Spoonflower.com is a new website that offers DIYers, fashion and textile designers the ability to print custom fabrics. For those of you who don't want to deal with the mess of screenprinting your own textiles, Spoonflower just may be what your looking for.

Your custom designs will cost you a pretty penny at $18 per yard — but, on a good note, there is no minimum order and they guarantee you a quick turnaround. Spoonflower fabrics are always printed on cotton with water-soluble, nontoxic inks and are washfast and lightfast.

Following the models of Threadless and CafePress, Spoonflower, once out of Beta, aims to become a marketplace for independent fabric designers. This feature is not yet available, but for now you can enter the site's contest for the Fabric of the Week. If your design is selected you will receive five yards of free fabric from any of your own or another community members' designs. That's approximately $100 of fabric.

There is a nice article on Spoonflower.com in the NY Times.

Craft Magazine also featured Spoonflower in their latest issue.

I've contacted Spoonflower and inquired whether or not they will consider offering textile printing with Smart Inks.

Why is this important?
With the arrival of sites like Spoonflower, it's becoming apparent that mass customization is going to be THE mode of production in the future. The roles of consumers are rapidly changing. Consumers are taking a greater role in the production and design process. Distribution channels are also quickly shifting. As the modes of production and distribution shift, it is becoming apparent that the DIY ethos is here to stay. Cheers to that!