Fabric Print Ideas

I nearly bought some fabric last week from a lovely website I found through the blog Four Square Walls (It's a really good blog and she must never stop sewing!) however being an american site the postage on the fabrics I chose was just ludicrous, $27.00 for just 2 metre.  I was really disappointed as they had lots of print jerseys which you just don't see here and I have not found anything similar on any   other online fabric shops. I went through the process of signing up, creating a password and entering all my details before they informed me of the postage costs.  I think it would have been a site I frequented had it not been for the cost of postage, I really do not understand why they are charging so much and they are probably missing out on a lot of UK customers due to this.  The site is Girl Charlee and I've just had another peek and got cross all over again, I may drop them a message and ask why the high postage.

How cute are these? This is just a small sample.

   Anyway after that little moan it got me thinking about having another go at creating some of my own designs on fabric  using fabric ink.  I had the disaster dyeing incident earlier in the year and haven't really tried that again since but I think some delicate prints on a plain background may work and hopefully be more successful.
I would like to do some screen printing at some point but that is messy, uses lots of ink and getting the repeat right over large areas could be difficult.  I saw some great ideas on Handmaker's factory blog here are some images...

I love this orange on a neutral background and using the toilet roll tube, fab idea. I think I would like a skirt in that design and I hope they don't mind but I'm going to copy it when I get back off my holidays.  I will share the post with them when I do because the blog is all about sharing ideas and encouraging others to reinvent items.  I just wonder about the staying power of the ink through washes once you have completed it? I'm sure there will tips about such things out there.
I have also brought home the fashion design drawing books from the library that I ordered.

This one is £18 to buy

This one I've been looking through and had a go at some of the tips, it is really good I may jot down notes but after 3 weeks if I still feel a need for it the price is only £3.99 on Amazon.

This one has gorgeous illustrations but maybe more complex than the last so I will pick the bits I need but it wouldn't be one I would invest in. Maybe for the  more advanced.

This one is more basic but feels like a child's book ( maybe it is)

Not one I'd buy

So I will work through these over the next few weeks and see what I get out of it, i may find that the book on  my wish list is no longer required now that I have these. I think the library is good for learning all sorts of things and it doesn't cost you anything to try something new that way. One of the annoying things when you sign up for paid courses I have found is that there is always a number of set books you have to buy which are generally quite expensive.  It makes you think well couldn't I have just got the books and done it on my own.  I did eight years worth of courses with the OU and I'm glad I did and sometimes you need those qualifications on paper.  I do  think however that anything you are learning for your own personal development can be done now using books and there are so many how to videos on the internet.  There is no excuse really not to try something new. Just don't go trying to operate on yourself!