Happy Monday! As I mentioned last week, I wanted to take some time to share a little more about the prints in Dreamin' Vintage before it hits shops in April! Today I want to chat about what went into making the focal print of the collection, Lazy Daisy.
The entire collection is inspired by vintage bedsheets from the 50s and 60s, and this print is no different. As soon as I started working on this collection, I knew there had to be a daisy print. There are literally hundreds of different daisy sheet prints out there. A quick Etsy search brings up quite a few! The daisy sheets in my stash are some of my favorites, I just can't seem to resist their charm. Simple and sweet!
Another theme seen in vintage sheets is the separation of warm and cool colors. Warm colors are red (pink), orange and yellow. Cool colors are green, blue, and purple. I love playing with the contrast of warm and cool colors, and that's where the color inspiration came in for this collection. The Tickled Pink colorway is primarily warm colors and the Merry Berry colorway is primarily cool colors. They can easily be mixed, and together deliver a full rainbow of colors!
The actual story behind how this print came to be is a bit funny. Knowing my skill level of drawing realistic things, I knew I was going to need to get creative when it came to creating this print. I decided to take advantage of a function in Illustrator that allows you to turn a photograph into a graphic that can then be recolored, resized and manipulated. I started searching through my photos, but wasn't finding a whole lot that would work for this print.
So, I grabbed my camera and went on a field trip. I headed to a local garden store and took about a million photos of flowers. I got a lot of good shots, but still needed some daises. Then I remembered a vacant lot near a Home Depot in town. Lucky me, the landscaping was overrun with daises. I was able to get everything I needed, all while being watched by the hoards of shoppers. I'm sure they thought I was nuts!
In the end, it was 100% worth it. The print came out better than I could have imagined when I started. And honestly, it makes for a pretty good story if you ask me! Can you spot the flowers from the photos above in the final prints? :)
Lazy Daisy in Plum.
Lazy Daisy in Raspberry.
I can't wait to stitch up projects using these prints! I know for sure I'd like a vintage style dress made out of the cool print! Maybe Christine Haynes' Emery Dress Pattern?
If you're a shop interested in carrying Dreamin' Vintage, it can be ordered through Art Gallery Fabrics. Find your sales rep here, or call toll-free (888) 420-5399.
