Pookie’s Playclothes is a very special collection of infant and small children’s clothing designed and created by Camille Gibson in Concord, NH. Since becoming a juried artisan of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen in 2001, Gibson has been determined to launch Pookie’s Playclothes full-time and now believes the time has come. Her clothing is about impeccable craftsmanship fusing the philosophy that comfort and durability and creativity is essential in designing infants and small children’s clothing.
She creates a culling inspiration from her personal archives: her studying and traveling in France, Italy and Switzerland.
Her designs incorporate the magical use of colors found in peasant clothing as well as its simplicity. The result is a clothing collection that is fabulous and fun, created in luxurious cottons imported from Europe and South America.
Camille Gibson knitted her first outfit when she was six years old: a dress for her Barbie dolls. Decades later, the clothes she makes haven't gotten a whole lot bigger.
Gibson, now 51, last month turned her hobby into a full-time business: Pookie's Playclothes, a company selling the clothing she makes for infants and toddlers. The clothing is bright and made with bold colors, and the little pants and sweaters have a distinctive, hand-stitched and vaguely European look.
Gibson's knitting went on a hiatus until 1988, when her youngest son was born. Kevin, whom she called "Pookie," was such a big baby that she had trouble finding clothes for him. Those she could find, she didn't always like. So she bought a knitting machine and started making her own. She found herself experimenting with different patterns while crafting Kevin's knit tops and pants. When Kevin grew into big-boy clothes, she kept knitting. At some point, a friend suggested she start showing her clothes at craft fairs and shows.
In 2001, Gibson became a juried artisan for the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen. The title meant she could sell her clothes in the league's galleries and shops and put up a booth at the annual fair in Newbury. But she didn't decide to make the business her career until last year, shortly after she lost her job as a paralegal.
"I wasn't terribly happy with what I had been doing," Gibson said. "And I'd always enjoyed making the clothes, and I just said to myself, this is what I love to do."
So Gibson set up a Web site and became a home business owner. She now sells the clothes at league galleries, as well as a few other stores, like the Hannah Grimes Market Place in Keene. In addition to pants and shirts, Gibson makes socks, hats, jumpers and dresses. The clothes are 100-percent cotton, made from yarns she orders from Europe and South America, among other places. Though it feels soft and almost fragile to the touch, the clothing is machine-washable.
Although the clothes are much pricier than baby clothes cost at major stores (a tiny pair of socks costs $12; sweaters run about $64), Gibson said she has found that people are willing to pay more for clothes that are higher than Wal-Mart quality. So far, she said, sales are good. Word of mouth has always brought her customers, and now her Internet sales are starting to take off. Next month, her clothes will be featured on New Hampshire Public Television's winter auction.
Ultimately, Gibson's dream would be to snag an account with a high-end retailer like Neiman Marcus. But she probably wouldn't ever be interested in making clothes for grown-ups. "Women have asked me to make things for them using the same colors," she said. "But it's not as fun when they're not little. It's not as cute."
(For more information about Pookie's Playclothes, visit www.pookiesplayclothes.com.)
"They're not traditional baby clothes, and I think that's why people like them," said Gibson, who creates the designs herself. "People like the colors and the styles. They like that they're not the usual pastel baby colors."
Pookie's Playclothes is anchored in Gibson's Concord home, which serves as her designing studio, workshop and mail room. In her upstairs storage room, tiny clothes hang on display racks like Christmas tree ornaments. She spends most of her days knitting, ordering supplies online and filling orders. When she gets sick of knitting, she surfs the Internet for a while, browsing through different types of yarn or getting suggestions from other craftsmen and home business owners.
