If you follow Melco on social media then you may of caught wind of some big changes that are coming! Come August we will be launching our print/pattern fabrics.
"Well what makes them so special?" you may be thinking... well the fabric bases we will be printing the designs on are 100% manufactured in Australia! Yep, you read right, we will be stocking 100% Australian milled fabrics, right down to the Aussie cotton used to mill. We will be starting off with offering French terry and cotton lycra for printing bases and hope to grow this collection in the future.
It was an amazing experience being able to visit the textiles mill, speak with the owners (a family business also) and be shown around to see it all in action. A textile lovers dream!! Pictured below is a rib knit being milled - so cool!
We will be working on a pre-order basis as we believe this is the best way to reduce over production and textiles waste. However, as we will be manufacturing in Australia, the wait times will be lightning speed compared to companies printing offshore. We will send orders to print on the 1st and 15th day of each month and expect a four to six week wait from 'print' dates. It could be a faster turn around, but we would rather a little extra time up our sleeve while we start this new adventure, we can adjust the ETA's at a later date once we find our groove. The fabric designs will be printed in Australia as well - a real team effort of small business' combined.
In other news, we are also transitioning our French terry & standard rib knits to be manufactured in Australia also. As the colours sell out we will have them re-milled in Australia. We have around eight colours of French terry in production at the moment, so hopefully will have them restocked in a matter of weeks. The specs on these will change a little (like the width) so keep an eye out on the fabric descriptions for the details.
But with all good things, comes the bad. Well... semi bad anyway. We will be phasing out our waffle and lounge rib collections. Waffle will be making a reappearance next Autumn and winter, but a new Australian milled version with matching rib knit. So if there is a colour you love, now is the time to grab it before it's too late.
We are so excited to be making this transition to be 100% Australian milled fabrics and look forward to sharing this new journey with you. We will no longer be importing any fabrics at Melco, and all fabrics restocked or new will now be proudly Australian made. What better way to compliment your handmade items!