I recently wrote wrote about Colourlovers, a site that's revolutionizing the business of hues with inexpensive software and a vibrant community of—well, color lovers. Users can create their own palettes or patterns (like plaid, sunburst, or polka dots), and share them or import them to their Illustrator or other software.
If you've created your pattern and want to use it to make something outside of the digital realm, like curtains, clothes, bags, pillows, whatever, go to Spoonflower, upload your pattern, and create your own eco-friendly fabric. All of the fabric is printed in Mebane, North Carolina.
From the site:
It was founded in May 2008 by two Internet geeks who had crafty wives but who knew nothing about textiles. The company came about because Stephen's wife, Kim, persuaded him that being able to print her own fabric for curtains was a really cool idea.
I love it when chics and geeks put their heads together. Along with the site's 70,000 fabric enthusiasts, you have the option to enter a fabric-designing contest or vote in one. You can also order fabric designed by other users. Check out the "gingham invaders" fabric at the top of this post. The pattern is made of tiny space invaders.
