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Sprout Review: Two Myrtles

Have you guys heard of Sprout?

Sprout boasts a service that combines custom printed fabric and indie patterns. Pretty cool, right? We teamed up with Sprout to share some of our most popular designs on this innovative new platform. The Colette shop on Sprout currently features Myrtle, Laurel, Ginger, and Negroni. Have you always dreamed of a Negroni with a cactus print, or a Laurel covered in pugs? If the answer is yes, then Sprout may be just right for you!

How it works…

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Sprout Patterns is a new service offered by Spoonflower that allows you to print indie sewing patterns directly on the Spoonflower fabric of your choice.

The process is really easy and fun. You simply choose your sewing pattern from their collection of indie patterns. You can choose from designers like By Hand London, Grainline, and Hey June Handmade. Sprout also has some really cute patterns for the kiddos, as well as accessories.

Then, pick your fabric from Spoonflower’s extensive library. This part was the most fun. Want a Myrtle Dress with cats on it? You can choose from 72 pages of cat prints. Or maybe your tastes are more classic? Choose from 100 pages of floral designs ranging from colorful to subtle.

From there, you choose your substrate, size, and view your finished project on a 3-D model. Easy!

Our Experience

Less than two weeks later our package arrived. Taylor and I both chose to make the Myrtle Dress. This dress offers a very forgiving fit, especially when made from a knit. Taylor chose to work with the Organic Cotton Knit, while I chose the Modern Jersey, which has a hand very similar to rayon jersey.

Taylor’s Thoughts

taylor

Taylor used Matisse’s Winter Garden in dark green and orange from the Gingerme shop.

  • I like the level of customization available with Sprout. There are so many print options!
  • Fabric shrinkage is built into the pattern. So don’t be afraid to wash your fabric.

  • The organic cotton has little recovery. Make sure to avoid stretching as you sew! The heavily printed nature of my fabric also caused small blemishes on my fabric when i had to seam rip. Make sure to keep this in mind when choosing a heavily printed fabric.

  • When you order, you get our full PDF instructions and all pattern pieces, including all sizes to help with alterations.

Haley’s Thoughts

haley

I used Baroque Flowers from the Arielle Louise shop. Apparently, I was so excited by this vivid print that I forgot how to use a hairbrush.

  • I was super impressed with the quality of the printing. The colors and blacks in my print are bold and saturated even after washing.
  • I liked that I had the ability to move the fabric around so that I had the option of choosing my pattern placement. This was especially key with such a large scale print. I like to avoid nipple flowers whenever possible.
  • Initially I was wary of the inability to customize fit, especially since I ALWAYS have to do a full bust adjustment. Choosing a knit pattern helped me to circumnavigate this issue. I seriously love my Myrtle.
  • The seam allowance is included, and white lines are guides for cutting. I can see this being a great feature for those with less than perfect vision.
  • Small alterations are possible, especially at the waist, hips, and arms.

You can get 20% off products from the Colette/Sprout shop for 1 week with the code: COLETTELOVE

Haley Glenn

Editorial Director

Five years ago, Haley left the apparel industry to join the world of home sewing. She has been empowering women to sew ever since – first through years of in-person teaching at Sew LA, and now through her writing at Colette. Haley writes tutorials and articles on our blog, teaches sewalongs, and writes and edits for our magazine, Seamwork.

Comments

PsychicSewerKathleen

January 22, 2016 #

I absolutely LOVE that flowered dress Haley! Beautiful – I’m excited about this option so thank you for sharing Spoonflower. I will definitely use this service!

Haley

January 22, 2016 #

Thank you, can you tell I ready for spring? I updated the post to include links.

PsychicSewerKathleen

January 22, 2016 #

Thank you Haley :) I always love your posts. This was especially helpful and inspiring. Your dress! WOW.

Ainslie

January 22, 2016 #

I love that second print — can you please tell us the names of the prints selected and the designers? Thanks!

Haley

January 22, 2016 #

Just updated the post to include links!

Laura

January 22, 2016 #

I’ve made a Sprout Myrtle too! It’s brilliant! The thing that really sold me was its so quick to get sewing as the hard part of preparing/placing/pinning the fabric is all done for you. I was able to cut my pieces out here and there while small children were sleeping and then the sewing was super quick too :). This was my first Myrtle but definitely not my last!

Ewa

January 23, 2016 #

Oh how I wish the Hawthorn dress was already on the site so I could tke afvntage of the code.

SJ Boehm

January 24, 2016 #

I would so love to order a sprout design, I would love to make the Myrtle dress or Laurel blouse! But alas shipping to Australia makes it blow my budget :(

Camilla

January 25, 2016 #

This concept looks interesting. I can see it would work with knits but with wovens? And not everyone fits a pattern straight out the envelope. The Baroque flowers print is to die for. Gorgeous.

Haley

January 25, 2016 #

Hi Camilla! wovens were definitely out of the question for me, as my body has never fit a pattern straight out of the envelope. I was really pleased to see that Sprout offers some great knit patterns like the Lark tee and Sloan leggings. I will definitely be using this resource again. The fabric is so dreamy!

Summer

January 25, 2016 #

This is genius, but do the patterns printed on fabric allow for alterations? I’m 6′ tall and always need to add a few inches in length to patterns. Is this a customization option?

Haley

January 25, 2016 #

Unfortunately, there is no way to lengthen the pattern prior to printing. But Myrtle does comes in two lengths. The Longer length is 4 inches longer than the version I made and would most likely fall right above the knee on a taller frame.

Jessica

January 25, 2016 #

Taylor, you are on a roll with your sewing! Such a lovely dress. Haley – that print is gorgeous (and well-placed — my favorite print placement story is when I nearly placed a cluster of Marimekko leaves on my crotch, LOL). It looks great on you. Good to know about the possibility for moving the print around, I’d wondered about that!

Niamh

January 25, 2016 #

Ladies, those are some gorgeous dresses. Haley, mind if I ask where you got the lovely shoes to go with?

Haley

January 25, 2016 #

They are Sven clogs, you can find the same ones here. They are an investment, but super customizable. You can choose the base color, leather finish, and the color of the upper. They even have metallic options!

Niamh

January 25, 2016 #

Oooh, hel-lo! I just emailed their CS department and shipping would be *squillions* of euros to get to Ireland, but then again, I believe in investing in good shoes and as far as I know you just can’t get shoes like that over here. (Squillions = $45)

Thanks Haley!!!

Rachel

January 28, 2016 #

Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could get it printed with a common adjustment. Like an FBA?? Automated pattern manipulation, swoon!