Spoonflower gives individuals the power to print their own designs on fabric that they can then use to make quilts, clothes, pillows, blankets, framed textile art and many, many other things that might surprise you.
The craft world happens to be exploding right now. Tired of seeing the same products and the same designs everywhere, more and more people are drawn to the idea of doing it themselves, of creating things that are unique and carry within them a little bit of the passion of the individuals who made them.
The folks who are waging the handmade revolution by and large do so quietly. On blogs, in sewing groups, on Etsy storefronts and in their homes, a growing number of people have decided to make and to share things they think are beautiful. Spoonflower exists to give crafters a powerful tool for expressing their creative visions using fabric.
At the moment we're a very small group based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A couple of us used to have something to do with another North Carolina company that gives people the power to publish their own books.
Stephen Fraser is an Internet marketing geek whose crafty wife, Kim, got tired of hearing him mutter about technology companies. “You know what I'd like?” she said one evening. “To be able to print my own fabric.” It took a while, but eventually those words sunk in.
Gart Davis is an unnervingly tall technology executive who has helped build more than one company from the ground up (including that on-demand book company I mentioned). It turns out that his wife, Anne, also loves fabric and making things. It took him a while, too, but he's coming around to the idea. He may even come up with a fabric design or two.
Spoonflower is also indebted to help and advice from quite a few people and organizations, among them the good folks at the NC State University College of Textiles, [TC]2, and Cotton Inc. We also owe special thanks to the team at Viget Labs, LLC.
Spoonflower will probably remain in beta mode through the summer of 2008, which means that you can only register and create an account by invitation. You can add your email address to the list of people who wish to receive invitations here.
Thanks for being patient as we get the company up and running. Everyone is invited to follow our progress on the Spoonflower blog.
The fabric design images that appear on the current Spoonflower home page appear courtesy of A-Print-A-Day. Blog hacks by Typepad Hacks