She needed clothes for her baby boy. She wound up with a booming business

When Mindy Russell went shopping for clothes for her newborn son, she was frustrated by the lack of fun, vibrant colours in the boys' section. 

There was plenty of choice across the aisle for girls, though, and that was the spark the Baie Verte, N.L., woman needed to live out a lifelong dream. 

"I've always been making clothes, ever since I was in high school. It's something that I wanted to do but I just never thought I could do it because I just never thought … you know, how do you get out there and how do you get started and all this stuff?"

She stitched together a business plan in 2014. 

Selling under the name Cheeky Monster Apparel, Russell put her items on Etsy, an online shopping site for homemade items. 

The first thing she made was a pair of "maxaloones" — stretchy pants that can adjust to different sizes. 

A much bigger market than expected

She knew there was a market for kids' clothes that lasted more than a few months. She just had no idea how much. 

"I added shirts because people wanted to have shirts to match, and dresses, and it kept adding and adding from there. Eventually ladies' clothes too."

As the orders kept coming, she changed the company name to the more grown-up Copper Mountain Apparel, after the copper mines nearby Baie Verte. 

Selling mainly through custom orders and online auction groups on social media, she's sold items all over the country. 

She hand-sews about a dozen items a week, mostly in the evenings when her two children are in bed. 

With fabrics sporting designs with sprinkles, tacos, and every rainbow pattern imaginable, Russell expresses her own style in her work, and it's not just style she shares with her clients but a belief in sustainability. 

"I try really hard to do a lot of environmentally friendly things with my business. The grow-with-me clothes last a long time. The training pants for the kids. I do have a lot of people asking (for environmentally friendly clothes) because a lot of people are looking for better alternatives than throwing things away all the time."

One of the newest items to her line is period underwear. 

Made from a cotton/Lycra exterior fabric and a washable bamboo/cotton absorbent pad inside, they work much like cloth diapers — but for women on their periods. 

"I've always had that idea to reuse things as much as we can, and to keep things out of landfill as much as we can. When a customer asked about period underwear, I was like 'Yeah, that's exactly what I need.' "

Care put in every stitch

Catherine Gagnon of Ottawa, who has two kids, has been buying from Copper Mountain Apparel for years, and says her family rarely buys new clothes.

Nobody's made of money on our world, so we always went reused or hand-me-downs.- Catherine Gagnon

"Nobody's made of money on our world, so we always went reused or hand-me-downs."

Gagnon owns many items, including seven pairs of the period undies.

"I find they last a lot longer than what you would find in stores. It just won't go into the wash and just fade or pill or rip apart."

Russell says she puts care into every stitch. 

"It's super-cheesy but everything is definitely made with love. Everything is my funny little quirks. I make sure that everything is exactly how I want it before it goes out the door so you can be guaranteed that you're not going to get something that you know is going to fall apart."

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