In July 2019, Emily Norling was sitting in her back yard in Waite Park looking at a mountain of dirty kids’ clothes and noticed that all her kids’ clothing was dirty in two spots – the knees and the bottom. She wondered if there were children’s clothes out there that you could easily clean in those two areas. When she found nothing on Amazon to fill that void, a new kid’s clothing company was born – RubyScootz.
Norling is creative by nature and a landscape designer by trade. She wanted to create children’s clothing that “allow for all-day wear, for babies to play outside in clothes that keeps them clean and comfortable and makes life easier for the parents.”
To put her new idea to work, she had to learn to sew. She learned the basics of sewing at Knit & Bolt, 2833 Johnson Street. From that knowledge, she deconstructed her children’s clothes and learned how to sew baby pants. She enlisted the folks at Needle and Black in the Thorp Building, 1618 Central Avenue, to make a prototype pattern for pants to be made in a production shop. A&A Sewing, also in the Thorp Building (located inside Craftmade, LLC) sews the garments.
Currently, two products are offered, a long and a shorty pant in black, red and gray in sizes 6 to 18 months. The pants are made of a stretchy cotton spandex with flexible and durable waterproof nylon panels that are sewn into the knee and bottom areas that easily wiped clean. The construction and material make for a lasting product that can be handed down.
The process of starting a new baby business is challenging, Norling said. She had to build her own website and did her own branding and advertising. There is also trademarking, getting a patent (it’s pending) and finding the financial resources within the family budget to start. She hopes to support her family one day with the clothing line, but more importantly, she hopes that the clothes encourage parents to “take their small children outside and play in the grass and dirt.”
It’s refreshing to think that dirty laundry could be inspiring. New spring colors will arrive soon. The price is $30 for pants and $20 for the shorty with free shipping. RubyScootz donates 6% of all net proceeds to a national nonprofit to end childhood hunger. To make a purchase go to the website www.rubyscootz.com.
Below: Emily Norling, daughter Lucca Gozel, as model, and clothing samples. (Photos by Patti Hoffmann)