In Stitches

Word is that knitting, crocheting and sewing are experiencing a renaissance. If that’s your creative outlet, we applaud you and the originality of your children’s attire.

However, if you are stronger with a mouse than a needle and thread (think online shopping), you can still dress your little ones in highly original, locally-made clothing and accessories.

GRoWshirts is the brainchild of April DeJong. This mother of three boys (because she needs more to do), takes ethically-constructed T-shirts from American Apparel and applies silkscreens of children’s original artwork.

So far the artwork has been designed by DeJong’s children and a few family friends. We like The Monster the most (especially in pink). T-shirts are available online in sizes three months (onesies) to size eight and cost $29.50. You can also pick them up at in Murmur in Marda Loop and look for them at the Calgary International Children’s Festival this spring.

Even better—design your own. We love that with a custom order, GRoWshirts will print your child’s art on a high quality, flattering T-shirt. Orders can include mixed sizes and colours and they would make great family gifts or matching outfits for say, a trip to Disneyland. Discounts for bigger orders can be arranged.

Tiny Tweets also offers customization of their super cute hats, head bands, hair clips and accessories. Local moms Sandra Smith and Jenny McConaghy love to accessorize their adorable girls, and despaired at the lack of selection and quality in town. So they decided to start selling their own and launched an online store this week selling their handmade wares.

We like the reasonably-priced, basic clips like Simply Sweet’s hip chicks (only $10 for 4 clips) and that you can request open-back clips which are especially useful for curly-haired kids. The Ribbon ($15) and Framed Clip Holders ($25) are also customizable, and function as both artwork and storage.

Tiny Tweets’ crocheted flower-adorned hats are a big seller, all made by a genuine grandma (Smith’s energetic mom). It doesn’t get more handmade than that. Kids’ hats retail for $15, and are $20 for adults.

We won’t say skip the crafting entirely and buy online (even though we might be tempted to do so ourselves). But we will say it’s good to support other moms and the local economy while investing in super-cute clothing and accessories.

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