First collection of hand printed fabrics by the metre

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who has invested in my pitch! At midnight tonight my pitch finishes and I'm delighted to say my fabrics will now be printed by the metre. If you'd like to take advantage of the reduced price fabrics before my pitch ends tonight then you can invest until then. I'll be getting in touch with all of the lovely investors shortly, thanks! -- New reward - Screen printing class For a £50 investment you get a full day screen printing class at my studio in Sheffield. You'll learn how to screen print using stencil techniques and then use those newly acquired skills to print onto fabric which you'll then use to make your own lampshade to take home with you. Just invest £50 to book your place. Participants must be able to attend a session on a Saturday in September, there is no fixed date as I will work around the participants. Refreshments and materials included in the price, please bring your own lunch. Places will be on a first come first served basis but I will do more than one session to fit people in. ---------------- I run an environmental fabric design and printing business in Sheffield where all my designs are printed by hand onto environmentally friendly fabrics. Currently all my fabrics are limited to small pieces of 47x47cm, which are great for small craft projects, but my dream is to start printing by the metre to enable my fabrics to have a wider range of uses, such as home interiors and clothing. I am looking for funding to complete the first 25 metre run of three fabric designs. To do this I need the following: A completed printing table Large meterage printing screens exposed with my designs Fabrics and Inks 1. Completed printing table Fabric printing tables cost around £5000 to have built. I have built a large 6 metre printing table base myself for a fraction of the cost (£300) but that is as far as I ve been able to get within my current budget (see attached picture). To finish the table I need a padded base layer, rubber top coat and a 6 metre steel guide gauge down the length of the table to align the screens for printing. 2. Larger screens I currently print using small screens, for meterage printing I need to buy large screens upto 2 metres long. These screens would be used for as long as the design remains part of my collection (around 12 months) and then can be sent back to be re-exposed with the design for a new collection at a reduced cost, this makes them environmentally friendly. 3. Fabrics and Inks I want to print 25 metres of each of the three designs in my collection using a hemp and cotton mix base cloth. I use water based ink pigments to print on the fabric, these vary in cost depending on the colour but I can save money here by mixing all shades from primary colours which allows me to have a more unique colour palette for my fabrics. Rewards: I'm offering a range of rewards as a thank you for funding my pitch, here is some more information: - Fabric rewards, £10 - £80 invested My hand printed fabrics will retail around £40 a metre and will be printed on a hemp and cotton mix base cloth which is a medium weight fabric and suitable for interior and craft use. I'm offering a range of fabric quantities as part of the rewards, from fat quarters (approx 50cm x 75cm) to metres of fabric, which will mean you'll be one of the first people to receive the fabric and at a reduced cost. This first collection will feature 3 designs, each design will be printed in two or three different colours. You will be able to pick your favourite design and choose from the available colours. You can see a range of my current fabric designs in my Etsy shop this will give you an idea of my design style and colour palette choice. - Bespoke colour fabric reward, £160 invested For investing £160 you can choose any one design from the first collection and then have your fabric specially printed in a bespoke colour. You can choose a shade that matches your current decor or simply choose your favourite colour. This reward will require you to provide me with a sample of the fabric you want matching or an example of the colour you have in mind, I'll then send you a sample of the specially mixed ink before the fabric is printed to check that it's suitable. Once this is confirmed I'll print up your fabric in your chosen colour. - Sponsorship reward, £1000 invested This reward for investing £1000 means that you will be named as sponsor for the first collection, this reward is limited to just one funder. The first part of the reward means that you'll get your name printed on the selvedge of the fabric (the edge of the fabric) and so the text will read something like this: Pods design by Sarah Waterhouse. Printed in Sheffield, England. Sponsored by ..... You'll also be mentioned in my shop where the fabric is sold and through all advertising and promotion of the collection. This reward is especially suitable for a business and in those cases a link to your website can be added, but individuals are just as welcome. Timescale If my pitch is sucessful, rewards will be ready once the first collection has been printed. This means that there will be an approximate lead time of 1-2 months in order to get the table finished, screens made and fabric printed and heat set. Postage Rewards can be picked up from my studio in Sheffield or can be posted. Postage charges will be based on the weight of the item and charged at cost. For postage charges please get in touch.

by sarahwaterhouse in Sheffield