PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNA PAZERECKAS

BAR HARBOR — Cute Knits children’s clothing designer Anna Pazereckas has expanded her Mommy and Me apparel with a stylish – and practical – sweatshirt designed for breastfeeding mothers.  

“One of the driving forces and inspiration for my whole business is my kids,” Pazereckas said.  

While visiting the United States from Germany in 2005, Pazereckas met her husband in New York and the couple settled in Ellsworth. Pazereckas started knitting baby booties and hats as a way to make money. Her knitted accessories were sold at local craft fairs and art shows.  

When she became pregnant with her first child, who arrived in 2013, Pazereckas realized that she didn’t have much time for knitting and was inspired to try something faster and more efficient. Rather than knitting booties, Pazereckas taught herself how to sew them. Pazereckas became a member of the SevenArts cooperative in Ellsworth, a member-owned gallery space for local artisans to sell their work, where she showcased her creations.   

Anna Pazereckas was inspired by her two kids to create outfits with matching fabric for mothers and children. PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNA PAZERECKAS

“I was finally able to start selling my clothing because it would be more profitable for me and not as much of a high risk. I could see what people buy and get my footing that way,” she said.   

Her children’s clothes, which were inspired by her young children, made with mostly organic knit fabrics, turned out to be a hit. She decided to name her clothing line Cute Knits.   

Since 2015, the seamstress has gone on to make several different articles of children’s clothing, sourcing her fabric from her native Germany via a buyer in Seattle.   

“The materials I use are higher quality because it’s really important to me that they are long lasting,” she said, adding that the dresses will fit for a good three years. Along with her 2020 share purchase of Island Artisans – a Bar Harbor arts and crafts shop – Pazereckas has continued to cultivate her line. A recent grant from the Heart of Ellsworth has allowed her to buy a second sewing machine, which makes production easier.  

The file designs she buys to arrange on her fabric are often created by German artists. Within the last year, Pazereckas started compiling and arranging different designs to be printed on her fabric. Now that she creates her own fabric concepts, Pazereckas doesn’t just have more influence on her clothing line but can also buy bigger bolts of material.  

Mommy and Me nursing hoodie. PHOTO COURTESY OF ANNA PAZERECKAS

An influx of fabric has recently allowed Pazereckas to create children’s dresses with pockets, pocket skirts and pixie hats and hoodies lined with sherpa fabric.   

The fabric has also inspired the fashion designer to expand her line of matching children and adult hoodies, and some for nursing mothers that she designed after being inspired by a pregnant friend.   

“I finally designed a nursing hoodie that worked,” said the artist, who wishes she had one when her children were younger. The breastfeeding hoodie added to her Mommy and Me selection includes a stylish, yet accessible, slit for babies to nurse.  

“My purchase of Island Artisans has catapulted me leaps ahead [from] where I was before,” said the seamstress, who sells her clothes at a shop that features arts and crafts made by local artisans.  

Shoppers can find photos of Pazereckas’ children modeling Cute Knits clothes on her website www.getcuteknits.com .  

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