From Raindrops to Repeat: A Peek Inside My Pattern Process
Now that my new Dreamy Skies Collection is out in the world (thank you so much for all the kind words!), I thought I’d take a step back and share about the process.
Designing patterns is such a mix of play, puzzle-solving, and inspiration. And honestly? Some of my favorite moments happen before the final pattern ever appears. The Discovery process is so much fun!
It often starts with some imagery from daily life (read my last article about how I came up with the sunset pattern) or a single simple sketch. For Dreamy Skies, I was thinking about those in-between spring days—when it’s raining and sunny at the same time, and the sky is putting on a show. That mood shaped everything because I wanted it to show the playfulness of light, April rainy days with the pops of bright color that rainbows and sunsets add to the mix.
Then comes the sketching. Sometimes I start with a good old fashioned sketchpad and pencil (especially if it’s a more complicated design) but other times I want to play with color from the beginning (especially when dealing with rainbows). Here’s a comparison of where I started with my earliest iPad sketch vs. the final pattern.
Next, I play with color palettes. If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know I love to use bright colors but I also want them to have a natural feel to them too. In my rainbow pattern, I used real colors of the rainbow with a bright, pastel feel. I test and adjust until it clicks. It’s both intuitive and a little technical—like tuning an instrument by ear. 🎨
After that, the repeat puzzle begins. How do the elements flow together? Do the clouds and rainbows fit well with each other? Can I add something tiny that makes you smile when you see it? As you can see from the comparison above, I straightened , smoothed and perfected the raindrops and I worked on keeping the clouds, rain and rainbows symmetrically spaced into columns.
I then created a pattern with JUST the loopy clouds, to design a pattern of playful clouds of blue and white. I love to reuse elements in a pattern collection to bring cohesion to the entire collection and to create other options inside of it.
Sometimes I start with a clear idea, and sometimes I just follow the shapes until they feel right (such as when I am creating a busier design with a lot more elements).
It’s never a straight line - but that’s what makes it fun. Find Raindrops and Rainbows and Loopy Cloud Doodles in my Dreamy Skies Collection on Spoonflower with their accompanying patterns.
I always wonder—do you have a creative process that feels a little like this too? Whether you sew, quilt, write, bake, or design your living room… I’d love to hear how you begin. Feel free to hit reply or share in the comments. 😊