out why on your own.
Who should take this class?
Perfect for artists, quilters, embroiderers, and makers who want to create fabric that is uniquely their own.
No previous surface-design experience is required.
The workshop is also appropriate for experienced artists who already work with fabric and want to explore a different way of creating their own printed material.
You do not need Photoshop or other specialized design software.
Host requirements
- Classroom with tables and chairs
- Reliable and accessible wifi
- Projection screen for demonstrations
- Adequate electrical outlets for students
- Transportation to and from classroom for instructor
Instructor will provide laptop, projector setup and scanner.
What students need to bring
Students should bring one or more pieces of their own visual material to use as a starting point.
Good choices include:
- A drawing or illustration
- A photograph
- A painting or collage
- Handmade paper
- A texture or interesting object
- Existing artwork
Please choose source material that can realistically be worked with in a six-hour workshop. Extremely detailed images or projects requiring extensive digital editing aren’t recommended.
Tools & Equipment
- Laptop or tablet with wifi-access and a web browser
- Source material
- A detailed prep list will be provided prior to the class
About Becka Rahn
Becka Rahn is an artist and teaching artist working with fabric, paper, embroidery, and mixed media. She is the co-author of The Spoonflower Handbook and has been helping artists navigate the technology behind fabric design for years. Her classes combine hands-on making with approachable technology, giving students the tools to develop their own ideas without letting the software get in the way of the art.
Your Spoonflower online classes taught me exactly what I needed to start making designs during COVID. I was jumping out of bed each morning to work on the next project. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your knowledge, experience and love of life. — Julie
Workshop at a Glance
Length: 6 hours of in-person instruction
Schedule: 9:00 AM–5:00 PM, including a one-hour lunch break
Follow up: Zoom show & tell and troubleshooting after your fabric arrives
Level: Beginner-friendly; no previous surface-design experience required
Format: Hands-on intensive workshop
Class size: 18 maximum
Software: Browser-based tools; no Photoshop required
Printing: Students finish class with a print-ready design to upload to Spoonflower after class
Interested in bringing Designing Fabric for Your Art to your group?
This workshop is available for:
- Art centers & community arts organizations
- Quilt & fiber art guilds
- Embroidery groups
- Artist groups
- Retreats and special workshops
- A group of crafty friends
Contact Becka to discuss dates, class size, and hosting options.
Looking for more options? You can also check out my Class Descriptions page for half-day classes, lectures, and more.
