Creating this fan flower pattern was a rollercoaster of failed attempts and frustration, but I can be stubborn sometimes and I just could not let the initial idea go.

It began during a Skillshare class about hand drawing patterns on paper, the basic premise is you draw in the middle of a square then cut it into four parts and swap them so the middle becomes the edges.

My first mistake was using really thin paper that tore when I cut it, then when I went to create the digital pattern part I didn’t like what I had drawn but I liked the idea still.

So I tried again but this time I drew individual elements to scan in and arrange, but something was still off with the actual flower design to me.

After struggling to create something I liked I abandoned it and moved on to making the buttercup patterns but the original flower idea wouldn’t go away.

One last attempt I told myself, this time I decided to draw them directly in Illustrator on my iPad and finally made a flower I liked the shape of, only to then struggle with the berries, drawing and redrawing repeatedly until I got a style I liked, but once I did and then added in the small filler flowers it all fell into place.

Having just received my fabric samples this morning I can honestly say the struggle was worth it as it looks so good, I may have hated my original design but I love how it ended up.

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Post updated November 2022 to add direct links to available print-on-demand products.