I love patterns, especially when they occur in nature or projected on the human form. For a less ambitious, but fun nevertheless, project, Steve Harmitage proposes a neat idea of creating these patterns on your computer monitor and using that as a background for your pattern photography. He does not tell us how he creates those patterns but I would guess most are already available online or be creative and use Photoshop to draw your own. If you have a tripod, use it for it will free your hands to hold any fill-in cardboard reflector(s), the subject itself, maybe add a second smaller colored subject for contrast, etc.
You can view his examples on his Flickr page.
source diyphotography