A Field Guide to Fabric Design: Design, Print & Sell Your Own Fabric; Traditional & Digital Techniques; For Quilting, Home Dec & Apparel

by Kim Kight

If you have ever dreamed of showing your designs on fabric, textile aficionado Kim Kight, of popular blog True Up, is here to teach you how. Comprehensive and refreshingly straightforward, this impressive volume features two main parts. First, the Design and Color section explains the basics with step-by-step tutorials on creating repeating patterns both by hand and on the computer. Next, the Printing section guides you through transferring those designs on fabric-whether it's block printing, screen printing, digital printing or licensing to a fabric company-and how to determine the best method for you.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Fashion, Design, Crafts, Sewing, Reference

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2011

Reviews

[Matal “The Mischling Princess” Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only thing that I love more than fabric is reading about how fabric is designed and created. Kim Kight’s “A Field Guide to Fabric Design” answered the numerous questions that I had about the actual processes involved.

Kight reveals how fabric designs are created step-by-step. One might think: You just draw it! And of course, you do, but there is SO much more involved. This is a fascinating subject for me and will be for anyone interested in fabric design, fabric weights, and color.

I highly recommend this book to all people, and especially those who are quilters or wannabe quilters. Besides the sewing machine and thread, understanding the fabrics that you’re working with is essential (e.g., warps, wefts, weight, etc.). I learned a lot from this author!

Although this book is a bit older (published in 2011) it is still highly relevant twelve years later. The only thing that this book didn’t address were the various overseas printers, such as Bangladesh and India. I would have loved if the author would have included information regarding the creation and purchase of bolts overseas. If she had, this would have been a 5 star book! Instead, the author encourages readers to use either hand/block printing, digital printing companies that print on demand, or to go through a major fabric company. So, if you’re looking to get into the fabric business as an owner, this book will give you the basics of the trade but won’t give you the know-how to work internationally as a fabric house.

[patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

If one is interested in fabric design, this book is a terrific intro to the process.

[Tatiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a completely inexperienced beginner in the topic and was very pleased in the end. Kight does an excellent job at clear, in-depth teaching. The many instructions and tutorials are easy to follow and the information is very thorough. She promptly answered any questions I had, as if she knew specifically which doubts might arise. In the end, no lose ends are left, and it is clear that any other answers I want will have to be gained through my own experiences after practicing the techniques introduced here. There's also many reference tables and additional resources, great for use in the future.

[Jeannine · Rating 3 out of 5]

An informative and interesting book for this novice quilter. The author provides a comprehensive look at fabric design - even though I have little interest in designing fabric, I learned a lot about how fabrics are printed and oriented (etc) that will help me be a better quilter.

The author provides detailed instructions for designing fabric repeats both by hand (vellum/scissors/tape) and computer (including instructions for Photoshop and Illustrator).

She also provides a lot of resources for licensing as well as printing on demand (like Spoonflower). Interspersed throughout are tidbits of advice from popular designers such as Amy Butler, Denyse Schmidt, and Tula Pink. This has become such a standard element in crafting books that I get bored with it, but it's there if you want it.

The author is clearly passionate about her subject (and runs a blog called True Up which I'll definitely be following). I learned a lot and was inspired enough to think about maybe doing a spoonflower run (small for my own use) of some of my own artwork in the future.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book with explanations for how to create and design fabric. though that is not on my list of things to do i learned a lot about the artistic process of fabric creation and appreciate it even more. now to work on my fabric stash... hah!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I Need to Know

I am just getting into fabric printing, so this book gives a good basic guide to the considerations, options, and skills I will need to develop. Has a good resource section at the back too.

[Dinh Hong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise, neat explain everything about fabric design from design elements, trends, of copyright, of all kinds of fabric the surface for printing, guide to custom pattern printing using block and screen printing.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a good job at explaining the many aspects a designer has to consider besides the obvious look of the design.

[Karen Calhoun · Rating 4 out of 5]

A carefully written book about most aspects of fabric design- useful photos and some photoshop/illustrator instructions. It just whetted my appetite!!

[Elena Durey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for starting out in surface pattern design or textile etc. Very informative with lots of good references to delve into at the back.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good intro to fabric design, with how to design repeats, use color, and hand vs digital printing. At this point, though, the marketing section is a bit out of date.

