My Sugar Lamb: The Inside Scoop with Candace!

I love this little interview with Candace owner of My Sugar Lamb.  First off, I really appreciate the insight she gave on her experience with cloth diapers--I can see how her experience is so similiar to mine!  It is encouraging to know that others have had the same experience and hopefully this Verry Wooly Event will encourage those on the fence to give Wool Cloth Diapers a Shot.  

The Second thing I really enjoyed in learning about Candace was just the joy she gets in creating childrens' items.  She loves kids and that passion has spilled over into her craftsmanship.  One of the first things I noticed was the beautiful work inside the diaper.  Every small detail seemed to be incorporated into the diaper.  Though I received an upcycled diaper, from the inside it looked like it was not pieced together.  When she trimmed the extra edges and sewed the diaper together everything making it look like any other pants I would purchase at the store.  

Lastly, I really am encouraged that her shop started from little beginnings.  I have dreams of making things for little ones and big ones too!  I find it inspiring to know that she started from selling things on ebay and from then on grew into the business she is and has today.  

All in all I really enjoyed working with Candace and really appreciate her love for children and am excited for her little bundle of joy she carries within her!

• Can you tell me a little bit of how & why My Sugar Lamb started?  {With all the lions and airplanes and skull and cross bones I think you have been sewing for a long time!}  

Since I can remember I have loved babies (even when I was a baby myself!) so I am really happy to be able to make all these little things for little people! Even before I was pregnant with my daughter I really wanted to sew and create things. But, it was not until I became pregnant with her, in 2008, that I finally went out and purchased my very first sewing machine and taught myself how to sew. I was in between jobs as we had just moved across the country (from Prince Edward Island to Vancouver, BC, Canada) and the job outlook was not good. It seemed like everyone was out looking for a job and not many having luck. I had always wanted and thought about having my own little business so it just made sense that I put those thoughts into action. I originally was just going to make baby blankets, lovies and bibs.


My daughter, Casey, was born in August 2009. I still had not begun to sell my items under a business name. Just started out making a few sales here and there through eBay. The name My Sugar Lamb was inspired by my daughter. When she was really little I called her my little sugar lamb and then thought that would be the perfect name for my little business.


 We used cloth diapers (mostly pocket diapers) since Casey was born and I really wanted to try wool but most of the covers I saw online for sale were about $50 which, like many people,  I just could not afford. I began researching everything I could about wool covers etc. I stumbled across a tutorial online about how to make longies from a sweater and I was sold! I went out and picked out some sweaters right away and made my first pair. I loved the way they turned out! They were adorable, comfy and warm. They did not leak like the pocket diapers did and I knew that this was what I wanted to focus on making. From that point on is when My Sugar Lamb really started to make sense to me. I wanted to do whatever I could to stay home with my baby.


The best part is that I really do love making and creating things for babies. I love seeing how each and every project turns out. I am a bit of a perfectionist so I do spend a lot of time on each project. I take great pride in what I do. Most of the things I create are one of a kind so it never gets boring! And I especially love it when I get to see a photo of a little one wearing or using one of my products. It makes my day every time!

• Okay so now that you are expecting baby number 2 and have  had experience with cloth diapering your beautiful daughter-- what type of cloth diapers are you going to be using for Baby 2?  Any changes or preferences that will make you build up your stash a certain way?

With baby number one I had purchased quite a few pocket diapers before she was born and during the first few months. So, I have a huge stash of those. I find they work great most of the time. Once I started to use the wool covers with a fitted diaper underneath I realized that that was an even better option, especially for overnight. I found that our pocket diapers would leak most of the time at night. My daughter was an awesome sleeper from about 6 weeks on. She would sleep 12 hours straight. We began to use disposables at night to avoid leaks. Once I switched to wool with a fitted cloth diaper underneath she did not have ONE leak!  So from then on we ditched the disposables all together and stuck with what worked the best :)


For baby number two I am really going to have to try and stop myself from adding too much more to our current stash. Only because we just have way too cloth for one baby (probably 80 or so diapers). Once you start buying cloth diapers its really hard to stop! If I could do it over I would cut down on the amount of pocket diapers I have and buy some more really absorbent fitted diapers. I do have some flat diapers that I never really did try so I will definitely be trying those out under wool with baby number two as well! And, of course, I will be making some new tiny wool longies for my new baby!!

• Any recommendation or favorite as to type of wool for diapers?  {Lambswool, Cashmere, Merino, Alpaca, etc} And Why?

I really love the nice medium-thick lambswool. It is so soft and just seems like it would be so comfortable to wear. When I make a pair of longies from this type of wool I usually think to myself how awesome it would be to have my own pair!

• My favorites and go to diapers under wool are my Cow Patties Fitted diapers and Indian prefolds--what have you found to be your favorite to go underneath your wool diapers?

So far, my favourite diaper to go under wool would have to be Sugar Peas cloth diapers. They are made of organic hemp fleece are are super absorbent. I do not need to add any booster to these diapers at all. They are perfect as they are and fit my daughter very well when she wore them.