The new pediatrician was telling Kelly Barth about the dangers of rigid footwear for babies’ developing feet. Then he spied her infant daughter’s booties.
“These are perfect!” he said. “Where did you find these?”
She didn’t have to look far. Kelly is creator and founder of Cabooties, the vegan-sourced, developmentally appropriate shoes for babies and toddlers. Babies can’t kick them off. They are washable and water-resistant, sourced and made in the USA, and they’re adorable.
In short, these are a dream come true for parents and for gift-givers ready to stand out from the crowd. Kelly’s son, Conley, inspired her creation when he was just 12 months old. Standard shoes were too stiff or flew off his feet. Kelly doesn't eat meat or use products made from animals, so she didn’t want the leather that predominated the baby-shoe market.
One day, she sat down at the sewing machine—a comfortable place for Kelly. She and her siblings learned to sew from their grandmother, each starting with a lesson in making a pillow.
“That’s the first thing I remember making that was actually functional,” she recalls. Even today, Kelly might sew a blouse for herself, tailored for her long arms, that is, when she has the time.
Those booties Kelly crafted in 2014 took on a life of their own. She was new to Pennsylvania, an Ohio native who had kicked around other states working as a music teacher and musician. When she was eight months pregnant, she and her husband moved to Palmyra for his job in sales for The Hershey Company.
She had no Pennsylvania teaching certificate, so to make up for the lost income, she started babysitting for neighborhood families. Parents picking up their babies would ask about Conley’s amazing shoes. Would she make some for their kids? And by the way, she should sell these.
She put them on Etsy and called them Cabooties, for Conley Alexander. Then a boutique in Australia asked to carry them.
“This is something I could run with,” she realized. Today, Cabooties are available through an online shop, in about 200 boutiques nationwide, and at local makers’ markets and craft fairs.
Kelly looked far and wide for materials that suit the needs of parents, babies, and herself. The soles are a protective rubber from a New York-based manufacturer of fabric for work gloves. Fabric for the uppers needed to be durable, not flammable, and lead-free. She found a North Carolina company that prints fabrics in artisan designs. With 45 percent recycled plastic content, they are also water-resistant.
The result? Breathable booties shaped for the feet of children from infant to 2T. Pediatricians and podiatrists have weighed in on the benefits, noting that hard-soled shoes prevent babies’ toes from flexing.
“Baby feet just aren’t shaped the same way adult feet are,” Kelly says. Those kids she babysat in the early days were her “little group of guinea pigs”.
Kelly and a small network of sewists work from home, making about 400 pairs a month. “One of my favorite things about running this business is that I get to work from home with my family, and it’s awesome that they get to do the same thing, too,” she says.
The constant support of Kelly’s husband, Craig, amazes her. Both are musicians, and the family enjoys making music together, especially for church.
Her enterprise has strengthened the family. Even Conley has become a little entrepreneur, a 6-year-old making and selling soaps with toy surprises inside. She found her own strengths, too, just from learning to file taxes or design market displays.
“I’m a lot more capable than I expected,” she says. “You do things one day at a time, and you learn.”
As for her customers, she hears from baby shower-goers who gift with confidence, knowing their booties are unique and practical. And parents find their lives become “a little bit simpler.”
“I hope they’ve reclaimed some moments in the day when normally they’d be digging around in the back seat looking for their baby’s shoes,” Kelly says. “I hope they’ve had a couple more moments of peace with their child. I hope I’ve simplified things for them a little bit.”
