Fabric Designs

Over the past few years, I have been developing several fabric designs for Hitty dolls. These are based on illustrations by Dorothy P. Lathrop from the book Hitty: Her First Hundred Years as well as the real wardrobe and possessions of Ancestor Hitty in the Stockbridge Library Museum (see Who is Hitty?). Although I made these designs for my own personal projects, other people have expressed interest in purchasing the fabric. I had originally planned to print the designs on Light-Weight Quilt Cotton from JOANN’s (see Hitty’s Library Dress), but JOANN’s Customizer has been offline since September of 2023.

Earlier this year, Spoonflower decided to upgrade the printers for their natural fabrics. The new printers have truer, more saturated colors, and “a softer hand,” which is especially important for doll fabrics. Their Cotton Poplin fabric has been my favorite for a while now. I recently finished proofing and updating all of my Hitty doll prints to be optimized for the new printer and specifically for the Cotton Poplin. My Spoonflower shop is called, “Frendi” and all of my designs for Hitty are in a collection called, “Hitty Doll Prints.”

Click here to view my Hitty Doll Prints for sale on Spoonflower!

SPOONFLOWER’S COTTON POPLIN

Although Spoonflower has several natural fabrics to choose from, I prefer the Cotton Poplin for Hitty clothing. It is lighter weight than the Petal Signature Cotton, has a tighter weave and a softer hand.

I did try ordering their Cotton Lawn, but the sample I received had large striped areas of inconsistent color. It was so bad that I had to request a refund from Spoonflower. For that reason I DO NOT RECOMMEND THE COTTON LAWN. Spoonflower offers a “Happiness guarantee,” so you can contact them if an order doesn’t turn out right.

Another fabric I tried was the Cotton Silk (see “The Book Cover Dresses”). I used it to make a Hitty dress, but the result was disappointing. The fabric was too slippery and difficult to work with. However, it might work for a simple project, such as a quilt. If you want to give it a try, an 8” swatch only costs $5.

Hopefully, my designs will look similar on other fabric types, but I can’t guarantee that. If you have tried any of the other natural fabrics, please let me know what you think. I do like their Organic Cotton Sateen, although it is a bit heavier weight.

I still have a few new designs in the works. Hitty Fabrics mailing list members will be notified as soon as the new designs are available for purchase. If you are not yet a member of the Hitty Fabrics group, please Contact Me with the words “Hitty Fabrics” in the message, and I will add you to the list. You can also follow the Facebook page for the latest updates.

PRE-WASHING

The fabric will not be pre-washed when you receive it, so I recommend washing and drying once or twice to soften and prepare the fabric before sewing. Even after washing, the Cotton Poplin fabric has a “crisp” feel. Here are Spoonflower’s washing instructions for Cotton Poplin:

“Machine wash cool on a gentle/delicate setting, using phosphate-free detergent. Machine dry on a low temperature setting. Iron on the unprinted side of the fabric. Woven fabrics may experience fraying when washed. We recommend serging or stay-stitching 1/4″-1/2″ from the cut edge or using a delicates bag when pre-washing.”

I usually zig-zag the edges before washing, but the suggestion to use a small bag for delicates is also a good idea. When I washed my samples, I experienced only 1-2% shrinkage after two wash cycles, and I did not notice any fading of the colors. The colors seem more vibrant than the fabrics from JOANN’s Customizer.

COLOR MATCHING

Custom printed colors are notoriously difficult to match. Spoonflower’s new color printers do a nice job of consistent color printing. I have made every effort to ensure that the colors are as accurate as possible. However, I have no control over the printing process, which means that printed colors may differ slightly from batch to batch. The only flaws I have noticed are occasional lighter streaks in areas of solid color. If it is objectionable, you can always request a reprint.

COPYRIGHT

These designs are my own creations and are subject to copyright laws. You are allowed to use any fabric you purchase to make items for personal use or for sale. However, you may not copy the actual designs. Full disclosure: as a Spoonflower artist, I do receive a small commission for purchases of my design.

ORDERING

Spoonflower sells fabric in Fat Quarters and Full Yards. Some of their fabrics are wider than others, but the Cotton Poplin is only 42” wide. That means a yard is 42″ x 36”, and a Fat Quarter is 21″ x 18”. Spoonflower also has a “Fill-A-Yard” option to print two different fabrics on a single yard if you want quantities of half a yard.

When you order fabric, you will need to select the Fabric Type (Cotton Poplin or other), Size (Yards, Fat Quarters, or 8”x8” Swatches) and Quantity. Once you have done that, you can add the fabric to your shopping cart.

Cotton Poplin normally sells for $22.00 per yard and $12.00 per fat quarter. Spoonflower often will have sales of 15-20% off, and a couple times a year they offer fat quarters for 50% off. If you subscribe to their newsletter, you will be notified when the fabric is on sale.

