Mini-Pinny madness

Apple green spots, Antique pink (SOLD) and Seaside blue

If you’ve been following Bloombub on Facebook, you’ll notice we’re on a bit of a Mini-Pinny marathon over here. It’s time to de-stash our old Fat Quarters to make room for the fabrics I’ve chosen for our Spring range. I’ll be steadily sewing away at the OOAK de-stash Mini-Pinnies throughout August, so join us on Facebook to keep updated, or check the Madeit store regularly.

The new Spring Mini-Pinnies are now all trimmed with broderie, and feature a crochet flower at the back (so your bub looks gorgeous from all sides!).

NEW Spring Mini-Pinny in Lilac. Print also available in Green

Here’s some of the new fabrics we’ve ordered in.

from Patty Young’s Flora and Fauna

Darla, Amy Butler and French General

Only 4 Mini-Pinnies will be made in each fabric, so there’s still an element of exclusivity and you won’t have any doppelgangers at the party… a custom made, exclusive outfit for less than $20?? I must be mad (or, I can’t do maths. More likely). If you would like a matching set of Mini-Pinnies for a special occasion, be sure to let me know and I’ll set the fabric aside for you.

I’m also eagerly awaiting some detail on a new market to start up here in Brisbane, organised by the fabulous ladies at The Mummy Tree. Depending on the cost of participating in the market, pricing of products may differ at our stall, so to make sure you get the best possible price, head over to Madeit or Etsy!

Any Mini-Pinnies from the stash that don’t sell online will make their way to these markets, as well as some embellished t-shirts for boys and girls, and some groovy lounge pants. I’ll also have a few Garden Party Dresses on show – I will continue to make these as cutom order only though (because they take sooo looonngg to get perfect). If you’re interested in a Garden Party Dress for spring, or for the festive season, let me know so I can schedule you into my production line!

Dreaming of spring

It’s very, very cold in our part of the world this week so to warm myself up, I went searching for spring inspiration in my favourite online fabric stores.

This is what I found:

Blooms, trees and leaves. Which one is your favourite?

I can see lots of groovy lounge pants and mini-pinnies in this lineup. What do you think?

I think the spring Bloombub collection will focus on Garden Party Dresses, Mini-Pinnies and unisex singlet/ lounge pant sets. I’m happy to make other items on a custom order basis, but these three are Bloombub’s signature garments, so we’re going to stick with them for now.

Leave a comment to tell me which of these fabrics inspires you (or if you’d like to order an early slice of spring for your bub).

While you were out…

… at the movies, the pub, the soccer, generally having a life

I made this!

7pm:

Just a pile of remnants

9pm:

A cute bag!

It’s the 1 hour bag from RicRac. Okay, so it took me 2 hours, but my laminated Marrimekko fabric from local supplier I just Love That Fabric was a bit of a shock to my no-name brand sewing machine and I have to manually feed the straps through to prevent sticking.

There’s a wee little pocket to hold my phone, a pen, some business cards. The strap is held on with a groovy button from my Nana’s stash – I think it matches the modern aesthetic perfectly.

Laminated Marrimekko fabric pocket

Retro button from Nana's stash matches perfectly

Maybe I’ll take it to the Ron Mueck exhibition this morning, to mingle with the arty types

Northern Adventures

Today I was super efficient in the morning, so at lunchtime decided to embark on an adventure to The Northside (fellow Brisbanites will recognise the significance of this trip, since I live on The Southside. Never the twain shall meet.)

My primary mission was to stakeout the shopfront for Funky Fabrix at Mitchelton, whose online store funkyfabrix.com.au I have been eyeing off for sometime. After navigating my way via all the main roads, i was surprised by how quickly I made it to Mitchelton. The shop is set at the back of a horseshoe shaped row of stores, and I have to say I would have walked straight past it had I not spied a fairly plain sandwich board amongst several others placed on the footpath.

Once inside, I was again surprised by the small scale of the shop. It must be the spotlight / Lincraft shopper in me – I always expect massive, cavernous shops piled high with fabric. And while Funk Fabrix was most definitely piled high with fabric, they were stacked neatly by designer in white ‘bookcase’ style shelving.  I’m glad I didn’t take Little C with me as there’s not a lot of room between shelving, and she would have wrecked/knocked over something within minutes. I did see a little basket filled with toddler toys hiding under on rack, so clearly the owners have encountered this issue before!

I had intentions of buying an Anna Maria Horner bag pattern (the sidewalk satchel) to use up my laminated Marimekko fabric, found in the remnant ‘bin’ at I Just Love That Fabric. However the prices inside the actual Funk Fabrix store seem to be higher than their website (which, of course makes business sense given the overheads etc) but gave me a bit of a fright. It may also be that the website prices are listed by the half metre/half yard, and the pricing on the fabric rolls in store is listed by metrage. Regardless, my $25 would have been blown in an instant, so instead I picked through the (very small) remnant bin – my favourite place in any fabric store, online or real life – and picked myself up some pretty designer scraps. I think one may be Amy Butler or Anna Maria Horner, and the other looks possibly Michael Miller? Will have to cross-reference later.

So the Sidewalk Satchel will have to wait for another day – Funky Fabrix are the cheapest online listing I have found for this pattern anyway, so might be sneaky and wait for another free shipping sale they announce on their facebook page an order it then.

I scored some bargains at the OpShop across the road too – Seed designer pants for Lil C, pajama pants and a wool skirt for me, plus a cute remnant of white fabric with a raised gold pin-spot pattern.

I got majorly lost traversing my way from Mitchelton to Everton Park (really – just the next suburb over and I think I made 4 wrong turns…) and had an absolute SPREE in the Spotlight remnant bin. It must have been my lucky day. Why would I buy a fat quarter for $3, when I can get remnant fabric at $2/metre. I picked up three different coloured spot prints, two groovy stripes, a really loud orange/pink geometric pattern that will look fabulous as a Fat Quarter Mini-Pinny plus some beautiful rose print stretch cotton that is just the right size to trim a little gathered skirt for Lil C.

I had a birthday voucher from spotlight, so the end price just kept getting better – I ended up with 8 different fabrics suitable for baby or toddler projects, plus a light bulb for my scrappy sewing machine (please Santa, bring me a new one for Christmas) and some overlocker thread for less than $20. Hooray for me!!!

Tomorrow’s project – sort, stack and re-arrange the sewing room to get myself back into the Bloombub groove. And stop swamping the ironing board and study desk with pins and fabric scrap.

new fat quarter mini-pinny available in these fabrics

$12.50 – introductory price for April

Oranges and Lemons

crochet and ribbon detail

This reversible pinafore reminds me of the nursery rhyme oranges and lemons, the bells of saint clements

I can’t remember the rest of the rhyme – must look that up before Lil’ C hits kindy.

It’s the same style as the French Kisses pinny, with lovely yellow ribbon ties, and some cute floral embellishments. I think a green version might be in order too – it’s the only colour missing from our wardrobe now!

I’ve also decided the front template for this dress is the perfect size and shape for a bib, to prevent the sticky finger stains that seem to be appearing on all our t-shirts, whether Lil’ C has a bib at dinnertime or not.

Next projects: Gingham cupcake skirt, black and white tuxedo style bib and a pink patchwork sunhat.

Apricot bubbles with a glittery peach pansy