Some prints shout, and some glow. Multi Spectrum Digital Cuddle® Pastel from Shannon Fabrics glows — a soft rainbow of color washed across Shannon's signature minky plush, gentle enough for a nursery and cheerful enough to lift a whole room.
What This Fabric Is
This is a Digital Cuddle® fabric: a digitally printed minky plush made from 100% polyester, sold per yard at 58/60 inches wide. Digital printing lays the design directly onto the plush surface, so the colors stay smooth and even from edge to edge, with no woven texture breaking up the picture.
The print is the spectrum itself — call it an electromagnetic spectrum or simply a rainbow. Shannon offers this design in two varieties: a bright option with a loud, vivid look, and this Pastel option, which is softer and more muted. That softer palette is the point here. Instead of saturated primaries, you get washed, blended color that adds plenty of pop to even the most monochromatic ensemble or room, without overpowering everything around it. Before cutting, run your hand across the surface to find the direction of the plush, and mark the top of each piece on the wrong side so all your panels run the same way and the rainbow flows consistently across the finished project.
What It's Best For
- Quilt backings: At 58/60 inches wide, it backs baby quilts, lap quilts, and many throws in a single panel, turning the back of the quilt into a soft, colorful feature in its own right.
- Throws and blankets: Use it whole-cloth with a binding, or pair it with a solid Cuddle® front for a two-sided blanket where the pastel rainbow does the decorating for you.
- Baby and nursery projects: The muted rainbow suits baby blankets, loveys, and nursery accents — colorful and joyful, but calm enough for sleep spaces and newborn photos.
- Garments and accessories: Robes, lounge pieces, hoodies, and cozy linings benefit from the plush warmth, and a pastel spectrum lining adds a hidden burst of color inside a neutral outer garment.
- Crafts and home decor: Pillow covers, plush toys, and accent throws — anywhere you want softness plus an instant, gentle color story without piecing a rainbow yourself.
How to Sew with It
Use clips, not pins. Cuddle® can creep under pins, and pins can disappear into the plush. Wonder clips hold layers securely along the edge without shifting and without leaving holes. If you do pin, pin generously and keep pins inside the seam allowance.
Fit a walking foot and lengthen your stitch. A walking foot keeps the plush layer feeding evenly so seams don't come out wavy. Set your stitch length to about 3.0–3.5mm — longer stitches settle neatly into the plush, while short stitches can pucker it.
Cut one layer at a time. Lay the fabric flat and cut with a rotary cutter or sharp scissors. Cut edges shed tiny fibers, so shake pieces outside after cutting and keep a lint roller near your machine.
Press gently, from the back. High heat can damage polyester fibers and flatten the plush. Finger-press where you can; if you use an iron, use a low synthetic setting on the wrong side only, with a press cloth, and test on a scrap first. Never press directly on the plush face.
Care Instructions
Care is simple: machine wash cold and tumble dry low. Wash with like colors, and skip fabric softener and dryer sheets where you can — their coatings build up on polyester fibers and dull the softness over time. Avoid high heat in washing, drying, and pressing, and wash printed pieces inside out to help the pastel colors stay clear. Treated that way, the plush stays soft and the spectrum stays pretty wash after wash.
For a rainbow that whispers instead of shouts — on a quilt back, a nursery blanket, or a throw for a neutral sofa — Multi Spectrum Digital Cuddle Pastel is an easy, happy choice.
Shop the Multi Spectrum Digital Cuddle Pastel Fabric per yard at Linda's Electric Quilters.
