It’s been a busy few months at Redbubble HQ. We’ve launched Glossy and Transparent Stickers, Throw Blankets, Shower Curtains, Bath Mats, Kids and Toddler Hoodies, Cotton Tote Bags, Water Bottles and Coasters. Most people would book a beach holiday, or at least pour themselves an ice cold beverage, but there’s no time for that. We’ve got two more products to add to the list. Say hello to Socks and Comforters.

Many of you asked for a design template for socks so we’ve answered your call with a template and some design tips below. We’ve also put together a quick guide to marketing our newest products. If you missed our post on how to add them to your shop, you can find product information and tips on how to upload Socks and Comforters here.

Designs by elebea, latheandquill and ShowMeMars

360 Degree Sock Printing = No Seams

Before we get started there are three super important things to know about Redbubble socks:

1. They’re printed using a 360 degree printing process so there’s no seam (Google ‘360 degree sock printing’ and prepare to have your mind blown)
2. The ink absorbs into the fabric so there are no white lines when the socks are stretched
3. If you set your artwork file up correctly, you can create seamless designs

If you have an artwork you’ve already created, like a photograph or painting, the seam will look fine but you can make your sock designs look extra awesome and create totally seamless designs with some clever tricks.

Start by right clicking and saving the Sock Design Template:

To use the template, open or import the file into your editing software as a separate layer. Create a new layer for your design and adjust the opacity so you can see the template underneath.

Think of the sock template as two separate templates, side by side. Any elements to the left of the red line will appear on one sock, and the elements on the right side of the red line will appear on the other.

Use the Sock Template to Create Seamless Designs

On the template, you’ll see the left edge and the center line marked as ‘right back seam’. There’s no physical seam on the sock but this is where the edges of your design will meet. So imagine those two parts of your design wrapping around the leg and joining at the back. The same applies for the two lines marked ‘left back seam’.

If you’ve ever created a repeat pattern, you’ll know you need to place your design elements in exactly the same position along the edges of your template so the design is seamless. For the socks template, you also need to align the elements along the red center line.

If you haven’t done this before, the instructions can vary a little depending on the software you’re using so we recommend searching for a tutorial for your chosen design program. Here are a some examples from our blog, and a couple from Redbubble artists, but there are plenty of others online:

How to create a repeating pattern in Procreate | Nat Gonzalez
How to Make a Repeating Pattern in GIMP | Ivy Lily Creative
Creating Seamless Patterns with Traditional Media and Photoshop | Redbubble Blog
How to Make a Repeat Pattern in Illustrator | Redbubble Blog

Our design team has put together some more images that should help you visualise where items placed on your template will sit on the printed sock:

One final thing. We recommend adding a background color to your sock design. The printing is super high quality but we’ve found that images are printed even more sharply when there’s ink applied to the whole sock.

Marketing Tips for Socks and Comforters

We’ve recently added some new tools to make sharing your work easier. If you missed the updates, check these posts out:

• Share Your Work Like a Pro With Our New Promotional Tools
• New Personalized Shop Links and Direct Sharing Product Images to Social

Socks and Comforters have both been added to the Promotional Assets Page, so you can easily download product images or share them directly to social. Once you’ve enabled your new products, head to Manage Portfolio, click on the cog icon for your chosen work, click on Promote and scroll down to the image you want to share. Easy peasy.

Referencing Unofficial Holidays for Marketing Inspiration

Both Socks and Comforters are marketable all year but there are some big holidays coming up which should spark some creative ideas. Halloween and Christmas are the obvious ones but you could have fun by tapping into some more obscure national holidays. Time and Date has a huge list of these.

The list features some great themes you could use as design prompts, and it’s a fun, engaging way to share your latest work. You’ll often find some of these days trend on social platforms too, so using related hashtags it’s a great way to reach new audiences.

Here’s Kelly Gilleran celebrating National Ice Cream Day and Sophie Gamand and her wonderful rescue dogs getting ready for Halloween.

If you’re looking for features to mention, we know customers always are searching for gift ideas. Socks have a reputation as being the boring gift for Holidays, but Redbubble socks are anything but boring. You could put a twist on this stereotype by calling out how unique your designs are.

As the cooler nights draw in, we know customers are searching for cosy, warm home accessories. Comforters are an easy way to update your bedroom decor and make an impact without having to redecorate an entire room. You can find more product specs and information for Socks and Comforters here.

We hope our latest products inspire you to create new things for your Redbubble shop. We’ll only whisper it for now, but the big shopping season is just around the corner, so now is a great time to start thinking about adding new products in time for Black Friday. Let us know which products you’re most excited about in the comments below.