Printing on Shine

Custom Work: Fabric you design yourself, printed by pros

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What with the recent spate of print-it-yourself books, the explosion of Gocco fan clubs, and the resurgence of craftiness in general, it can seem like the perfect time to take on making your own printed fabrics. And it is—if you want to add a few one-color repeat patterns to a solid background. If, however, your aspirations are a little loftier, you might need some assistance. Finnish web site Bon Bon Kakku can take the manufacturing work off your hands, leaving you to focus on the purely creative part.

Parenting poll: Are kindergarteners too young for homework?

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When my son brought home his first kindergarten homework assignment last year, I will admit I was just a tad excited about it. I'm kinda' nerdy like that. We broke out the crisp printing paper, sharpened his new fat, yellow pencils and opened his fresh box of Crayola crayons. And then my...

Peel a potato, become a designer: How to transform plain throw pillows with a vegetable and some paint

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Lotta Jansdotter has been something of a universal design crush in the blog (and print) worlds for years now, and her latest contribution to the field is almost like a public service. In her book, Lotta Prints: How to Print with Anything, from Potatoes to Linoleum, she puts the power of production in our hands, and shows us the completely sophisticated (and expensive-looking) results you can get with the most 7th-grade-arts-and-crafts-class materials. The projects she shows are not the least bit intimidating, requiring no fancy, pricey equipment or specialized skills, and every one of them is something I would pay good money for if I saw it on the shelf at a store. She's even included 8 ready-to-use stencil pages, if you're not so confident about your drawing skills.

One of my favorite projects in the book is the potato-printed throw pillow design shown here. Lotta has generously allowed us to reprint the instructions for potato printing here; why not give it a try, and then go pick up the book to learn about rubber stamp printing, leaf printing, iron-ons, stencils, lino block printing, and screen printing, with ideas for customizing everything from wrapping paper to window sheers.

Lotta's Instructions for Potato Printing: