From Pencil to Print: My Pattern Process Unpacked

One of my greatest joys is combining work with travel—exploring wild, faraway places and soaking up the sights, sounds, and textures of nature. Whether it’s the lush tropics of Bali, the sun-drenched plains of Kenya, or the vibrant streets of Mexico, these adventures spark the inspiration behind many of my collections, like Exotica, Savannah, and Spirit Animals.

Let’s take a little journey behind the scenes—where flora meets fabric—and explore how my patterns go from wild landscapes to illustrated homewares.

Where Ideas Begin: In the Wild


Most of my pattern ideas are born outdoors. I love photographing plants, animals, and tiny details—branches, stems, floral shapes, leaves, buds, berries, and even the occasional curious insect. These organic forms are my go-to when building patterns. There’s something timeless about florals; even in a year when geometric or abstract trends dominate, florals always find a way to sneak in.

When I first launched Ilka Illustrations, I was all about experimenting—geometric shapes, leaves, bugs, even sugar skulls! (A colourful phase inspired by Mexico’s Day of the Dead. That’s a whole story in itself… I’ll save it for another post!).




Sketchbook Meets Suitcase

Traveling with a sketchpad (or my trusty Wacom tablet) is second nature now. Whether I'm deep in a rainforest or wandering a city market, I’m always jotting or snapping ideas. I have a huge photo archive of flora and fauna—my visual library for future designs.

I usually begin with a single motif: a quirky flower, an elegant leaf, or maybe a butterfly with beautiful symmetry. That one shape becomes the anchor for a larger pattern. I tend to keep my colour palettes soft and the patterns relatively flat—it feels more in tune with the whimsical, hand-drawn style I love.




Turning Sketches Into Patterns

Once I’ve got my motif, I play around digitally—rotating, resizing, recolouring—to create an engaging repeat pattern. The goal? A seamless flow that looks organic, not like one lonely flower duplicated over and over.

Thankfully, Photoshop now has a brilliant Pattern Preview feature, which takes the headache out of seamless design. No more maths and guesswork—just pure creative play. Because let’s face it, I’m a surface pattern designer, not a mathematician!




The Story Behind ‘Savannah’

My largest piece to date, Savannah, started as an epic pencil sketch on A0 paper and took me three months to complete. Inspired by my first magical trip to Kenya, it features elephants, monkeys, vultures, zebras, antelopes—and one elusive leopard.

Capturing it digitally was a challenge. Pencil drawings can reflect light oddly when scanned, making them look grainy. Luckily, my talented friend Dennis Pedersen came to the rescue with his photography wizardry. He shot the artwork, cleaned it up digitally, and helped me prepare it for colour.

After a month of digital colouring in Photoshop, I added delicate pop-up birds and butterflies to the finished piece, mounted it on foam board, and had it framed. It sold to a collector in the UK in September—but its legacy lives on! You’ll now find many of those animals featured on my Ilka homeware: think cushions, tea towels, oven gloves, aprons, greeting cards and prints.




Ethical and Earth-Friendly

As much as I love design, I’m equally passionate about sustainability. That’s why my products are now printed on organic cotton and made using eco-friendly practices.

•    My tea towels and cushions use organic cotton drill and water-based pigments.
•    Velvet cushions? Printed with no water at all!
•    All my inks meet Oeko-Tex standards and are certified safe for your home.
•    My packaging is plastic-free, compostable, and as gentle on the planet as possible.
•    And yes, all organic fabrics are GOTS-certified, which means they meet the highest global standards for sustainable production.




So when you bring Ilka Illustrations into your home, you’re not just adding a touch of beauty—you’re choosing something that’s kinder to the Earth.

Whether I’m hiking through a jungle or sketching at my kitchen table, inspiration is always close by. Nature has a wonderful way of sparking creativity, and I’m so grateful to turn those moments into something you can hold, gift, or display in your home.

Thanks for reading—and stay tuned for that sugar skull story, coming soon.


All photos copyright Abbey Mae