[Sheila · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent, in depth book on fabric design. I have read 110 of 160 pages. If I need printing information I will reorder it.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really found this book quite helpful. There are of course a multitude of ways to go about making pattern repeats and even more tutorials to be found online. As I currently use a very old version of Adobe software I found a lot of those did not apply to me and I often found other issues with them as well. Kight did a great job of distilling down the basics and addressing the differences in creating regular repeats and half-drop repeats in both pixel (Photoshop) and vector (Illustrator). I also really appreciated the information on creating a collections. While I am interested in creating some fabric at some point, I found the info to really apply to any sort of pattern design. I've even used some of what I've read for work projects.

I found the book to have enough value that I added a print copy to my library, even though I'm very hesitant to grow my book collection after moving across the country and downsizing from a house to an apartment that is half the square footage.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to repeat fabric design. I focused mainly on the sections related to manual design, and color ways and collections. I plan on using GIMP to create my designs, so the digital design section didn't apply to me, and I studied fibers in college, so already know a fair amount about Manila printing. I chose to read this book because I plan on using Spoonflower to print my designs, and this book is recommended by them and discusses methods of design that align with digital printing by companies like Spoonflower.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview, but there were some things I wished she'd go into detail on... like, when talking about paints for hand-printing fabrics, it states that water-based paints aren't wash-fast, and then never mentions it again. Wait... what? This is a book about printing fabrics to use in apparel and quilts. It briefly mentions setting inks later, but does this solve the not-wash-fast problem?? Who knows! This is much more an overview than a how-to.

[Surface Pattern Design Guild]

Kimberly Kight started the blog True Up in 2008. This awesome blog seemed like a never ending trip through the fabric world. Kimberly has since moved on to co-found Cotton + Steel. Ms. Kight wrote A Field Guide to Fabric with the intention of giving the reader a step by step guide through the fabric design world.

For the full review go to:

http://www.surfacepatterndesignguild....

[Erika Mulvenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice book including everything you ever wanted to know about creating a fabric design but were too afraid to ask. From creating a repeat pattern (by hand or using a computer) to printing fabric (block printing, silk screening or using a service), this book has it all. Great for those who are curious about the process or who want more information to give it a try.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aha!

Lots of great info in this book, the basics of fabrics and patterns, tutorials for computer pattern creation and hand printed fabrics, roundtable interviews with designers.

But it goes a bit further. What I love are all the details I didn't know that I didn't know.

This is one I'd like to add to my reference shelf.

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving this book! I can't say I'm really finished with it as I keep going back to it as a resource. With Spoonflower and so many other resources available to make your own fabric it's exciting to try some of these techniques to make something truly special and one of a kind.

[Maryse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great comprehensive book on fabric design. I took a class on fabric design about a year ago because I wanted to learn how it all worked. This book is a great resource to reinforcing what I learned and then some.

[kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative, inspiring book that covers all the basics: from colour theory and pattern design, through types of dyes and fabric, to printing techniques and commercial market. Also, there are great tutorials. I couldn't think of a better introduction to fabric design.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book does what it says. It covers all the bases and offers lots of tips and advice. Recommended as a superb all in one volume.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is destined to be a classic. Full of info and background on things I have wondered about for years. I read it cover-to-cover like a novel. Thanks for a great resource.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative and comprehensive for anyone exploring the subject of fabric design. I would have liked to see an index included, as it would have been helpful in synthesizing the information.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for the wanna-be fabric designer. Recommended.

[Adam Komuves · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great overall guide if you are interested in setting up a textile design business. The different sections cover areas as basics of textile design, patterns, colour, different fabrics to setting up and running your own business and some practical advice and tutorials on hand and digital printing methods. However, if you're thinking of textile design as a hobby or just starting to get into textile design this book might be a bit overwhelming as most of it is tailored for more advanced audience, with lots of technical notes and specifications for fabrics, dyes and equipment. Also, some parts of the book are only relevant for the US market, like copyright issues, companies and services you can use for your designing. Overall it is a very comprehensive, thoughtful and easy to understand book which can be very useful if you want to work in textile design.