Turning Toddler Scribbles into Custom Fabric: Clara’s Second-Birthday Project

Clara just added “fabric designer” to her resume—kind of. After finishing her 23-month photo (see the full photo project on the Young House Love photo gallery), the next milestone was the big 24-month picture: her second birthday. To celebrate, we created a custom fabric backdrop from Clara’s own artwork and then had it printed. The result is personal, playful, and totally hers.

Last year we made a custom fabric by scanning Clara’s name (we tiled her name artwork in Photoshop and ordered fabric from Spoonflower). It felt so personal that we decided to make a new tradition: each birthday gets fabric inspired by Clara. This year we let her do the designing herself.

On Easter afternoon we spread out a large sheet of paper and handed Clara a few markers. We started with orange and pink (her current favorites and the planned party colors), and later she asked for a black marker too. We intentionally didn’t guide her—this was meant to be an honest capture of her marks, lines, and choices.

Her drawing ended up including the party colors and, according to her, the party theme—“worms.” She’s so fascinated by worms that she often talks about them and even says hello when she sees them outside. Those little personal details made the piece even more meaningful.

Because the paper was too large to scan, I photographed the drawing straight-on to capture the full page. Back at the computer, I cleaned it up in Photoshop: increased contrast, placed the artwork on a plain white background, and removed distracting elements. The black marker shifted toward navy in the process, which we liked—colors don’t have to be exact to feel right.

To turn a single drawing into patterned fabric, we duplicated and tiled the artwork in Photoshop. By flipping copies 180 degrees, offsetting layers, and experimenting with placements, we created an abstract repeating motif. It started as a scribble and evolved into a design with alternating orange circles, navy squiggles, and dark pink splotches. To make it tile seamlessly for printing, I cropped the composition so the edges would align when repeated.

We uploaded the file to Spoonflower to preview how the pattern would repeat across fabric. Their preview tools show different repeat styles and sizes; after testing a few options we chose the Basic Repeat. It felt ikat-esque and subtle from a distance, but revealed playful scribbles up close—perfect for a backdrop that needed to read like fabric and also hold a little story.

We ordered two yards to use for the birthday photo and for a small sewing project. It wasn’t cheap—two yards cost $36 plus $3 shipping, with a small discount for uploading our own design—but it felt worth it for a piece that literally celebrates Clara’s creativity. Sherry already has plans to sew something special using this new fabric alongside last year’s Clara fabric.

When the fabric arrived a week later, it was brighter and bolder in person. We waited until Clara was officially 24 months old to do the formal photo session, but she couldn’t resist playing with her own creation in the meantime. The fabric quickly became a blanket, a hideout, and a prop for an impromptu mini shoot. Seeing her cuddle and play under the pattern made the whole project feel even more special.

The whole process—from hand-drawn scribble to printed textile—was a joyful way to preserve a moment in time. It reminded us that art doesn’t need to be polished to be beautiful; sometimes the raw, honest marks of a child create the most memorable designs. We’re excited to see how this fabric will appear as a backdrop for Clara’s 24-month photos and to turn some of it into keepsakes.

Have you ever turned your child’s art into fabric or another tangible keepsake? We’d love to hear how you captured and preserved those little masterpieces.

Psst—Clara even did a playful, Rihanna-inspired pose for another post on Young House Life.