HAVE IT YOUR WAY:

Photo courtesy of Comfortex

THE BENEFITS OF DIGITAL FABRIC PRINTING

BY ROBERTA G. WAX

Designers have been printing on fabric for decades, but today’s textile-printing technology gives decorators more creative leeway, including the ability to create micro batches of one-of-a-kind prints using a variety of colors and fabrics.

The boom in digital printing on fabric isn’t expected to slow down anytime soon, says Kurt Van Steemburg, innovation business development manager at Comfortex, which utilizes digital printing and production-on-demand (POD) technology to produce its Color Lux line of shades and soft treatments in more than 800 solid colors and coordinated patterns. “This method will continue to grow because it’s sensible, produces a high-quality image, reduces waste and allows greater opportunity to customize what you print. Patterns and colors are stored in a vast digital library and pulled as required. Patterns are never discontinued. There are no back orders, no mixed dye lots.”

Scaling a Small Business with POD Fabric

When textile artist Kathleen Fitzpatrick started her boutique fabric business, Tie-Up Textiles, she offered one-off handwoven and hand-dyed home goods. But she soon realized that the one-of-a-kind fabrics that built her brand wouldn’t be scalable over the long run. In spring 2017, she turned to Adaptive Textiles’ custom fabric printing and began building her first custom yardage collection.

The Pennsylvania artist uses her handmade textiles as the basis for her fabric. After converting a design into a digital format, she creates scales, repeats and textures before ordering printed yardage. She offers the finished fabric to designers, architects and other home décor specialists.

Digitizing her patterns was the best thing she could have done for her company, she says. “With digitally printed fabrics, I can accept larger orders that I would have otherwise turned down.”