HI
I am new to selling online and have started setting up my shop.
Before I spend money on new fabrics I wondered if anyone can tell me how I know if I am allowed/not allowed to use a fabric for commercial purposes?
I tend to buy from ebay or plush addict. The fabrics I tend to buy are Riley Blake and Michael Miller but would like to work with Harris Tweed in the future…can any one advise me how I find out before buying, thank you.
Hello!
Basically, so long as you steer clear of Disney or similar trademarked/copyright characters, logos etc you should be fine.
Sarah x
Great, thank you! I can go and fill up my stash now! x
I also remember reading something about Cath Kidson fabrics. You can sell items made from them but you have to acknowledge the Cath Kidston name, i.e. describe it as “item” made from Cath Kidston fabric. Good luck.
Fab thank you. Makes sense to do this anyway cause I guess that might be what attracts the buyer x
I was once asked to remove an item made with Orla Kiely fabric, which I did happily as I have no wish to break any rules. I thought my description was appropriate and I am not exactly sure what the problem was. Good luck with your shop @Maisieboogifts, the fabrics you mention are some of my favourites so I’m looking forward to seeing your makes.
I thought that fabrics had restrictions (if there are any) printed on the selvedge - some designers don’t like their fabrics to be used for items that are going to be sold in case people think that they are endorsing the item (its the difference between a orla kiely bag bought from a orla kiely shop where they have control and a bag made with orla kiely fabric from a folksy shop where orla kiely have no control over the bag design or make quality). Not much use if you are buying online and can’t see the selvedge but you could pop into your local fabric shop, read the selvedge and then go and buy online.
When I’ve bought from Plush addict before I’ve always found them very helpful so you could always drop them an email to double check that you can use the fabric for commercial purposes before buying it.
It must be tricky for designers as by limiting the use of their fabric, they are obviously limiting their market, but possibly is better for the brand to preserve the integrity of their own items. Interesting one really. I don’t think I have ever noticed anything about it on selvedges, but I’ll look more closely in future because it would be really useful if it was printed ‘not for commercial use’ or something like that, then there would be no doubt.
The Hungary Caterpillar fabric has a licence printed on the selvedge. I think Folksy has a list as part of it prohibited items which involved a couple of fabric designers if I remember correctly.