When Carli Grant is pregnant with her second child, the eager mother can’t help but hoard baby clothes. But when she found out that she had spent too much money, she decided to start making clothes herself.
The 25-year-old Grant has a new sewing machine and a bunch of old clothes nearby, and began making clothes for the newborn Elliot (now 4 months) and her 2-year-old daughter Amelia. One day, she found her husband Josh Grant’s old black and red flannel shirt – the one he wore on the day of Amelia’s birth – and decided to turn the top into a dress.
“I made that dress, she was fascinated. She always chose to wear it,” Grant said of the “memory costume” she created. “When [Josh] came home, I said, ‘Do you recognize this?’ When he realized that his eyes were getting bigger. He was like, ‘That’s so cute!’ He held her Get up, hold her and tell her how beautiful she looks.”
Impressed with his wife’s skills, Josh suggested turning a elegant gesture into a career – “He just wants everyone to succeed,” she said. Josh filmed Amelia’s photo in a memory suit and posted it online. The photos quickly traversed the Internet, and before the couple knew it, people began to contact Grant to make memory for them.
“People like it – people like this idea!” she told PEOPLE. “When I made it, I was very happy. When I finally finished, I saw it in her, my eyes were filled with tears. I can’t stop smiling. In order to see her, I want to take the whole clothes out of the clothes. Cabinet. It’s so cute!”
The couple created a website and launched Reflected Memories. Now, Grant says she gets at least three custom orders for memory clothes every day.
“This is a back-to-back email, ‘I like this idea! Can you do this for me?’ The number of custom orders is crazy,” she said, noting that she never thought about this simple outfit. Bring this business. “I just like to let my children put on clothes. Before he was born, I was sewing for Eliot.”
Grant told people that she made dresses, blankets, pillows and more. She even started offering baby rompers.
The mother of the two children said that she liked the story of the family who asked her to serve. Some people have lost their loved ones’ clothing, relatives in the army, and old items they wish to keep.
Grant said that although Amelia did not quite understand the story behind her new duo, she absolutely loved the dress.
“She always said that she was very cute. I have a part of the wardrobe she prepared for her. She runs for it. She likes to wear the clothes I made for her, which makes me feel good. When she picks a dress for herself. When she called herself a princess, she now likes to wear a skirt.”