No rest for the wicked (in case Santa is listening)

And if finishing the market stock wasn’t exhausting enough, I’ve been straight back into some Christmas crochet embellished tees and singlets, with bloomers, Mini-Pinnies and maybe a skirt or two to come!

Do you buy a special Christmas outfit for your little person each year? Or are you crafty and make your own? This is Claire’s Christmas outfit from last year…

It had a little striped/starry skirt with red mesh overlay too, but in typical toddler fashion, she sat on some concrete and wrecked it within minutes of this photo ( at the daycare Christmas Party).

What do you do to celebrate Christmas with your little ones?

Summer Singlets

I’ve been stitching away on some new crochet embellished singlet designs… all to fit with my Hawaiian summer theme of course!

Palm Trees, Star Fish, Suns… makes me want to lay back on the beach with a cocktail!

New singlets, t-shirts, shorts, Mini-Pinnies, Swing Tops and a Sailor Dress will be debuting at The Mummy Tree markets on October 31st! Mark it in your diaries and swing by to say hello to the Bloombub team (well, all two of us!)

Good Morning Spring!

Can you tell I’m just a little bit excited about Spring???

Not that I don’t love winter (as long as I can stay in bed under the covers, or drink lots of coffee and eat chocolate), but I think my favourite Brisbane season is Spring. Warmer weather, here I come!

To celebrate the arrival of my favourite time of year, I’m going to have a sale!

Simply purchase any Mini-Pinny from the Bloombub Etsy or MadeIt Store, or order directly via email at bloombub@optusnet.com.au, and you can choose a Daisy or Tree singlet to add to your order for just $5! Just type Spring Sale into the Message to Seller box/email subject then tell me the size you need, and whether you’d like a Tree or Daisy.

*Terms and Conditions

- Offer valid for orders made between Wednesday September 1st through to 6pm Sunday September 5th (Fathers’ Day)

- Offer only valid for payments made via Direct Deposit, or private invoice via Paypal (ie. don;t pay instantly at the Etsy or MadeIt checkouts so I can add the $5 for the singlet…)

- Offer valid on Mini-Pinnies in stock or fabric shown in the Facebook gallery only, and in sizes 6m to 3T ONLY. (sorry parents of 4-6 year olds…)

Bring on the warmer weather so we can all wear our Mini-Pinnies and singlets!

Madeit.com.au Marathon

Phew, what a weekend!

I spent hours (and hours) this weekend crocheting, stitching and sewing the 8 orders I received for embellished t-shirts and singlets between last Wednesday and Saturday morning.

That’s as many orders in three days as I’ve had in the previous two months. Not that I’m complaining, but I have noticed a sore spot on my fingers where the crochet hook as been digging in.

This explosion in sales was largely due to having our embellished t-shirts featured in Madeit’s Wednesday newsletter… WOW! I should know the true value of publicity, but nevertheless 8 orders was a bit of a shock to the system! I had to go and restock my singlets and t-shirts and I made a few in larger sizes than our normal range, but when it’s only stitching a rosette on a t-shirt, at least there’s no pattern making involved.

I also took the opportunity to make some little labels for my work. Previously this has been a bit sporadic, as I’ve not had any professionally printed. But I went the DIY route with some twill tape and iron on transfers and I think they turned out quite nicely! I have enough to see me through a few more orders, but I think an order of properly printed twill tape might be required (plus some size tags for the mini-pinnies and Garden Party dresses).

I also had the opportunity to try our my new all-recyclable packaging with so many orders to post. I have been keeping my packaging really simple until now, but a post from Tania at the CHA made me rethink my presentation. After-all, as she says, online shopping is a somewhat impersonal activity, and sellers need to make the buying and receiving process as warm and friendly as possible to maximise repeat business.

Kylie asked for gift wrapping of her Birdie gift set (above), so cute spotted paper was located, as was genuine ribbon, and all tied up with a crochet flower embellishment.

Our standard packaging however is just as sweet – brown paper bags (for small orders,  brown craft paper for larger); a strip of spotty paper and a business card to finish it off. I’m working through those business cards pretty quickly – I think it might nearly be time to engage a graphic designer to create a unique look for Bloombub.. any referrals?

The sale has inspired me to repost one of my newest creations, a sunflower t-shirt (available in white t-shirts and singlets, or grey long sleeves and singlets). Maybe a little bub in your life needs a pretty flower to warm up their winter?

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).

Singlet SALE

Bloombub is clearing out our current stock of crochet embellished singlets in a special sale via our Facebook store.

All singlets are 2 for $10 until Monday 14 June. Buy one for your bub and save one as a gift… or stock up for Summer.

The sale applies to custom order singlets as well if the style / colour combo you would like isn’t showing in the store.

Become a Fan and checkout the sale now!

Crochet embellished singlet - fish

Crochet embellished singlets - trees

Pink singlet with crochet daisy

Yellow singlet with lollipop flower embellishment

Stitch-a-thon – Singlets!

Autumn and winter are most definitely singlet season, but instead of hiding them away under your clothes, why not make them a feature and wear themon the outside – superhero style.

Here’s a few singlets we stitched up this weekend, to brighten up your bub’s winter wardrobe (I think a few adult size ones may be in order too…)

Hot off the ‘washing’ and hand-stitching lines

New Garden Party Dress in white (a christening gown perhaps?)

Groovy drill pants with a balloon print for a 1yr old boy and pink flannel bloomers to keep newborn bottoms warm this autumn

Matching singlets – flowers or trees

Lounge Pants Size 6m – 3T

new in the bloombub etsy store:

singlet and bloomer sets – size 000
plus
swing tops size 0-1

Bloomer & singlet sets

Leaping into the deep end

Master R & Lil C tussle over Dora

The time has come for this crafty mumma to Do or Die – we either have a go at this baby clothes shenanigan as a commercial enterprise, or we consign the sewing machine to the hobby pile.

I’ve been making original (and some pattern-based) outfits for Lil C, Master R, and their little baby friends for nearly two years now. My fabric stash is growing larger by the day, and my skills have evolved to a point where I’m ready to show them to the world. While everyone is always appreciative when they receive a Bloombub original as a gift, the ‘commission-based’ word of mouth business I’d been hoping for hasn’t eventuated. So, it’s time to whip up some samples, take some constructive feedback, and setup that Etsy store. If that goes well, I’ll knock on some online retailer doors and perhaps the boutiques in my corner of town. All of this in the hope that I can reduce to two days of ‘office time’ in my day job, and sew fulltime one or two days per week by the middle of the year.

STAGE ONE of my big adventure: Genuine market research.

Clockwise from top left: upcycled singlets, bloomers (boys and girls), swing top with ribbon straps, garden party dress, swing top with halter neck.

If you have a 3 month to 3 year old child, and would like to ‘test drive’ one of my prototype Bloombub outfits:

‘upcycled’ singlet + matching bloomers;
swing top + bloomers;
or Garden Party dress

drop me a line or leave a comment here with your childs’ size (000 to 3) and any colour preference and I’ll whip you up a sample by the end of the month. In return, I’ll ask you to fill in a quick survey about yours and your child’s experiences with the outfit, rough ballpark for how much you’d be willing to pay for this type of item, and any other relevant feedback you have about the Bloombub business ( you can email or post it back to me). If you LOVE your outfit, please tell all your pals about my new venture and where to find me!

Wish me luck!