My name is Emily Billington. I'm a designer and a mother of two with one more on the way. A studied painter and photographer, it was surprising to learn that the role of mom would be my most creative to date: both in giving life to my children as well as finding new outlets for handmade artistic expression.
I had lost touch with my creative side after work as a photo editor in the publishing world had become a better way to pay the bills. But when given the challenge of staying home to raise my children I started to reconnect and discovered that I had a knack for hand-making things, stencils, sewn goods and crafts.
The idea for the Handmitten came one very cold New York winter's day as I was pushing my son around in a stroller through Brooklyn. My hands were exposed to the elements and totally numb. I'd lost so many gloves taking them off to reach into my wallet, into my diaper bag or to use my phone, that I had given up on trying to replace them. A clever friend suggested I attach something warm to the stroller that I could slip my hands into. EUREKA! Necessity is the motherhood of invention. Haypenny was born. I set to work with my sewing machine and an old wool sweater and crafted a fleece-lined, knit hand muff that attaches to the handlebar of a baby stroller, the very first Haypenny Handmitten. My products are now made from a luxurious baby alpaca blend by a fair trade cooperative of female artisans in Peru.
3 years later, I've solidified Haypenny Design's simple goals: to push the fair trade apparel movement forward in the U.S. and to keep your hands warm!
