On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we’re talking about fabric and fabric design with my guest, Kathy Phillips.
Kathy is the Creative Director at Springs Creative, a textile company based in South Carolina that creates over the counter fabric by the yard for quilters and sewists. Springs Creative licenses dominant global brands such as Shopkins, Frozen, Ninja Turtles, Minnie Mouse, Doctor Who, Cartoon Network, My Little Pony, Curious George, Dora, Disney, Nintendo as well as boutique brands such as Mary Fons. Their fabrics are available at both large chain stores such as Joann Fabrics and Wal-Mart and at independent quilt shops.
Mary Fons looking through the Baxter Mill archive at Springs Creative headquarters.
In addition to quilting cottons, Springs Creative offers digital printing services for independent brands. Need custom fabric for your product? Work with Springs Creative’s in-house designers to come up with a unique design, then have it digitally printed and sent to you. With a minimum order of 25 yards (in comparison to the 3,000-yard minimum you’ll have if you work with an overseas fabric printer), digital printing through Springs Creative is terrific solution for small businesses.
Springs Creative also owns the Baxter Mill fabric archive containing hundreds of thousands of vintage fabric prints. Mary Fons pulled from the archive for her new line with Springs (hear an exclusive announcement about Mary in this episode!). The archive is open to the public by appointment and if you visit Kathy may even be your tour guide.
Mary strikes gold with a vintage print.
Kathy and I refer to:
- Wamsutta and Springmaid sheets
- Surtex
- Mary Fons’ Small Wonders fabric line
- personalized fabric available on the Joann’s website
And, of course, I asked Kathy to recommend things she’s enjoying right now. Kathy recommends:
- Shibori: The inventive Art of Japanese Shaped Resist Dyeing
- The John C. Campbell Folk School
- Eco Colour: Botanical Dyes for Beautiful Textiles
- Jen Kingwell’s pattern, Bring Me Flowers
Connect with Springs Creative online via their Facebook page.
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This episode is sponsored by the online Quilt Group. Stop missing out on quilt groups because of your busy life. Learn. Create. Share. On your schedule. The online quilt group is similar to your local quilt groups– providing you with full access to a community & forum with monthly exclusive patterns including Block of the Months, Sew Alongs, Swaps, Guest Designers and more! Your yearly membership will give you more projects then you’ll have time! You will have access to the group any time, anywhere! The group is open 24/7 so you can check-in, share, print and participate around your personal busy schedule. Don’t miss another pattern, project, meeting or discussion. Join the online Quilt Group now at www.quilt-group.com.
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Another great podcast Abby! I have a question for Kathy – I was wondering if sellers of handmade products are allowed to sell items made from fabrics with licensed characters, such as Frozen, Batman, and Adventure Time. I see a lot of people selling items on Etsy using these types of fabrics and have always been curious about whether they should be! Thank you!
Megan,
Great question! Unfortunately, creating any type of finished product with licensing fabric and selling it on Etsy or Craft shows for profit, is illegal. The legal line on the selvage clearly states “for non-commercial home use only.” Once the Licensor finds out there is product being sold illegally, they will contact the person with a cease and desist letter. Creating product with the licensed fabric is permitted, but for non-profit projects.
Thank you Kathy! That is what I suspected, but never really knew for sure.
Thanks, Abby, for this very interesting episode. I appreciate the broad scope of topics that you investigate and share with us via your podcast.
What a fabulous, extremely interesting episode. I love the history of textiles and quilting as well as fabric design so this was definitely a lovely treat for a Saturday morning. Many thanks Abby and Kathy, for such a great show and Abby for her tips, I listened twice to this episode to be sure I caught everything. Hopefully one day I will be able to visit this wonderful family business with it’s fabric archive. We have one in the city near where I live and it is amazing looking at the records of lace and textiles that the area is known for. It is my favorite place to visit.
Jodie
What were the names of the two podcasts you recommended? I was catching up on a few past episodes I missed while driving in the car and I couldn’t write them down!
Hi Jessica,
I’m sorry I forgot to add those to the show notes! They are How to Be a Girl (http://www.howtobeagirlpodcast.com/) and Not By Accident (http://notbyaccident.net/). Thank you!