Our Story
It Began with a Wedding Dress
Where do you find the perfect flower girl dress for your toddler?
For Dottie & Mae founder Kalissa Crawford, the answer turned into the inspiration for her business: create one yourself from repurposed fabrics.
For this flower girl dress, Kalissa chose a very sentimental fabric to repurpose: her mother’s wedding dress. The result was a beautiful, one-of-a-kind dress that not only impressed everyone at the wedding, but inspired Kalissa to discover what else she could create from upcycling fabrics.
The joy of this initial project led Kalissa to study the art of repurposing clothes from all kinds of secondhand materials like tablecloths, bedsheets, and fabric remnants. With her daughter as her muse, Kalissa continued teaching herself to sew, eventually venturing into the world of pattern-making and creating her own dress designs.
When her second daughter was on the way, Kalissa decided it was time to share her creations with others. Thus, Dottie & Mae was born as an online toddler boutique. Named for Kalissa’s great grandmothers who lived through the Great Depression and lived the message of sustainability before it was cool, Dottie & Mae features only handmade pieces sewn from 100% up-cycled fabrics.
Our debut collection, “Home is Where You Are” was created as a love letter to Kalissa’s dress-obsessed eldest, the initial model and muse who started it all.
Help us be part of the solution
Dottie & Mae is determined to fight back against the fast fashion industry and its negative impact on the environment. Our handmade toddler clothing and accessories are created from reclaimed, sustainable, and/or recycled fabrics. Because our pieces are made from repurposed textiles, the quantity of each design is extremely limited. This limited, often one-of-a-kind, nature of our clothing means you will always find something as unique as your child!
As a mom, Kalissa, understands the concerns that our customers have when it comes to their children’s clothing. She takes these concerns into consideration when sourcing fabrics that both fulfill Dottie & Mae’s commitment to sustainability while ensuring they are comfortable, durable, and of course look fabulous! Kalissa wants to leave a legacy for her daughters that helps protect the Earth they are inheriting.