A few weeks ago I received my first Spoonflower order, and I finally got out my sewing machine and tackled my first little project with my own fabric – a winter scarf. Even though I was making something very simple, I wanted to be extra careful at every step to not waste any of the precious fabric.
Here it is, my double-sided winter scarf made with 2 of my Spoonflower fabrics: Blackforest Kitchen and the coordinating Blackforest Landscape on organic cotton knit. This material is very soft and densely woven – excellent quality! Not your typical t-shirt material but of course can be used as such. Much like the fabric that many baby onesies are made of. I could hardly take this scarf off at home because it feels so nice against my skin, making me feel like a baby in a blanket. I highly recommend this material to anyone considering it.
I had also ordered a fat quarter (21 x 18”) of my other coordinate for this still-growing collection, Blackforest Couples on “basic cotton ultra”. This is what I’d call a spring or summer scarf. It’s the easiest thing to sew: simply hem the edges. This material relatively thin (perfect for blouses, shirts, dresses, linings, quilts, etc); I haven’t ordered anything on Kona-cotton yet, but I assume that Kona is a bit thicker and smoother with a denser texture than this one. My next order will include Kona-cotton.
I was also curious to see my 2014 tea towel on fabric. I love the large size, the linen-cotton blend texture and feel, and the way the colours turned out. Definitely suitable as a wall-hanging, a placemat, or for drying dishes.
For the remainder of my fabrics, I only ordered swatches for now (all on regular cotton). At 8 by 8 inches, they would be large enough for quilting or making handkerchiefs.
Have you ever ordered anything from Spoonflower? I’d love people to share their customer experiences here!
They have a sample booklet for a dollar with small pieces of all of their fabrics (or at least that’s what I remember. I ordered two till this point, they keep adding more and more fabric choices so often:)). I would also recommend that you order a colour guide, next time you’re ordering (i think it costs the same as a swatch, but I don’t remember). It helps a lot when deciding on which colours to use in your designs, because it gives you an idea of how they look like when they are printed.
Otherwise I love ordering from spoonflower, the only thing I hate is waiting for fabric to arrive, it usually needs more than a month and a half to arrive …
Hi Pinka, thanks for your comment!
I forgot to order the sample fabric booklet when placing my first order. The hex-code chart sounds like a good thing to have; I’d love to get the largest one (they come with different numbers of colours). Maybe next time.
6 weeks shipping to you (in the UK, right?)? I placed my order at the end of November and it took 10 days to be mailed out – I assumed that’s because of Christmas, but it wasn’t mentioned until I had paid. In total, it took about 17 days to get to NYC. Again, before the holidays, so it’s hard to say what’s ‘normal’. What do you pay for shipping? I couldn’t figure out if there’s a flat international rate.
I’d also love the largest hex code chart, but the little, swatch sized one is enough for now. Shipping is 7$ per yard ( I think), so it’s not too much. The waiting is the hardest part:) The last order I placed was shipped in 2 days, so 10 days isn’t that standard waiting time:)