I am a huge proponent of all things hand made! You might have noticed that I walk around with an extreme case of “I can make that” syndrome. I have a feeling that the lovely lady I am going to introduce you to today might have a tinge of that herself 😉 Her name is Annie, and she is the mamma behind the beautiful diapers of dick&jane. I stumbled across Annie when taking a peruse through my twitter followers, don’t tell me you have never done this. (unless you are not on twitter, in which case you are probably thinking, what is this twitter thing all about?)
I noticed three things about Annie. 1. She is Canadian. 2. She makes her own cloth diapers. 3. She is a mamma.
Her diapers are funky, fun and beautiful! So, take a pop by her shop and show her some love! I am looking forward to reviewing her fabulous diapers in the near future, because we all know that I am a bit of a diaper guru? No, just kidding. But sort of serious.
AK: Tell us a bit about yourself in 3 sentences or less, the good, the great and the random!
Annie Matheson-Allen: I’m a chatty, usually happy mama content with being a homebody. I love reading crime novels and memoirs, baking cookies, people-watching, coffee-drinking and chatting with good friends late into the night with a glass of wine in hand. I love my son and my fun, techie husband of 2 years 🙂
AK: Are you a coffee or tea drinker? If so how do you take it?
A M-A: Coffee all the way! I’ll take it any way I can get it… but preferably with flavoured cream. That way I can prepare it faster so I can drink it as soon as possible.
AK: When did you venture into the world of cloth diapering and what inspired you to start selling your own?
A M-A: A year ago when my husband and I were attending prenatal classes in anticipation of our son’s December due date, the instructor did a short presentation about cloth diapers. We had no idea they were so easy to wash and how cheap and convenient cloth diapering could be. We used a cloth diaper service for the first six months of Sylvan’s life, until we decided to just buy our own diapers. When I started seeing some of the amazing diapers and prints out there I just had to get creative and sew my own! I got great feedback from friends on my diapers so I decided to start selling them.
AK: Your fabrics are so cute and unique, not typical “baby” gear. How would you describe your personal style?
A M-A: The feedback I got from a lot of my cloth-diapering friends when they saw what I was coming up with was “your fabric is what will set your business apart”. I love the diapers out there but I have a lot of friends who would prefer something edgier, and I feel the same way for what I would want to buy. I found some “pin-up girl” fabric and just had to buy it (against the advice of my mom!), and I got a great response from people. There are so many gorgeous, quality diapers out there, I want to participate in that and also do something different that will stand out and appeal to the more “irreverent” mamas! I don’t want to come up with anything TOO crazy, but I like a good shirtless cop on a diaper, and apparently so do a lot of other people!
AK: Why Dick & Jane? How did you come up with the name for your Etsy Shop?
A M-A: I like the simultaneously innocent and provocative feel behind the name dick&jane. I feel that it represents my product well, because what I’m selling is a little bit edgy but it is for babies after all!
AK: What styles of cloth diapers do you offer?
A M-A: I offer front-snapping one-size fitted diapers that require a cover, and I also offer waterproof fitted diapers that have a hidden layer of PUL. I love the variety I see in fitted diapers but I also want to offer a one-step diaper with no cover required. A lot of people who wouldn’t normally use cloth seem to be looking for something that is easy and also cute. I am also designing a newborn diaper for teensy babies… a good friend of mine just had a 5.5 lb baby girl and when I saw her I realized there really is a need for a super small diaper sometimes!
AK: As a mamma how do you carve out time to create and sew all of your beautiful diapers?!
A M-A: I do struggle to work on dick&jane stuff during the day being home alone with my son. His naps are all over the place and never seem to last very long (anyone know what I’m talking about?) so when he does settle for a nap I can be found frantically sewing and trying to get stuff done! I usually work on most of my dick&jane stuff at night when Sylvan is in bed.
AK: Any exciting plans or products for Dick and Jane in the future?
A M-A: I’m really looking forward to getting dick&jane out into the cloth diapering world because I feel that there is a demand out there for something different. I’m excited to get people who wouldn’t normally consider CDing using cloth because they like the look of my diapers and the fabrics I choose. I’m happy to be creating beautiful things that also serve a practical purpose. I’m just excited to be a part of the cloth revolution!
awesome Annie .. Annie is the reason I started to use cloth and started to make my own cloth diapers too ! good job Annie
love Dick&Jane diapers. I’m so sick of boring cutesy diapers. I want something that also suits my own style and flavour as a young mom myself!