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3D printing textiles for beginners

July 29, 31, august 5, august 7

This course is for all professional designers - not just from the shoe industry - that want to learn how to 3D print textiles to be able to produce their own soft goods, such as footwear uppers, bags, interior objects etc. For this beginner course you do not need any 3D modeling skills and the software we are using is mostly free. Printing textiles is an ideal way to start your 3D printing journey, since it is simple and fast, so it will give gratification and confidence, before you start printing more complex 3D objects like full shoes.

Would you like to become a printing professional? Then you can combine this course with our other online 3D printing courses. Do you already have advanced 3D modeling skills? Then you can also follow our online course for parametric textiles! 

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Course features

  • 4 live online workshops,
    2 hours each, these will be recorded

  • Level: Beginner
    Maximum: 15 participants

  • Study time:  8 hours, excluding practice, the more you print yourself, the better your results will be

Course overview
3D printed textiles can be printed in a matter of minutes, they are flexible and stretchy, can be stitched with a normal sewing machine, but also have properties - both in terms of aesthetics and performance - that could never be achieved with traditional textile manufacturing methods.
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This online course is not just open for professionals from the footwear industry, but also for people from other industries, such as apparel, jewelry and interior. With the techniques that you will learn you can make a shoe upper, but als a bracelet, a jacket, a lamp shade and whatever else you could imagine.
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In 4 online workshops we will teach you how to design and print flexible and stretchy textiles simply using slicer software, combined with AI and very basic 3D modeling skills. You do not need any 3D modeling skills to enter this course and the software we will use is mostly free. Ideally you do have a 3D printer available that can handle flexible filaments, otherwise you are not able to practice at all.
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Download a list of suitable 3D printers for textiles here!
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What do you need to join this course?

These things are not included in the course price!

Computer

  • Laptop or desktop - a tablet might not be powerful enough - either PC or Mac
  • Mouse

3D printer

FDM 3D printer that works with filament and has direct drive, or you should have access to such a printer. Download a list of suitable 3D printers for textiles here!

filament dryer

Flexible filaments will need to be dried in order to achieve the best results. To start we recommend the SunLu S2 Dryer, so you can guide your filament from the dryer straight into the printer. It costs 40 euros or less.

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3D Printing Materials

For the base fabric we recommend Filaflex 82, so it is good to have some of that in house when you start the course, but we will give a full overview of materials suitable for textile printing during the course.

Software

You will need a few types of software:

Time for homework

Textiles print fast, so we will aim to make some swatches during the classes, however, the classes are mainly meant to share theory and you should practice yourself. Each class we will give you a homework assignment, which will take about 1-2 hours of your time. You will probably find that you will want to print more, because making textiles is quite addictive.

Class schedule

Live online class 1
FDM printing and slicing basics
July 29, 2025
8 - 10 PM CET  

This course is very hands-on, and we start printing right away. After a general introduction on how FDM printing works and which flexible materials are used for 3D printing textiles, we jump straight into Cura (slicer software) and create our first simple mesh textile swatches. 
Live online class 2
Building fabrics layer by layer
July 31, 2025
8 - 10 PM CET  

Now that all participants have already made their first prints and have a better understanding of the essentials of textile printing, we take a deeper dive into how to design more complex textiles, combining several layers and materials, both for aesthetics and performance. We still use only the slicer in this case and work with single nozzle prints.
Live online class 3
Basic 3D design and AI for fabrics
August 5, 2025
8 - 10 PM CET  

Now we will take the design a step further, creating intricate 3D textures using Adobe Illustrator, AI and 3D software (Rhino or Blender, which ever you have). We will aim to mainly use free AI applications, but we will show you a few paid ones as well. With these skills we can add even more 3D effects and play with different properties in different places. We can also make textile pieces in different shapes, such as full uppers. In this class we also give examples for dual extrusion or multi-extrusion printers.
Live online class 4
Printing on textiles and assembly
August 7, 2025
8 - 10 PM CET

In this final class we also look at how to print on top of existing (non-printed) textiles, or how to use printing to attach pieces of fabric together. We usually just stitch the parts together on a regular sewing machine, which we will also demonstrate.
Last but not least we look at after-processing: such as applying 2D colored patterns or finishes to a print. After this class you will have enough skills to create your own textile products using 3D printing.
Write your awesome label here.
Write your awesome label here.
Write your awesome label here.
Write your awesome label here.
Footwearology is the only academy for footwear professionals. We enable you to gain the knowledge that will get you, and the companies you work for, ready to create and embrace a better future. All our courses take place online and/or in our LAB in Barcelona, Spain.

Besides teaching, we do research and consulting, focusing on redesigning the entire footwear supply chain by directly connecting technology suppliers, creatives and social media platforms.

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