The Lookbook - Aztec & Mudcloth / Abstract geometric print designs

Sometimes a client inspires us to do an entire collection. I traveled to Mexico 5 years ago already and created some Mexican traditional textile inspired designs after visiting this wonderful colorful place. I love the colorful woolen blankets. And when Libby (The Paws) asked us what we had available I just had to create a new series of Aztec designs.

Aztec designs & geometric prints are so much fun to make. Creating geometric shapes and putting them in a repeat creates very surprising designs. I never know how they turn our and I never plan on creating a certain shape up front. It’s something that just appears as out of no-where and unplanned. While playing with typical aztec shapes and details the most beautiful designs are created. We sure hope you love ‘m too. We already licensed some of this new collection but the ones featured here are available still to purchase if you’d like to use them.

Most of the designs shown her and on our socials too are available for licensing. That means you can pay a fee and in return we will send you the original files which you can use for your own production. This covers commercial usage too. Want some more info about licensing and costs involved? You can find more info about our rates on the website. We have a lot more boho & native inspired designs available. Just shoot us a message if you'd like to browse our full portfolio.

These designs are now available for licensing. And we also have some of these designs available on fabric & wallpaper through our partners at Carriage House Printery & Spoonflower.

The Lookbook - Midnight Kitty / Print designs for cat lovers

Over the years we’ve been working together with tons of dog accessory businesses all over the globe. We created many dog designs but cats weren’t as represented in our portfolio that often. Probably because we don't need so much gear for these fluffy ones. We do have some cat accessory customers buying our fabric. But we don't focus on the cat target group very often. This year I decided it was time to dedicate some time to creating new cat designs.

Last summer we had to say goodbye to our 19-year-old black cat Duvel. And this collection is a little celebration of his spooky night shenanigans. We still miss our little Duvel and the past months we’ve seen him come to life on several of our client’s products. I am so happy he’s living on in our designs & fabrics now.

Last January we rescued a new kitty. She’s around 8 years old and brings us so many laughs. It’s truly amazing what these small creatures can do for us. Time to celebrate. Inspired by our oldie and with the joy of our new cat. Hope you like this new mini-collection! All designs are available for licensing. If you license our designs we will send you the original files which you can use for your own production. This covers commercial usage too. Want some more info? Shoot us a message.

These designs are now available for licensing. And we also have some of these designs available on fabric & wallpaper through our partners at Carriage House Printery & Spoonflower.

The Lookbook - Pinky Blossom / Where Seventies meets Nineties / Flowers for Summer

We have sent out four new lookbooks to our insiders last week. If you're signed up to our newsletter you might have seen them already. It's time to show them to you on the blog too. We created 4 new collections. New Abstract Aztec designs, Patriotic prints for 4th of July celebrations, a new collection with cats for fall and new flowers. We keep on making those!

Behind the scenes we create a ton of designs for exclusive usage. The ones that don't make the cut eventually end up in our non-exclusive design stash and can be licensed from there. We have customers that bring in requests we didn't cover. Themes we want to create a collection around. And we create lookbooks from designs made in our studio in between jobs. With this balance of input we can show you new lookbooks regularly. The first of this batch of four are these new colorful flowers.

The past year we license many flower designs. Especially large scales and over sized prints are doing well and the contrasting ditsy flower. This new Pink Blossom Flowers print collection reflects this mix of trends. It's a collection in which the Seventies meet the Nineties. With use of Nineties detailing and retro touches. Which one of these gives you all the granny vibes? And which one do you think is most nineties? These designs are perfect for summer creations. Back to school products, swimwear and dog accessories. See something you like? These designs can all be commercially used through licensing.

These designs are now available for licensing. And we also have some of these designs available on fabric & wallpaper through our partners at Carriage House Printery & Spoonflower.

Finished Work: Rainbows & Sprinkles Sportswear & Kids Organic Fashion

A few years ago we got in touch with Lucy for the first time. She just set up her small business selling bold printed fashion pieces for kids. She licensed our designs and turned them into the cutest baby rompers, harem pants for toddlers and leggings for older kids.

As the years have gone by her business grew rapidly and she expanded her collection with mum-wear to make twinning those cute prints possible. Now she has a full range of sportswear and kids fashion pieces available. Colourful prints, whimsical themes, the dare’s to be different and her brand has developed into a unique one-of-a-kind business carrying tons of Little Smilemakers pattern designs. Lucy stays off the beaten track and her collection can stand the waves of the trend.

Did you know her leggings are our go-to chill & netflix pieces? And they are perfect for the gym too. I personally wear them for every work-out. Smooth fabric, breathable and fun. And, very important, squat proof! For all of you that lead and active life and are not afraid to stand out from the crowd; check out her bold prints. She also has some overlap in prints throughout her collection if you’d like your little one to match your outfit too.

