Ballet Bears for Spoonflower!

The theme for the Spoonflower design challenge this week was ballet!

Ballet Bears! ©2014 Patty Rybolt Designs. 

This was so fun to do. I knew I wanted to draw bears for this challenge because nothing is more perfect than fancy bears wearing tutus and pointe shoes.
I started the design by drawing bears in about 15 different sizes and dance positions, then narrowed them down to the two seen above. Next, sketched dance outfits and accessories like tiaras, crowns and magic wands and assembled them in photoshop. I placed the characters into my ribbon-like design to complete the repeat pattern! :)
Voting starts on Thursday, October 2nd, 2014. Please Vote!

'Wellies and Umbrellies' for Spoonflower!

April showers bring May flowers! This week's challenge was to design a fabric to celebrate the trusty rubber boot!

'Wellies and Umbrellies'   ©2014 Patty Rybolt Designs.

This concept came easy to me this week. I live in beautiful south Florida and am surrounded by amazing birds year round. I am constantly photographing, drawing and watching birds. (I took the photo's below).

Two sandhill cranes - backyard 

 

An egret with rosette
spoonbills - local pond

Flamingo - Palm Beach Zoo

Ibis - pond

rainy season rainbow - backyard

Egret - backyard photo

 The weather is gorgeous right now but in rainy season the only creatures happy to be in the rain are the birds. 

I decided to incorporate the boots and birds with rain and some fun umbrellas. I was excited to use some of my sketches from my iPad's Adobe Ideas App. I drew some wellies, umbrellas, rain, clouds, flowers and accessories for my characters like the bathing cap, glasses, and hats to give them personality. 

When the drawings were done I imported them Photoshop on my main computer and assembled them with color and pattern in layers, almost like a collage. When my characters were complete I made a repeat of the rain and clouds and added my characters!

Previews will be sized as a fat quarter (21" x 18"). Voting starts Thursday, March 27th, 2014 and continues until Thursday, April 4th, 2014. Please vote!

The 'Robot Project'

©2014 Patty Rybolt Designs

Spoonflower's design for this week...
'should be inspired by scenes from a school science fair.'
Over the years my girls participated in many science fairs… I remember Olivia cooking hot dogs in a homemade oven made out of tin foil and using only the heat of the sun.
Hanna put dye in the water of white flowers to see if the color would wick up the stems and change the color of the flowers (it worked).There were many, many more that I must have blocked out of my memory.
I was thinking, if mom's could have a science fair project, what would I make? The answer was simple, design robots to do my chores! I  thought this concept worked for moms as well as kids, and I went with it.
I started with the graph paper look to make the drawings appear to be in a notebook. Drew tons of robot parts, arms, legs, gears, etc. and assembled my robots in photoshop. When my robots were assembled I put my pattern together and filled the open spaces with spare parts.
Here is 'The Robot Project'...

The 'Robot Project'
©2014 Patty Rybolt Designs. All rights reserved.' 

Previews are sized as a fat quarter (21" x 18"). Voting starts Thursday, March 20th, 2014, and continues until Thursday, March 27th, 2014. Please Vote!!

'Hoot the Owl' in top 10!!

Thanks for voting!!
So exciting!!! Top 10 at Spoonflower.com this week for my 1-yard 'cut & sew' pattern… Hoot the Owl!

'Hoot the Owl' 1-yard Cut & Sew fabric design available at Spoonflower.com
©2013 Patty Rybolt Designs

Fabric 8 'Geek Chic'

The 'Geek Chic' Fashion Notebook 101

Fabric8 Contest: Geek Chic. Fabric8 is an annual contest to discover eight bold, modern fabric collections from designers the world has yet to hear from. The ultimate winner of the contest will receive a chance to release a collection through Robert Kaufman. Previews are shown at the fat quarter size (21" x 18"). Deadline for entry was Tuesday, April 23, 2013 and voting in the semi-final round begins on May 9, 2013.

My submission... Idea:

'Geek' Design in progress

Well I have to be honest, this concept was a difficult one for me. I grew up in an era when calling someone a Geek was an insult. I struggled to picture a series of images that could translate into a fabric design 'collection' that would be visually interesting and unique. I guess that was my issue to get over because a designers job is to problem solve.
Step one: As always the research part of this challenge started on the internet. All that was available were pictures of celebrities wearing glasses, Dr. Who references and superheroes. Step two was going to my teenagers who explained that the Geek theme was also sense of style celebrating technology, and those who create technology. The outfits were to appeal to the generation who loves gaming, superheroes, star trek and technology and are not afraid to let people know it! I have been illustrating 'girls' for years and thought they would be great at representing different styles of the geek fashion trend. ...So the 'geek that's chic' idea was explored using pages from a fashion notebook.
Executing the concept:
I started by drawing the girls on my iPad to give them a sketched look, as if I was quickly jotting down ideas for an outfit. I developed each girls outfit to accommodate both an everyday and a professional look. The drawings were then brought into photoshop to clean-up and add color. 

Notebook all ready to place into fabric layout!
©2013 Patty Rybolt Designs

When that was done I scanned the ring binder of my sketchbook and made the lined pages in photoshop. The type was next, again trying to give the feel of a hand written notebook, almost a kids rendering of the concept. 

The background pattern design was done by bringing sketches into photoshop, and layered behind the page layout. The design was finished up with integrating the glasses under the pages of the notebook! 

If I make the semi-final round of this challenge, (top 100 designs chosen by the Robert Kaufman Company) then look to vote starting on May 9th, 2013!

I'll keep you posted!!

The 'Geek Chic' Fashion Notebook 101
©2013 Patty Rybolt Designs

'Ordinary Girl' Power makes Top 10!!

 I'm very excited to have made the top 10 this week with my fabric design for 'Girl Power'! The illustrations of girls around the world doing what any 'Ordinary Girl' can do! Thanks Spoonflower!

Spoonflower posted this picture on Facebook and Flicker when they announced the top 10!

Bundles... The top 10 fabric of the week is sold in bundles at a discounted price!

'Ordinary Girl' Power!

This week's entry... 

In honor of International Women's Day Spoonflower ran a contest with the theme of Girl Power. You were to Create fabrics appealing to kids celebrating the strength, power, and potential of girls.  (Fat quarter size 21" x 18"). Deadline was Tuesday, March 5, 2013.

My take on this International theme was to highlight what any 'Ordinary Girl' is capable of doing. The greatest power our girls have is their ability to change the world! 'Ordinary Girls' can do extraordinary things! Girl Power!!

"Every girl has the power to...  protect endangered species, save our seas, go to school, drink clean water, demand clean air ...have world peace! 

©2013 Patty Rybolt Designs