“Litsie's” Susan Billinghurst sews her way home

Apr 08, 2015

Susan Billinghurst, owner of Litsie, a home-based eco-bag business, is a self-confessed “fabric junky” who has been sewing since she was a youngster.

“I remember making clothes for my Barbie dolls when I was a kid and later making a lot of my own clothes as a teenager” she said when I interviewed her at her home in Perth Road last week.

Serious sewing stopped for her decades ago as she raised her three sons and worked as a consumer and family studies teacher. Later she worked as the cooking school coordinator at the Midland Avenue Loblaws in Kingston.

Billinghurst returned to sewing full time two years ago after leaving her Loblaws job due to health reasons. She started up her business designing and creating a line of eco-friendly safe, re-useable snack, lunch and wet bags. Since that time her business has taken off.

The idea for the business came about after she visited her daughter-in-law, a new mom who was using cloth diapers at the time and who longed for a re-useable bag for the diapers. “I made my first 'Litsie' bag then and was encouraged by my family to keep pursuing the business idea," she said.

The name of the business came from her granddaughter Sophia, a toddler who was unable at that age to pronounce her name and called herself Litsie. Susan decided on that as the name for her business. “It could have been Sue Sews or Sue's Sacks but Litsie seemed unique; I liked it and it seemed the perfect fit”.

Her daughter-in-law also designed the Litsie logo, which includes a humming bird and Susan said is also the perfect fit.

Sue's bags come in various sizes. She uses designer fabrics in 100% cotton or organic cotton, which come in a wide range of colorful prints that are perfectly matched to a youngster's aesthetic. Her snack bags are food safe, and their interior linings are made from Procare, which is lead, BPA and phthalate-free and meet the current FDA and CPSIA requirements. Her wet bags are waterproof and lined with PUL, a polyurethane laminate perfect for storing wet swimsuits, gym clothes and cloth diapers. Their large tab zippers allow for easy opening and closing. All Litsie bags are hand sewn by Susan herself. They boast what seems to be an endless number of colourful, elegant and playful patterns that include lady bugs, elephants, birds, helicopters, alligators and more. They are sold separately as well as in sets.

Susan is a big fan of the designers Charlie Harper and Amy Butler, as well as Parson Gray and Michael Miller, the latter of whom design with older buyers in mind. A grant that Susan recently acquired through the Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation in Harrowsmith allowed her to purchase a brand new Bernina Quilting Edition sewing machine, which has enabled her to add baby quilts and quilted Christmas stockings to her inventory.

A year ago and with the help of her son, Susan opened up Litsie's online Etsy store and also launched her own website where she sells her bags and other products. She also sells at a number of local craft shows and her creations are also available locally at Nicole's Gifts in Verona and Go Green Baby in Kingston.

Like most artisans, one of the challenges of running a successful business for Susan is finding enough time to actually sit down and sew. Working from home does make things easier but still she said, “Finding the time to sew is a constant challenge. At one show I sold out on the Saturday and had to rush home and sew pretty much all night long to have enough inventory for the next day.”

Some of the things she enjoys most about owning and operating her own business are shopping for fabrics and meeting her customers and other artisans both on line and in person. Her products range in price from $8 to $150. To see more of Susan's Litsie creations visit her on Etsy or at www.litsie.ca