Funky Wombat Textiles is Tamara Schneider. A graduate of both the Whitehouse School of Fashion Design and the RMIT School of Fashion and Textiles, she then went on to complete an internship with the fabulous Timorous Beasties in the UK (and you seriously need to check those guys out too!).
tamara schneider – in bloom (spring blue)
tamara schneider – hibiscus swirl
She returned to Australia and launched FWT in 2010 with her signature Lyrebird range of prints. Since then she has continued to add new designs, applying them to an ever increasing range of items. Besides providing prints on base cloth for use in upholstery and drapery, FWT also has a range of textile homewares, including lampshades, cushions and hand-printed teatowels.
tamara schneider – blooming heaven (emerald)
tamara schneider – blooming heaven (raspberry)
Tamara uses a combination of hand drawn illustration and computer aided design to create her original designs, and fabrics are printed both by hand and digitally. And having the flexibility of being in a small business means that fabric and wallpaper can be custom coloured, and printed on demand.
tamara schneider – birds in the flowers (aqua)
tamara schneider – birds in the flowers lampshade
Environmental concerns are also of high importance to her, and so water based pigment is used for both the digital printing and the hand printing. Water based inks do not contain PVC or phthalates and are much more environmentally friendly. She states “Aware of the environmental aspects of traditional textile printing techniques Funky Wombat Textiles is constantly reviewing and upgrading its production and manufacturing processes in order to ensure that the only impact it makes is an aesthetic one.”
tamara’s workspace
Funky Wombat Textiles is based in Melbourne. You can find their website here, and you can join them on Facebook here.