There are a lot of different ways to create patterns on fabric. Block printing, screen printing, and hand painting can all give you fantastic results. I love all of these methods. However, when I need to make an endless, seamless repeat, I find I need to be pretty strategic. So below, I’m sharing with you my method for how to make repeating pattens. You can use this basic method with any media once you get the hang of it, but today I’ll show you how I do it with hand illustrations and Photoshop.
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Intro To Repeating Patterns
Repeating patterns can be grouped in a few different ways, but I find the most useful categories are simple, half-drop, and endless. A simple repeat is when a motif is repeated at regular intervals across the fabric. These motifs can be very complex, or they can be simple, like a polkadot. It’s easy with this type of design to identify where each repeat starts and ends.
A half-drop repeat is similar, but shifts every other repeat half a step down. This creates the illusion that the pattern is traveling across the fabric diagonally. This often is a little more visually appealing and organic feeling. However it is always still very clear where the boundaries of the motif are.
An endless repeat is one where the designer has manipulated elements to make it appear that there is no start or end to the design. These may make use of a simple repeat or half-drop repeat structure, but the elements are arranged in a way that makes it impossible to see the boundaries of the motif. Of course, it’s usually possible to find places where the pattern repeats, but you usually have to spend time searching.
If you want to learn more about the structure of patterns, my favorite book on the subject is the New Grammar of Ornament by Thomas Weil (Amazon/Bookshop).
How to Make a Repeating Pattern – the Four-Quadrant Method
For this tutorial I’m going to show you how I develop the illustrations I use to create an endless repeat using the four-quadrant method. This method begins with an initial rough sketch to determine the placement and shape of the motifs. Next the individual motifs are separated out and transferred onto good paper. These are then turned into final illustrations which are ready to be digitized.
Initial Sketch
First, I divided my paper into four equal sections and drew a diamond connecting the center lines. I used a standard 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of printer paper here, but this will work with any size paper you want to use.
Next, I started lightly drawing my design (I chose wild roses as my subject). At this point, I tried to keep my design within the center diamond and was careful not to have any of my elements run off the page.
When I was happy with the elements in the center, I cut my paper into four equal section along the original lines.
Then, I rearranged the paper, moving the top pieces to the bottom and the right pieces to the left, without rotating or otherwise changing their orientation. I secured them in place quickly with drafting tape, but still needed to hold them down a bit to draw. Then, I started filling in the empty space in my new center triangle with more elements.
When I was happy with the design, I went back and outlined everything in black marker. I like to do this because it makes it easier to see during the next step, but also keeps me from being confused by stray marks.
Separating Individual Motifs
The next step is to separate out the individual motifs. These can be as complex or simple as you like. I ended up identifying one big and two smaller elements, which I circled with three different colored markers.
For each motif, I arranged the pieces of my inked sketch onto my light board (similar here) and secured them with more drafting tape. Then I centered a piece of nice paper (I used sheets from my mixed media sketch book) over the motif. I used a light graphite pencil to trace the outline of my motif onto my new paper.
Finalizing Illustrations
Once I had the motifs traced onto my paper, I used watercolors to create my final artwork. I started by doing an underpainting using my favorite cool, dark green Perylene Green.
When the first layer was dry, I used a variety of paints from my Kuretake Gansai Portable Watercolor Set as well as Permanent Rose and Cerulean Blue (mines from this set) to add color to the illustration.
Last, I took a Sakura Pigma Micron size 05 in sepia and outlined everything and added details. I like to add hard boarders to illustrations I intend to manipulate digitally, because it makes it much, much easier to remove the background and ay stray marks. I find that a size 05 marker gives a line that’s just wide enough to form a good boundary, but not so wide it looks cartoonish. Using sepia instead of black also gives a slightly softer look, which I like.
Digitizing Your Patterns
Once you have your illustrations, you can digitize them and use the elements to create endless repeats in Photoshop or other digital software.
