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I just created a custom Blogger theme to be used for a private, personal family blog. My client (my dear sweet mother) had a very specific look they were going for. She wanted to incorporate the family tartan pattern relating to their families particular Irish heritage, specific family photos and elements to represent the theme of her blog, a wood grain feel like on my own site, and something to give the site more of a journal feel to it. I had fun creating a theme using all of those elements by using a handwritten font, creating a repeating graphic for the sidebar that appears like a simple binder notebook, and creating an edited collage of photos and items in the header. One of the most important elements was incorporating a repeating and traditional tartan pattern that is not too overpowering and that looks like the edge of a quilt. While this is not a difficult process, it can be time consuming for a beginner.

Here’s how I accomplished it. Click on the image above to enlarge and view the tartan as an example of what I’m referring to.

• I found an image online of the “official” family tartan pattern to use as my base. Opening up that image in PhotoShop, I used the Marquee tool to select the entire image. I then clicked on Edit and chose Define Pattern to turn the image into a pattern.
• I then created a new layer of a deep blue square of the height I needed for a repeating header graphic and a slightly larger width than I needed, and added the Pattern Overlay effect to it (of my newly defined pattern) with a slight transparency.
• I created a new blank layer and merged both of those files together so that it was a single image of the tartan pattern rather than having the effect that changes each time you size or crop the image.
• I then added another texture from the pattern overlay to it to give it more of a real fabric feel and added a drop-shadow. Hint: Artisteer has a ton of great textures you can pull from. Try using some of these!
• I used the Marquee tool again to make a “Layer via Copy” of a thin box over the complete width of the bottom of the tartan.
• I added a very slight bevel and emboss effect to it as well as  a very slight drop shadow. This gives the bottom edge of the tartan the appearance of a hem.
• To complete the hemmed look, I added a new layer above it, and created a thin deep blue line where I wanted the threading to appear.
• Using the marquee tool, I deleted a little tiny square of the line and repeated this process by hitting Shift+arrow key and delete so that the spaces were completely even all the way across the bottom giving the appearance of threading.
• Finally, I cropped the finished image ensuring that the pattern could repeat seamlessly horizontally. That served as the background image for my header that spanned the entire page.

I hope you found this helpful. Please leave a comment if you have any questions on this simple PhotoShop tip. If you are interested in your own custom Blogger or WordPress theme design, please contact me.

© 2011, Sarah. All rights reserved.

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