Another option for the small quantities needed for doll clothing is my “Hitty Dress Sampler,” which has multiple Hitty doll prints on one single yard. Keep reading for more details.

PRINTING AND SHIPPING

All of Spoonflower’s fabrics are printed “on demand.” After you place an order, the company will put it into the queue. It usually takes 3-5 days to print, and then it is shipped, which takes another 5-7 days. So plan to wait up to two weeks for your order to arrive.

ONE YARD HITTY DRESS SAMPLER

You may purchase any of the prints separately. However, since most Hitty dresses require small amounts of fabric, I created a one yard sampler of seven designs — enough to make five dresses, a sunbonnet, and a shawl. PLEASE NOTE: YOU WILL NEED TO ORDER A YARD TO GET THE COMPLETE DESIGN!

Click here to purchase Hitty Dress Sampler fabric!

The sampler includes the following prints:

Plumfield Blossom

I have sold this design on Spoonflower for years, but I recently reduced the size slightly to match the version I made for the Stockbridge Library Museum. The background is a plum color with tan colored blossoms.

Hitty’s Sunbonnet

The sunbonnet on display at the Stockbridge Library Museum inspired this design. It has pale coral diamonds surrounding red flowers on a cream colored ground.

Rosebud Shawl

This print is based on an illustration of Hitty wearing a shawl made from Little Thankful’s sash. The background is navy blue with pink rosebuds, green leaves and tiny green dots. Coordinates with Sampler Stripes.

Calico Roses

Phoebe Preble of Maine, Hitty’s first owner, made her a dress from calico. The background is light yellow with pink flowers and green leaves, as shown on the paperback cover.

Sampler Stripes

Little Thankful’s mother made Hitty a dress in “a far from gaudy pattern,” shown in the illustration of Little Thankful’s sampler. This print has medium and light blue stripes. Coordinates with Rosebud Shawl.

Daguerreotype Dress

This dress print is inspired by Hitty’s daguerreotype dress, as shown in the frontispiece to the book. It has a faded gold background with brown sprigs.

Fleur-de-lis Black

Hitty wrote her memoirs wearing this dress. The design has a black background, pink dots and white fleur-de-lis, based on a color plate from the book.

HITTY’S HEXAGON QUILT (SOLD SEPARATELY)

Rachel Field received gifts for Hitty as she traveled across the country after winning the Newbery Medal in 1930. One of the nicest was a beautiful hand-made bed with a silk quilt. Here is how Rachel described it:

The most unusual piece of furniture in her room is a four-poster bed with a canopy that was made on a plantation in Louisiana where she and I visited the year we went out to the coast to get the Newbery Medal. Our thoughtful hostess took Hitty’s measurements and months after the bed arrived, all fitted out with sheets and pillows and two handmade patchwork quilts, a calico one for summer and a silk one for best with no less than a hundred and thirty tiny patches in it. This was fashioned under the direction of a wonderful old lady over ninety, who made many quilts in her time, but never a more remarkable or more difficult one than this. Every little piece is cut and sewed with tiny stitches and fitted together perfectly, and I treasure it more than ever now that there will never be any more quilts made by those devoted fingers.
Rachel Field – from “The Bookcase Apartments”

Hitty’s Hexagon Quilt

Hitty’s Hexagon Quilt is a multi-colored design, inspired by a real silk quilt which was gifted to Rachel Field and Hitty. The original quilt had 130 tiny patches which were hand sewn. This design has all that work done for you!

CRADLE QUILT SAMPLER (SOLD SEPARATELY)

This design was inspired by Dorothy P. Lathrop’s illustration in the book, Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. It shows Hitty sleeping in her cradle at the Preble house. View the tutorial for sewing instructions.

Cradle Quilt Sampler

Order a Fat Quarter on Cotton Poplin to make three reversible 7″ x 9″ quilts. The variations are a red plaid, a blue gingham and a pink gingham.

HITTY BOOK COVERS (SOLD SEPARATELY)

Your dolls will love vintage the vibe of these geometric designs, inspired by Hitty book dust jackets. You could use the fabric to make Hitty a bedspread, pillows or clothing (see “The Book Cover Dresses”). It also makes a great wallpaper design for a Hitty backdrop, room box, or even the lining of a trunk.

Hitty Book Cover Classic

The Classic design is based on a dust jacket from a September 1946 Macmillan edition, which has a bright red background and greenish-gold crosses with off-white flowers in the middle. There is a also a faint white line along one edge of the crosses, which are slightly offset.

Hitty Book Cover Bright

GALLERY AND TUTORIALS

Here are some photos of finished projects made using my fabric designs. I will add links to new tutorials as I get them finished.