Okay, I have to admit. Rainbows & Sprinkles must be one of our fave brands to work for. We love how Lucy makes our designs come to life. And we have the freedom to create truly unique pieces time after time. So if you’s a big fan of our print designs; you don’t get to find more prints of ours somewhere else for sure!

Licensing print designs
Lucy has been licening our designs mostly non-exclusively for years. Some designs she has in her collection are also sold to other branches. She used the digital files for her own production process. If you like to license our prints for your business too please send us a message. We license print designs all over the world and we love to welcome new collabs.

Made with Little Smilemakers Studio Fabric // Top 5 July 2018

It is so exciting to see a finished project after working hard on a new collection of design or a series of illustrations for our clients. But with finished fabric designs it is even a bigger surprise to see what customers create. To see how final products evolve when people put their own creative energy in there is amazing.

If you browse around on Etsy or Instagram for some kids fashion you are very likely to stumble upon some Little Smilemakers prints. Most creatives that use our fabrics have a small home based businesses sell their projects via internet and tag us via Instagram. But there are also some bigger fish out their using our Spoonflower designs for their business. So we see some amazing things pop up in our feed every month. We love how Little Smilemakers creations are the foundation for other creatives all around the world to work with. So here is our monthly blog post that features some creative results from Canada, Germany, UK and The United States. This month we selected a whole bunch of summer faves turned into the most gorgeous items. Kids fashion, woman’s accessories and fun dog accessories, so much to choose from! We have selected a some cool bags, some on trend kids items and some creations made for you four legged friend! Take a look and see if there is something for your little one too. Have a look and enjoy our July selection.

1 // Daily Objects
Next to phone accessories, laptop cases and notebooks, Daily Objects now also launched a new collection of tote bags, hand bags, laptop sleeves and pouches in different sizes with beautiful high quality leather detailing. We love those new bags! They make a perfect birthday gift. In Holland they have banned plastic bags, so a cool shopper is a must but this Love bag must be our fave. They also added some cool home decor to their range of products. Our prints are now also available on pillows. Oh yes and of course Daily Objects offers world wide shipping on their products too. Click here for their collection.

2 // Thea Fashion
This German clothing boutique has a soft spot for clean Scandinavian designs. We stumbled upon their creations on Instagram and we are totally hooked ever since. Our ice ream, train and abstract bubble mint prints were used for the summer collection. They offer adorable kids items, t-shirts, dungarees, sun hats and lot’s more. So if you are based in Germany take a look in their shop.



3 // Bambino Mio
We love seeing those tiny human butt cheeks pop up in our feeds. After working for Bambino Mio the past year finally we can see the result of our hard work. The new swim nappies were launched this summer. Perfect for those warm summer days, and much more comfy than those regular diapers. Breathable and soft. We love how these whales turned out. These and more prints are now available. Check their website for all local retailers world wide.

4 // Tough Little Piggies
We love soft sole shoes. Perfect footwear for those tiny feet crawling around the room. Protecting those tiny toes. Tough Little piggies is a small shop that specializes in flexible soft sole shoes for those little ones. The soles have a little extra grip, making those first steps a whole lot easier. For this months made with post we selected our cacti print. Perfect for summer! Take a look in Ashly’s shop to browse all cute models.

5 // Le Big Dog Couture
Did you know we had a canine helper in the studio the past week? We had to take care of one of our friends super adorable pup. So we wanted to add a little dog to our monthly post. This months we selected a fun shop specializing in dog bows and bandanas. We love the fun colorful range of prints and selected one our our most recent fave summer designs: the parasol print. Isn’t it adorable? Take a look at the shop for more cool bandanas and dress up your pup with a splash of color.

How to take care of your Spoonflower fabrics // soft and gentle care

3 Tips for prepping your Spoonflower fabrics

1 // Wash your cotton or polyester fabric before use. Unfold your fabric and wash with a phosphate-free detergent in cool or warm water using a gentle or delicate machine cycle. Wash separately or with like colors for best results. Use of phosphates in detergent is highly regulated in the USA and many other countries and is relatively uncommon. However, we encourage you to double-check your detergent prior to use.
2 // Special note for cotton fabrics: As these fabrics are surface printed with water-based inks, there is a chance of some fading (especially on darker colors.) Front loading washers are the worst offenders due to increased tumbling action during cleaning. Fading can be minimized through the use of cool water and gentle wash cycles.
3 // Tumble dry before use. Indulge your fabric in a cozy tumble dry on a low temperature.


