Kids Etsy Special Part 1 – Fashion

This season, the coolest kids in the playground will be wearing a jumper knitted by Nanna – in this era of mass production, suddenly handmade and homely is the height of what’s hip.

Thankfully, I never fell prey to fashion-conscious bullies because my Nan and Mum are craftily handicapped; but gone are the days when anything organic, knitted or whipped up on a Singer are reserved for the weird hippie kid with lentils in his lunchbox.

Beautifully crafted, unique and eco-friendly pieces hopefully reflect a change in consumer consciousness…plus they look so gosh darn gorgeous to boot!

Hit up Esty for literally a whole world of talented crafters at your fingertips – straight up, I discovered ecoLove Organics, who create the most beautiful cotton and hemp jersey blend dresses for little girls (from US$50 each). Hand-dyed with low impact dyes, they grow with your daughter to become a cute little shirt so you get years of use!

For more on the frock front, check out stores like Dogwood Lane for pretty peasant dresses (US$28) which work with a long sleeve top in winter, or with jeans and little ballet flats; SweetGracie for gorgeous twirling dresses in vintage fabrics (from US$38); or artsiegirl for a glorious mishmash of prints and colour (from $28).

Boys don’t miss out either – wade through oodles of super cool tees (check out happyfamilies for eternally cool dino’s and robots), grab a nifty hoodie from RedBoots (US$29) and some funky and comfy pants like these tartan lounge pants ($US22) from Kalgoorlie store BrusselSprouts .

And for bubs? Freshbread hand-stamp bright onesies with cute prints such as this elusive pink owl (US$7); MyPersonalisedTshirt do just what they say on the tin, personalising tees and onesies with funny slogans (from US$13, love the “I Cry When Ugly People Hold Me”!); and BabyBeesBoutique do super cool onesies with pop culture references like Morrisey (US$14) and Where the wild things are (on sale for US$6.99)!

Alternately, if you’re wanting to get in on this craft thang, try Larkmade’s all-in-one ClothKits ($39.50) for total novices. Apparently, even I could do it, and that’s saying something (I blame the aforementioned gene pool).

Keep an eye out for next week when we dive headlong back into the world of Etsy for the coolest handmade accessories!