Clara can now officially add fabric designer to her resume. With her 23-month photo wrapped up (see the full photo project here), the next milestone is the big 2-4—age two. That meant it was time to create a new backdrop for her birthday photo, and we decided to make fabric again.
Last year we finished Clara’s first year of weekly fabric-backed photos with a custom fabric designed by scanning her name written in marker on paper, tiling it in Photoshop, and ordering it from Spoonflower. We loved how personal it felt, so we made a tradition of creating another homemade fabric for her second birthday.
We briefly considered using her name again—maybe in Sherry’s handwriting this time—but ultimately we wanted something even more meaningful. So instead of our own handwriting, we let Clara contribute directly: this year’s fabric is based on her own drawing.
The project started on Easter afternoon when we unrolled a big sheet of paper and handed Clara some markers. We chose orange and pink because they are her current favorites and match the colors we’re planning for her party. She soon requested a black marker too, and naturally we let her have it. We didn’t want to interfere; we wanted the design to be entirely hers.
Clara got completely absorbed in her drawing, which was perfect. She even worked in elements of her party theme—by her own insistence the theme is “worms!”—so while the motifs are abstract, there are worm-like squiggles tucked in among the circles and splashes of color. It’s sweet and hilarious in equal measure, especially when she greets imaginary worms out the window.
Her artwork was too large for our scanner, so I photographed it straight on. Back at the computer I used Photoshop to put the drawing on a clean white background by increasing contrast and removing the paper’s background. The black marker shifted slightly toward navy in the process, which actually gave the final design a softer, more interesting palette.
At first the single drawing didn’t look much like patterned fabric, so we experimented with repeating the image to create a seamless motif. I duplicated the drawing, rotated copies, and shifted layers to form a repeating pattern. After a few iterations we cropped the composition to make it tile seamlessly, aligning a natural reference point at the top and bottom to ensure the repeat would match when Spoonflower generated the yardage.
Spoonflower offers several repeating options, and you can preview how the pattern tiles. We played with a few layouts, including mirror repeat and basic repeat. Mirror repeat created some unexpected shapes that looked a little too much like organic forms—Sherry joked it looked like a silhouette—so we ultimately chose Basic Repeat. It produced a design that reads a little ikat-like from a distance and reveals Clara’s scribbles up close. It felt playful and subtle, perfect for a child’s birthday backdrop.
We ordered two yards of the fabric—enough for the photo backdrop and a few small sewing projects—paying $36 plus $3 shipping after a discount for uploading our own design. It’s pricier than our usual fabric budget, but this was a splurge worth making for such a personal keepsake.
When the fabric arrived about a week later, it was even bolder and brighter than on screen. The printed colors had a lively warmth and the pattern looked great at scale. It may not win any design awards, but for us it’s priceless: a tangible piece of Clara’s creativity and a perfect photo backdrop.
We’ll use the fabric for her official 24-month photo session, but Clara couldn’t resist playing with it right away. We spread it on the guest room floor and had an impromptu photo shoot—she loved hiding under it, snuggling, and even asked to take a nap under her “blanket.” The fabric turned into pillows, a hiding spot, and lots of laughter. Seeing her gaze at her own creation was a memorable moment.
Sherry also plans to sew something special with this new fabric and last year’s design—maybe a banner, a small quilt, or a keepsake pillow to remember these early creative years. She’s already turned previous weekly-photo fabrics into projects like a birthday banner and a quilt, so we’re excited to see what she makes this time.
It’s hard to believe Clara is turning two. We feel proud watching her move from being the subject of our fabric design to being the designer herself. Have you tried custom fabric from your child’s artwork? If you’ve used Spoonflower or transformed kiddie drawings into something special, we’d love to hear how you did it.
Psst—check out more of Clara’s antics and our photo projects on Young House Life.