The Sewing Sisterhood: Meet the Maker - Little Magnolia Button

Tell us a little about yourself?

My name is Bridie and I’m a mum to one year old Imogen and wife to Dave. I love creating things and learning new crafty skills. I’ve done a fair bit of traveling (especially to places that have a beach!!) and look forward to doing a lot more in the future!

Other than sewing, what do you do?

I’m currently on maternity leave from a job where I get to work with children who have experienced trauma. It’s a challenging job but one that I really love. I’m also studying a diploma of Education, so I’m very busy between looking after (or should I say playing with!) Imogen, studying and making things for Little Magnolia Button.

Where do you get your inspiration?

I started Little Magnolia Button when Imogen came along because I love buying fabric and making things for her. I also love trying new patterns out on her.

But I also tend to find inspiration all around me. At the moment I am working on raising money for SIDS and KIDS Victoria in memory of my lovely friends Sofia and Richard’s baby boy, Laurence, who was born still last year and their friend Tess’s baby Elizabeth who died at birth 2 years ago. Tess and Sofia and Richard’s strength and courage has been such a great inspiration to me.

I’ve been thinking a lot about where I want to travel to next, using this as inspiration I will be working on a line of items using Michael Miller’s Out to Sea fabric.

There really is inspiration and beauty everywhere!

What does sewing, crafting and handmade mean to you?

Sewing and crafting is a relaxing experience for me. I love the process of starting with a ball of wool or some fabric and completely changing it into something else. Handmade also means love to me, every handmade thing is made with someone’s time and effort simply because creating brings the maker happiness and hopefully it brings the owner the same happiness!

Who is your favourite fabric or pattern designer?

I love a lot of Amy Butler’s fabrics because they are so full of life but I also find it hard to go past Riley Blake and Michael Miller fabrics. At the moment I particularly love ‘Songbird’ and ‘Out to Sea’.

Who has been your greatest influence?

Like so many others, crafting and sewing is in my family. My mum taught me a lot about sewing when I was younger and my Aunty Joan is incredibly creative and full of brilliant ideas. My lovely friend Bernie at Tea for Evie is also a great influence, as even though we have very different styles I just love her work and love that her gentle and creative nature comes through all of her products!

Where would you like to be in five years?

To be completely honest I don’t know! Hopefully life is full of wonderful adventures and wherever I am and whatever I am doing in 5 years time it will be creative, bring happiness and be shared with the people I love.

What handmade possession do you love most?

I’m lucky enough to have known my great-grandmother who we called ‘Little Nanna’ (for those of you who know me, would you believe she was actually shorter than me?!). Little Nanna made each of her great grandchildren a crocheted blanket. I love mine and made sure that I made a crocheted blanket for Imogen when she was born.

The other thing I love is my ‘Mrs Rabbit’ soft toy that my mum made me when I was a baby. I recently searched and searched until I could find the same Mrs Rabbit fabric so that I could make one for Imogen too! As you can probably tell, I love that crafting brings families together and is passed down the generations!