"When I say that I am totally inept with a sewing machine, believe me that that's true," Robin Turnill says, laughing.
Turnill is the brains behind Robin's Egg Boutique, an e-boutique that sells baby and toddler fashions, accessories, décor and toys.
The online store, which celebrates its one-year anniversary at the beginning of May, showcases the designs of local mothers, all of whom Turnill sourced out herself. Turnill says she takes care of all the marketing, sales and business aspects of the boutique, and leaves the sewing up to the professionals.
"I'm terrible, which is why I'm so in awe of how talented all of the designers are," she says.
The idea for the boutique came to Turnill shortly after the birth of her daughter, Helen.
"I was sourcing out, through friends and in the community, different people, different mums actually, who were stay-at-home mums who were designing products in their free time," she says. "One designer in particular, she has young twin boys, and the second they would go down for a nap she'd start designing all these onesies."
The designer was Stephanie Devlin, now part of the design team at Robin's Egg. Turnill says it was amazing the work Devlin accomplished with such a busy household. Turnill herself had purchased outfits for her daughter from Devlin, including an appliqué guitar onesie, and immediately had other mothers wanting to know where she had bought them.
Turnill quizzed Devlin on why she was not selling more of her clothes and elevating her business.
"She would tell me, 'You know, I really can't focus on the business side, I really enjoy just the designing of it,'" says Turnill. "So it happened. I just started meeting more and more women in the community, mostly North Van mums."
A couple of mothers had already launched their own businesses from home, she says.
"Once they had had their own children, they realized, 'I'm really passionate about design, I want a job that affords me flexibility to work my own hours, that works for my family,'" says Turnill. "So I thought to myself, 'It would be great to bring a number of these mums together under a platform which, for many of them, would be their first foray into the retail world, and provide them an opportunity to get their name out there."
Once the idea had been formed, Turnill grew more excited and began actively reaching out and making connections in the community through friends and referrals.
She says she chose to open an e-boutique because she wanted the flexibility that a storefront could not offer.
"At the time I was working as a full-time faculty member at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, in their business program," she says. "The thing that's just fabulous about an eboutique is that I find that in the evenings and during Helen's naptimes or when my partner's home, I'm able then to package products up and respond to clients and so forth."
More than half of the designers for Robin's Egg are from the North Shore, says Turnill, with the rest hailing from North Burnaby and the Fraser Valley. All of them are mothers.
"I absolutely could not have done this without the beautiful work that all the designers have done," says Turnill. "I will see babies wearing the clothes of Robin's Egg and I'm so proud and happy."
The boutique's products range from onesies and quilted play mats to handcrocheted hats and booties. "The crocheted booties, can't keep them in stock long enough, although probably that will change with the shift of the season," says Turnill.
The boutique also offers clothes made from sustainable materials such as Eco-fifelt, made from 100-per-cent recycled bottles and bamboo.
"It's really breathable," Turnill says. "It's very soft on babies and toddlers."
Although Robin's Egg products have taken flight in B.C., Turnill says her biggest customers are residents from Quebec and Manitoba.
"They love the onesie line, every day I'm shipping something off to Quebec," she says. "They know their fashions out there, I'm very flattered."
Turnill says the next move for the boutique is to expand the product lines.
"Now that I have an idea of how things have operated over the last year, I am now going to be meeting with more designers," she says, adding that she wants to work with more mothers she knows who are very talented and "anxious to have their products out there and being showcased."
For now, Turnill is grateful not only for the design team, but the support she has received from the community. "It's been really great and it's been a very positive experience."
To learn more, visit robinseggboutique.ca.