The process of importing your items into photoshop and creating a repeating pattern is a little bit too much to cover completely in this article, so I’ll just be summarizing my process here. However, there are several great online classes that teach this. These include: Design Surface Patterns From Scratch with Bonnie Christine is a fantastic, in-depth (over 14 hours!) course on Creative Live all about surface design and the surface design business. There are also several courses on SkillShare, including Watercolor a Seamless Pattern from Cat Coquillette. Domestika also has quite a few good courses on pattern design with photoshop. My favorites are Creation of Hand-painted Modules Digitized in Photoshop with Marta Cortese and Creating Botanical Patterns from a Drawing with Giulia Tosi.
Digitizing Your Illustration
I digitized my illustrations the quick and dirty way: by snapping a photo with my phone near a window, where the light looked good and flat. I used Adobe Illustrator to tweak the color and perspective a bit, but even without that the images were good enough to use for demonstration purposes. Since I was making these to use as my in-class demo, that was all I needed! If you want better quality, or to ensure your image doesn’t get distorted, I’d recommend using a scanner.
Cleaning Up the Image and Removing the Background
I imported my original artwork into Photoshop, then I had Photoshop automatically select my subject. I used the “reverse selection” function and deleted everything in the background. I used a mix of the eraser tool, the lasso tool, and the magic wand to clean up the remaining bits I didn’t want and then saved my cut out motif. I repeated that until I had all three motifs on a blank background
Creating the Endless Repeat
Once I had my elements, I created a new canvas for my endless repeat. I made this to 8.5″ x 11″ so that it would be the same dimensions as my original sketch.
I started placing my elements, editing them as I saw fit. I used the offset filter when I needed to shift my canvas to find the right spot to place an element.
When I was happy with how everything looked, I created a pattern using edit>define pattern. Then I imported that pattern into a large rectangle in a new file I’d created to see how the pattern looked.
I liked the results, and they were true to my original sketch, but I wanted to see how things would look if I kept adding more elements. So, I kept adding copies of my three original motifs. I rotated, edited, and otherwise manipulated them until I had almost filled my canvas. Then I imported that pattern into my big rectangle to see how it was working. I adjusted things a few times, and once I was happy with the pattern, I saved everything and declared myself done!
How to Print Your Pattern onto Fabric
Once you have a digital file you’re happy with, there a few different ways to get your pattern from the screen to fabric.
In Person Printing – Makers Spaces
I recommend starting out by looking into local makers spaces. These are workshops filled with tools and supplies for use by the community, often affiliated with public libraries or colleges. The equipment and rules at each makers space will vary. Most are non-profit, so the costs usually are based on the materials that you use, with a bit extra added on for general operating expenses. Some may require a membership or training before you’re allowed to use the equipment.
One of my favorite things about makers spaces is how fast the turn around time is. Once you’re familiar with equipment, it’s possible to just walk in, print your pattern onto fabric, and walk right out. If you’ve reserved the printer in advance, there’s no waiting in line. And because it’s local, you don’t have to wait for things to be shipped to you.
I always take my surface design class on a mini-field trip to the makers space that we have at our community college. While they aren’t set up to print yardage, we’re able to print a 16″ x 20″ swatch on the sublimation printer and a small design on a t-shirt using the direct to garment printer. Our visit also usually includes a tour of the facility, but we still make it out of there in under 2 hours even with half a dozen students printing two samples each.
Online – Print-On-Demand
There are many different places you can go online to have your fabric printed. The most popular or well known printer is Spoonflower, which also offers a substantial marketplace for new designers to sell their patterns. I personally like Contrado because they offer a wide range of fabrics, including a lot of different fabrics made with natural fibers like silk. They also offer a substantial student discount.
There are too many option to fully cover here, but there are a few things to remember when printing fabric online. First, the cost is usually higher than buying a similar quality fabric from a store. Some sellers will offer discounts for larger quantities, but custom fabric will always be pricy, because it’s custom!
Second, expect to spend extra time and money getting proofs (small samples) before you print your yardage. Some printers won’t allow you to print multiple yards without a proof at all. Printers usually have a “print at your own risk” policy, meaning that once you put in the order there are no returns or refunds unless the printer makes an error. So check your proofs carefully before committing!
Have you tried to create an endless repeat? Let me know in the comments or over on Instagram!