3 Tips for ironing Spoonflower fabrics

1 // Cotton fabrics: Iron our 100% cotton fabrics using standard settings for cotton. Always iron with the printed side down for best results. Steam may be used to remove wrinkles. You'll want to avoid spraying the fabric with a water bottle while ironing because this can lead to unexpected staining.
2 // Special note for Linen Cotton Canvas Ultra: High temperature settings may cause discoloration or crushing of linen, so we recommend you use synthetic settings and a light touch.
3 // Polyester fabrics: These tend to be wrinkle resistant, but if necessary, iron with a light touch on the unprinted side of the fabric using a synthetic setting only. Do be careful with the heat as higher iron temperatures may result in color transfer and, in extreme cases, melting of fabric.

Made with Little Smilemakers Studio Fabric // Top 5 // November 2017

We love to see a finished project after working hard on a new collection of design or a series of illustrations for our clients. But with finished fabric designs it is even a bigger surprise to see what customers create. To see how final products evolve when people put their own creative energy in there is amazing.

If you browse around on Etsy or Instagram for some kids fashion or home decoration you are very likely to stumble upon some Little Smilemakers prints. Most creatives with small home based businesses sell their projects via internet and tag us via Instagram. So we see some amazing things pop up in our feed every month. We love how Little Smilemakers creations are the foundation for other creatives all around the world to work with. So here is our monthly blog post that features some creative results from around the world. Sweden, Australia, United States. All over the world our designs are used for the most wonderful items. We have some cute Polar Bear leggings, Indian Animal Rompers, Soft Sole baby shoes and some cool kids accessories. This is our top 5 selection for November.

1 // Bean Sprout
Bean Sprout must be one of our favorite webshops using our Spoonflower fabric. Hiedee has a great eye for unique and bespoke designs and we love her style and gorgeous clean photography. Bean Sprout has a pretty big collection of Little Smilemakers fabrics, all turned into the most adorable baby and kids fashion accessories like baby bibs, book bags, summer hats and nappy wallets. For this months Made With post we selected one of our favorites: the reindeer book bag. Perfect accessory for your kids winter school days. But we also featured our cool monochrome dashes fabric that was turned into a cute baby bib. Wanna see more? Take a look into her gorgeous shop for all wonderful handmade creations.

2 // Maxomorra
The new Autumn Winter ’17 Plus Collection is a new design project, risen from their curiosity to explore Maxomorra outside the box. The new Plus collection contains eight prints in a limited selection of styles, all made by Little Smilemakers Studio. With a few extra details to the prints and a brand new and beautiful color palette. To create complete outfits, there is also a small basic collection with solid colored jersey and velour available. As always, pick your favorites, mix and match, and go out and be fabulous. There are t-shirts, leggings, hats and so much more to choose from. But have some patience, the collection will be released for autumn and isn’t in shops just yet.



3 // Oh Boeys
We were doing a little happy dance when we saw this perfect pair of Christmas pine tree soft soles in our Instagram feed. We love this fabric and are so happy to see these turned into this cute pair, so cute! Oh Boeys is an Australian webshop selling bows, bibs, soft sole baby shoes and blankets for your little one. They have a colorful range of products and you can also customize your own pair of soft soles. Go take a look and see for yourself and see what else they have!

4 // La La Loop Baby
Lorraine is based in the UK and has a background in knitted textiles and fashion design and started her La La Loop range with cashmere fashion and interior accessories. After her twins were born she was inspired to pick up sewing and an entire new collection was launched. She now has some of our all time favorite fabric available as rompers, leggings and baby & toddler accessories. Her items are flying off the shelves so make sure you place your order in time for the holidays! Go take a look into her Etsy shop.

5 // Roostery Home
Roostery Home is an accessory and interior decoration brand that collaborated with Spoonflower. All of our designs that are available via Spoonflower are also available via Roostery Home where you can find all sorts of fun home decor items and interior accessories. From tea towels, bedding and pillows to chairs and wallpaper. Just order your favorite print on your product of choice and add some Little Smilemakers designs to your home. Perfect for the not so talented sewer like me. For this month we selected out monochrome crosses designs that was turned into bedding. Our designs were also featured on the Oh Joy blog and Spoonflowers winter catalogue. Take a look if you are curious and order quickly to be in time for the holidays. You can find over 50.000 products just with Little Smilemakers designs on them. Crazy!

Made with Little Smilemakers Studio Fabric // Top 5 December 2016

It is so exciting to see a finished project after working hard on a new collection of design or a series of illustrations for our clients. But with finished fabric designs it is even a bigger surprise to see what customers create. To see how final products evolve when people put their own creative energy in there is amazing.  

