I've been in love with patterns since childhood. Often it was hard to find a nice and flattering dress that fits just right. But the assortment of fabrics in stores was rather good. Many women were sewing clothing for themselves and their kids. So did all the women in our family. We didn’t have after-hours childcare, so I spent many hours in fabric stores with my mom or grandma and helped them to cut sewing patterns, baste seams, thread needles, etc. Later I learned to sew myself. Needless to say, I was amazed when I learned about Surface Pattern Design.

As soon as I learned that it's possible to design patterns for fabric and other products, I started taking classes on this topic. I’ve learned how to design patterns in Photoshop and Procreate. But it can be hard to recolor or scale raster art, and it was always hard to decide how large the motifs should be or which color to use.

Then I came across Bonnie’s classes. Her Immersion course seemed like the most comprehensive course on pattern design, but it was a huge investment for me as I also needed to update my computer to be able to use the most recent version of Illustrator. I was hesitant if I will be able to turn it into my carrier path. Finally, I decided to trust my intuition and enrolled in the course.

I loved working in Illustrator, using shortcuts, playing with colors and composition, and various pattern layouts. I was hooked right away. I also loved Bonnie's approach to creating collections based on your own inspiration and personal story. The community in Immersion and Flourish is incredible. Everyone is so supportive and inspiring.

Since taking Immersion in 2021, I've designed almost 100 patterns. Now it’s my favorite thing to do. Most of them are simple, but I'm trying to make the layout more dynamic and interesting. I continue designing new patterns in collections and I have opened my Spoonflower shop in 2022. Being able to order my own designs on fabric and sew something with it feels like a dream come true. I’m getting momentum with selling my designs on Spoonflower. When someone orders fabric or wallpaper with my designs, it gives me such a huge boost of self-confidence as an artist, designer, and creative business owner.

I highly recommend all of Bonnie's classes, and especially Immersion to anyone who wants to have a career in Surface Pattern Design or design fabric for their family.

Since taking the Immersion course I’ve gained much more clarity as I don’t have to piece-meal my education anymore, I have more confidence in my design process and workflow.