Miche Berry’s 11-year journey to becoming a mum is woven into every garment she makes.
She is the founder of the Suffolk hand-made childrenswear brand Jack and Bear, which is named after her son – and their family dog.
And each garment - every romper suit, T-shirt and beanie hat - is stitched together with rainbow thread.
“Jack is our rainbow baby,” says Miche. “So, I only use rainbow thread in the making of the clothes. It means everything to me to highlight baby loss and miscarriage, because obviously so many people go through it, and don’t talk about it,” she says.
“Me and my husband came out the other end, very luckily. We’d given up hope. We were looking at changing our lifestyles and doing a lot more travelling and we were thinking of buying a houseboat.”
Then when they returned from a holiday, they discovered that they were expecting Jack, who is now four, nearly five. “And absolutely gorgeous,” smiles Miche.
She has always been creative and her sewing skills are self-taught. When Jack was born, unable to find the type of clothes she wanted to buy for him - that were ethical, fun and colourful - she decided to source organic fabrics and sew them herself.
“I’ve always enjoyed drawing and my mum taught me to knit when I was young. And then I had a gardening business, doing everything from design to planting to maintenance and everything was geared towards creativity.
“Sewing-wise I used to do a lot of quilting, but when I finally had Jack, all my creative juices started focusing towards him. I wanted to be able to make clothes for him and to make something that was a bit different,” she says.
“I thought maybe I could find fabric that I like and make it myself.”
And, thanks to the encouragement of a friend in fashion who said that the garments she was making were good enough to sell, she started the business.
“My friend really spurred me on,” she says. “Because I was already interested in and buying clothes that were made with organic fabrics, I felt that there might be a niche in the market,” she says. “I found fabric that I liked and hoped that other people would too.
“And because we had a flat-coated retriever called Bear who was inseparable from Jack, just completely protected him and looked after him, I named the business after him too, so there’s a real family connection and it’s very personal.”
Miche and her family live near Felixstowe, 10 minutes from the sea. She loves the coastal life and along with being a mum and sewing, her other passion is open water swimming – all year round without a wetsuit!
The antidote to fast fashion, Jack and Bear garments are made to order by hand, with a turnaround of about three to four weeks.
The range includes T-shirts, jumpers and dresses for youngsters up to the age of six and rompers, bibs and beanie hats for babies.
They come in a range of fun prints including giraffes, ducklings, rainbows, whales and dinosaurs. With some garments you have the option to choose the contrast colour for the neckline, cuffs and waistband, making them one-offs.
“I do try and get exclusive fabrics from independent print designers,” says Miche. “So that means that you know that your child is wearing something unique. Very, very few people are going to have anything remotely similar – it's made just for you,” she says.
And, refreshingly, there’s ‘no blue for a boy’ and ‘pink for a girl’ stereotyping.
“I feel really strongly that kids can wear all colours - why can’t a boy wear pink if he wants to?” says Miche.
“I feel that colour is unisex. And it’s rather nice if kids can just enjoy themselves, run around and climb trees and be wearing clothes that are comfortable and will last a long time.”
Miche puts sustainability at the heart of what she does – right down to the fastenings on the romper suits.
“It’s really important to me,” she says. “All the fabric I use is either OEKO-TEX or GOTS organic cotton Lycra, so they’re made with far more minimal amounts of treatment and are less harmful to humans and to the earth,” she says.
“I try and use recycled thread where I can – it's still a bit tricky to get. And the poppers that I use are not plastic, they’re a painted metal. They’re starting to do plastic poppers made out of recycled bottles, but they only do them on a commercial scale, so I’m using metal ones at the moment and it means that they are really strong and hardwearing.
“And for the packaging I only use recycled cardboard.”
As Jack and Bear grows, Miche has got ambitions to take it further and achieve B Corp Certification which is given to businesses in recognition of their high standards of social and environmental performance.
“I really want to be able to put back,” she says with passion. "It’s not just about a business to me, it’s an extension of who I am. And if we all do our bit, it all makes a difference, doesn’t it?”
Miche sells through her website and has recently started doing markets in person. She is currently sewing in preparation for the Robin and Rose Events Christmas Market at High Lodge near Darsham on November 19.
“There will be some ready to wear bodysuits, rompers and harem pants,” says Miche, adding that a new “ridiculously cute” Christmassy fabric featuring a koala will be making its debut.
To find out more, visit Miche’s website, jackandbear.net and follow her on Instagram @jackandbearclothing. She will be at the Robin and Rose Events Christmas Market at High Lodge near Darsham on Saturday November 19 from 11am-4pm.
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