If you browse around on Etsy or Instagram for some kids fashion or home decoration you are very likely to stumble upon some Little Smilemakers prints. Most creatives with small home based businesses sell their projects via internet and tag us via Instagram. So we see some amazing things pop up in our feed every month. We love how Little Smilemakers creations are the foundation for other creatives all around the world to work with. So here is our monthly blog post that features some creative results from the US, Australia and India. This month we selected a whole bunch of winter and seasonal inspired fabrics, turned into the most gorgeous items. Kids fashion, nursery accessories and home and interior decoration, so much to choose from! We have selected some cute tote bags, leggings and soft sole shoes. Take a look and see if there is something for your little one too. This is our December top 5 selection. 

1 // Daily Objects 
Next to phone accessories, laptop cases and notebooks, Daily Objects now also launched a new collection of tote bags and pouches in different sizes with beautiful high quality leather detailing. We love those new totes! They make a perfect gift for Christmas. In Holland they have banned plastic bags, a cool shopper is a must. They also added some cool home decor to their range of products. Our prints are now also available on pillows. Oh yes and of course Daily Objects offers world wide shipping on their products too. Click here for their collection.

2 // Le Petit Bouton 
Lisa Gillies a young mum and the owner of Le Petit Bouton. Like many new mums, she was madly searching for items for her little girl that were unique, on trend, and made with beautiful fabric and she was getting frustrated at not being able to find exactly what she wanted. That is why she decided to start her fun shop, stocking gorgeous little girls hair clips, hair ties and headbands using beautiful designer fabrics and organic knits. Our little reindeer girls have also been added to her webshop for this holiday season. Her products are perfect for special occasions, party favors, birthdays, baby showers, new arrivals, school, stocking fillers...the list goes on! Baby skyler is modeling her fun products. Such a cute little girl! Take a look at her shop if you want to get your hands on one. 

3 // Olive the Things 
For our seasonal ‘Made with’ post we selected a cute reindeer sweater. One our our personal favorites for this jolly season. This Utah based shop offers a great selection of soft sweaters, hoodies, shorts and other cool kids items. of you are looking for some cozy pieces for your little one, this is the place. take a look at their Etsy shop and check all fun mix & match pieces.



4 // Hazel & Holly 
We love these cute Origami Santa leggings. Perfect leggings for the holiday season right? And suitable for both boys and girls. This Washington based shop offers handmade kids clothes has a wonderful collection of seasonal fashion for kids. We have created some new Christmas themes that were selected for her new range. Leggings, skirts, beanies. Check them all in her Etsy shop.

5 // Little Pitterpat 
Every month a new set of soft soles pops up in our feed. Little Pitterpat has been using our designs for over two years now and we keep loving the way our fabrics are turned into the most adorable baby and toddler shoes. These soft soles baby shoes are made by hand in Sharies studio in Montana. For this months 'Made with' post we selected their Grizzly Bear Ski Slope print. One of our fave designs suitable for both boys and girls and we know how handy those gender neutral items can be. Looking for a baby shower gift? These cute shoes make a great present. So take a look into her shop if you want to have a pair of these. She has over 500 different items, yes lot's of different prints as well, to choose from. 

Limited Edition Memphis Style Little Smilemakers fabric // available via Ansje Handmade

We have something really cool to share with you guys! The past months we have been testing the market for fabric production ourselves. We worked with suppliers in the past but never produced our own series up until this summer when we decided to test these grounds.And we have something cool to show!

We have been approached by numerous companies in the past who wanted to order fabric outside of Spoonflower. Up until now we never provided this service but we would love to see if this would be a possibility in the future. Hopefully we can start doing so in the near future but as you can imagine, we want to make sure to cover all glitches and we want a top notch quality, with a low impact on our environment. Aiming for a high end product. Safe for babies and toddlers and with a long lasting print. of course all GOTS certified meeting the highest standards in the industry.

Ansje Handmade collaboration
When the designer herself starts her own production you can make sure things better get close to perfect so for our own production we are definitely not ready yet but we have started a test production and we now have released a limited edition range of Little Smilemakers fabric working together with Anouck who runs her small fabric business Ansje Handmade. Without her things wouldn’t have come this far, she has been a vital partner in starting this process and with a whole bunch of positive energy she has supported me and together we hope to get things up and running within the next year.

Fresh Limited Edition fabric
For the first small batch we have selected 9 different colorful prints to choose from. Some fresh Memphis Style inspired abstract rain drops an brush strokes. Our all time fave geometric plus sign design and some fun kids themes of course. All designs are printed on 220grams GOTS certified jersey fabric. And there is only 15 meters of each of these designs. So for all Little Smilemakers fans in the Netherlands, rush to Anouck’s online shop to get your hands on a piece of this fresh fabric. And stay tuned for more fabric production news!