Creating a Quilt Fabric Collection
Around the Campfire collection for FIGO Fabrics
When I designed my very first fabric collection for FIGO, I wasn’t really sure what I was doing. Over the years I have learned that it’s more than just putting designs with similar elements and colours together. To date I have designed seven collections. Not that I’m an expert yet in this industry, but I have learned a great deal along the way. Today I’d like to share with you my process and offer you some tips for putting together your collection.
Please note that this is not a post on how to create repeating patterns. I won’t dive into the technicality here as you can find related (and better) resources elsewhere online. I’m going to show you how I put together a fabric collection from scratch in this post, so read on if this is for you!
1. Decide on a theme
First of all, you gotta have a theme in mind first. When FIGO asks me to do a new collection, they usually let me have the freedom to decide what I want to design, unless there’s a conflict already, such as when another designer has a similar theme or a theme that won’t generate much interest. If you don’t know what theme you want, do some research on what’s out there already. You can pick a popular theme or a very unique theme. Either way, HAVE A THEME.
Keywords that I put down when I was designing Around the Campfire
2. Write down keywords
I like to write down keywords related to the theme rather than jump right into sketching. It’s a quick way to keep my ideas in once place. It also helps organize my thoughts and keep me on the right track. When I’m stuck, I always go back to my keyword list and see if there’s something I missed.
3. research and sketch
Once I have my keywords down, I’d start to do some research and sketching. I like to sketch on my notebook first, because it’s fast and I don’t need to worry about colours yet at this point. I sketch according to my keywords, so I always have the keywords handy. Sometimes a certain image might spark new ideas. When that happens, I’d add more keywords to the list. That’s why it’s important to do some research in the early stage of your process. I’d avoid looking at images of illustrations or designs, because that might limit your own creativity or you might be tempted to copy it subconsciously. Look for photographic images for inspiration instead. It is ok though to look up designs that are already used in other fabric collections with a similar theme, so you’d know to avoid similar interpretations.
Some sketches from my notebook for Around the Campfire
I like to make a list of designs that I want to include in the collection.
4. Create a list of designs
At this point I usually have a good idea about some of the designs that I can include in the collection. So before I go on and put my patterns together, I like to jog down the names of these designs. I’d give it a pretty straightforward name for each design. The name is meant to be temporary, as a fast way to identify your design. For my Around the Campfire collection, for example, I wrote down “assorted, map, trees & moon, mushroom, plaid” etc. You only need to write down the ones that you will proceed with. As you go, you might add more items, or even change what’s already in the list. This list gives me an idea of how many designs there will be in the collection. I usually aim for 6-8. And then, I’d put down some notes beside each name such as N-D (non-directional) or low-volume. This is important because the collection needs to have a good mix of directional vs non-directional designs, as well as low volume vs complex designs. I’ll explain why later. Basically this list acts as a guide as you put together your collection.
I found that this step becomes an essential process for me especially when I need to create a collection within a short period of time. This helps me organize my thoughts even more, and make sure I cover all the details that I need to pay attention to. It makes my design process more strategic.
5. Digitize sketches + making patterns
I’d start with my “hero” design since it would be the most complex one in the collection. If I want a hand-drawn type of design, I’d draw on my iPad first, export the file and tile it up in Illustrator. If I want a more geometric, cleaner look, I’d usually work in Illustrator directly. Everyone’s process is different. Some people use photoshop to create their patterns, so just do whatever works for you!
I’d refer to my list of designs from time to time during this step. This makes sure that I’m on the right track. For example, I know how many directional prints I already have and how many non-directional prints I still need to create. I usually leave the low-volume designs for later as they are complimentary to the other designs.
Some sketches from my iPad.
One of the designs that I digitized in Illustrator directly.
6. Play with colours
I like to leave colours to be the last thing that I work on, since I need to see what the whole collection looks like first before I can decide on a colourway. How do I pick my colours? I have a habit of saving images with inspiring colours on my Instagram and Pinterest. When I’m stuck, I look for inspiration from my saved images. Occasionally FIGO would suggest a few colourway options. In that case, I’d incorporate the suggested colours and try to make them work in my collection. Again, I always start with my hero design since it has the greatest number of colours and it sets the tone of the collection. I’d put all the designs together (see below) so I get a better overview.
Proposed designs & colourway (1st round)
Proposed designs & colourway (2nd round)
7. Finalize Collection
When finalizing a collection, I like to ask myself the following questions:
Does the collection have a good mix of directional and non-directional prints?
Non-directional means that a print doesn’t show a clear orientation of top and bottom so it’s the same no matter how you cut the fabric. It’s usually a tossed design. A directional print means that the fabric can only be cut in a certain direction. Quilters like non-direction prints because they don’t have to fussy cut their fabric, which would create less waste as well. I usually make sure I have at least 50% of non-directional prints in my collection as my style tends to be more structural, hence directional.Does the collection have a good balance of designs in terms of volume?
I usually aim for 1-2 complex designs and at least 1 low volume (almost like a solid colour) per collection. The rest can be somewhere in the middle. The reason is that you’ll want to create a collection that alone can be used to make any quilt. A quilter friend once told me that a good quilt collection means that you don’t need to incorporate lots of solid colours from other collections into the quilt.Does the collection have a good range of colours in terms of tone?
Just like the volume, I try to make the colours of the collection look as cohesive and balanced as I can. For example, out of the 13 SKUs from my Around the Campfire collection, you can see there’s a gradual change in the colour tone, from the lightest to the darkest. There are even different tones within each colour group (see below). The reason for this is also because of how quilts are made. It’s more ideal for quilters if a collection covers a good range of colour tones they can work with.
Also a very good trick to tell about your colour tone is to view your collection in grayscale. You can easily do this in Photoshop. It will be super clear when everything is turned into black and white!
Final colourway
If my collection doesn’t meet these criteria, I’d try to tweak some of the designs or colours until it does. There are usually a few rounds of back-and-forth between me and FIGO before we are able to finalize it. Basically you need to think from a quilter’s perspective when designing a quilt collection, which is something I’m still learning about and need to remind myself of. It’s ok if you don’t know how to sew or quilt. I’m not a very experienced quilter either, but I found that looking at various modern quilt designs definitely helps.
I hope that this gives you a better idea on how to create your own fabric collection. Don’t be shy if you have any questions for me! Just leave a comment below!
p.s. Special thanks to Ghazal Razavi, the creative director at FIGO Fabrics, who has taught me so much about how to design a great quilt collection.