Tula Pink Bumble: the Return of Peached Poplin

If you’ve been sewing for more than six years or so, you remember the old Heather Ross fabrics–Mendocino and Lightning Bugs, all those incredible hard-to-find collections that were SO SOFT.  That particular fabric substrate, the actual cloth the fabrics were printed on, is called peached poplin.  And it is BACK.  DID YOU HEAR ME?!?!  IT’S BACK!!

Many of us were downright obsessive about this fabric.  The softness was legendary.  The drape for garments was unparalleled by other fabrics in the quilting industry at the time.  Its uses were wide-spread: quilts and blankets, garments, home goods, you name it.  And now bits and pieces of it are hoarded worldwide because it is just different than anything else that was out before or after.

Until now.

Tula Pink, bless that woman, has worked to bring back this substrate with Free Spirit Fabrics (who printed Heather Ross’ designs at the time) and make it available again.  She’s releasing a brand-new mini-collection called Bumble, all in amazing nursery-friendly prints and colors.  Most of it has just begun hitting stores in the past 24 hours, and you should TOTALLY run get your hands on some, no lie.  Two reasons: one, it’s awesome, and you’re going to sew the crap out of it; and two, the more the market demands this substrate, the more likely Free Spirit is to continue to produce future collections using it.  So for all of us, seriously, snap this collection up and dream BIG!!  Peached poplin for everyone!!

I have a whole HOST of projects made using these fabrics to share with you, thanks to the generosity of Tula herself, who gave me advance yardage and allowed me to play with it.  (I may have had one of those moments, where you try to act totally cool and hip and fail utterly, because she handed me this incredible fabric and I panicked and didn’t know what to say.  Total dork moment.  I actually had to pinch myself to avoid squealing.)

We had this whole conversation where she was showing prints from Moonshine and I said, “Whatever happened to that substrate they used to use for Heather Ross’ fabrics?  That stuff was so awesome!” and Tula said, “Funny you should mention that…”  She already had yardage from Bumble at the time, and I could hardly believe it.  If only all wishes came true so quickly.  (For you Tula collectors & afficionados, this is also the substrate that Tula’s Hushabye collection printed on, so in some ways, Bumble is Hushabye Part Deux–in the best possible sense.)

This is my Pinafore pattern, which I have always, always loved.  All my girls have worn versions of this shape over the years, and I find it to be constantly the MOST versatile garment in their wardrobes.  They wear it alone as a dress, over a tee as a jumper, over pants in the winter, with a dress underneath as a true pinafore, with a skirt underneath to make it poofy, over shorts with no tee in the summer for a cute out-to-dinner outfit, I mean seriously, I have yet to find the fabric or occasion unsuitable for this garment.

Sewn up in this peached poplin, I swear, the Pinafore feels like jammies but looks SO cute and put-together.  Our youngest was delighted to put it on, despite the fact that she has decided that Four is the new Three and is crankity grumpy in the afternoons these days.  I mean, the fabric is just SO SOFT.  Did I mention that part?!?  And the bees….  They’re awesome on the bolt, but trust me: when you start to sew them up, they transform, and become something even more amazing.  I can’t explain it, and it really doesn’t happen with every fabric, but these designs become MORE when you cut the pieces out and begin to sew.  It’s magical.

Bumble is juuuuuust arriving at most shops, and if your favorite local shop or online retailer isn’t planning on carrying it, TELL THEM!!  Most retailers welcome feedback from customers, and it’s not too late for shops to order this collection–it’s smaller, which means most shops can carry all the prints affordably, and it really will help us to get this awesome peached poplin back on the market.  Which needs to happen, like, yesterday.

The Pinafore pattern is available here, but I should point out that it’s scheduled for a facelift this fall to make it a little more up-to-date.  If you have purchased the Pinafore in the past, or want to purchase it now, you’ll receive a credit for your full purchase price toward the new pattern when it comes out!  Keep your eyes peeled for the updated pattern sometime in November–it’s a great shape for holiday sewing!

Coming next week: another five or six (or more) projects using this Bumble peached poplin.  You can get sneak peeks of those on my IG feed!