Haberdash Couture Kids was started by mother of three & knitter, Aruna Neela.
Aruna was born on a beautiful, tiny Caribbean island, called Trinidad and has been living in breathtaking Vancouver, Canada since she was 8.
Aruna has always had a love for the arts and for textiles. As far back as she can remember, she permanently had a pair of scissors, a paintbrush, glue, glitter, yarn, coloured pencils or fun bits of paper in her hands!
It was destined... her paternal grandfather was a textile expert before becoming a land developer; her paternal grandmother amazed the family when she decided to pick up painting in her 60's!; her maternal grandmother owned a fabric and haberdashery store in Trinidad and could sew, tat, embroider and crochet like no body's business! If you can imagine it, she can make it! Her maternal aunt studied Fashion Design in England in the 1950's. Aruna has fond memories as a little child in the 1970's, of just watching in awe, as her aunt cut fabric freehand and sew inventive garments. Her father is an artist and has painted countless works of art...one of which was a reproduction of the Mona Lisa, bringing newspapers in the 1960's in Canada to come take a closer look! He was only 18 years old! He also is an architect and has designed hundreds of homes, malls, churches and more. As for Aruna's mother... well she can do anything... interior decorate every house the family business built, create floral arrangements both fresh and dried, macrame, embroidery, cross-stitch... She also has this uncanny ability to combine taste and smell to create the most scrumptious works of international food that no one has ever tasted before! (The cooking skill is the one thing Aruna did not inherit!)
But through it all, her family has always reached out to those in need. And this was passed onto Aruna.
Her passion and mission in life is to inspire as many people as possible to create a better world through art.
"I believe art can bring people together.
I believe that art can help make positive change in this world.
I believe that ancient handicrafts are an integral part of our history and it is imperative that these crafts are passed onto new generations. It is the very fabric of our survival and existence.
What better way than to combine all three....for people to come together and use their cooperative creativity to preserve the past, make real change in the present ... and sow a brighter future."
As a mixed media artist, Aruna has brought this dynamic multi-layered approach into her knitting. She believes this carefree approach is more fun, visually and texturally more interesting and more expressive. She mixes knitting with ... origami, surface embellishments (paint, trims, pompoms, braid, buttons etc), scrapbooking and more!
In fact, this is how her company name came about...Haberdash..short for haberdashery, meaning small sewing notions such as ribbon, buttons and trims and Couture, meaning one-of-a-kind. This is what she shows people how to make. One-of-a-kind works of carefree art infused knitting!
Aruna has taught countless art and knitting workshops in Canada and in Trinidad. She has been on television, had her own weekly newspaper column, written for magazines and has volunteered her time at various venues. Recently, she was the first place winner in International Knitwear Designer--Debbie Bliss'-- knitwear competition. Aruna's Russian Doll baby blanket was featured in Debbie Bliss' magazine and was donated to a charity in England.
"The seed was planted a long time ago when I worked with children with learning disabilities (at The Third Academy School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) in my 20's. It was a life changing event and I loved every minute of it. Fast forward to the present....with three children of my own... well these cumulative life events have made my heart and soul deeply passionate & deeply entrenched in reaching out to our amazing children & youth. To have a child realize their potential and what they are capable of--not only personally but how s/he can instigate positive change in this world--is a lifelong gift of confidence, leadership and love. "
Haberdash Couture Kids was created to do just that....
Studies have shown that knitting helps to develop habits that lead to success. Here are Aruna's top 10 favourite qualities that 'bloom' in little knitters:
1. school test scores increase because the ability to concentrate and think outside the box increases
2. friendships form that would have otherwise never have been pursued (children from various social circles are meeting in the middle and knitting has become the 'bridge'!)
3. confidence is boosted because pride and a sense of accomplishment and completion is one of the goals of all HC's very tangible knitting projects
4. persistence
5. having the opportunity to work both individually and collaboratively in a group
6. knitting in itself is very relaxing and meditative
7. knitting in the millennium has proven to be interesting and fun to both genders
8. children get a real thrill from being able to imagine, invent, create, adorn, and express
9. "Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence": two hands, both sides of brain used --development of fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, math skills, reading skills, language skills.
10. "Interpersonal Intelligence": mentoring, conversing, sharing, exchanging ideas
As you can see the benefits of children doing something as 'simple' as knitting is astounding! Aruna loves that this can all be accomplished with just a bunch of yarn and a pair of needles!
As HC KIDS grows, children and youth will have a voice as to where it should go, what projects HC Kids will do and how they can impact communities. They can take pride in something that can mean something, not only to themselves, but to others. Aruna's hope is that Haberdash Couture Kids will not just be a 'learn-to-knit' group; but a stewardship program of sorts.
Come and join me, won't you?...
***Everything in this website was created by Aruna...all the graphics (excluding clip art), paintings, drawings, patterns, videos and text and is therefore copyrighted.
Copyright Haberdash Couture Co 2015
Aruna was born on a beautiful, tiny Caribbean island, called Trinidad and has been living in breathtaking Vancouver, Canada since she was 8.
Aruna has always had a love for the arts and for textiles. As far back as she can remember, she permanently had a pair of scissors, a paintbrush, glue, glitter, yarn, coloured pencils or fun bits of paper in her hands!
It was destined... her paternal grandfather was a textile expert before becoming a land developer; her paternal grandmother amazed the family when she decided to pick up painting in her 60's!; her maternal grandmother owned a fabric and haberdashery store in Trinidad and could sew, tat, embroider and crochet like no body's business! If you can imagine it, she can make it! Her maternal aunt studied Fashion Design in England in the 1950's. Aruna has fond memories as a little child in the 1970's, of just watching in awe, as her aunt cut fabric freehand and sew inventive garments. Her father is an artist and has painted countless works of art...one of which was a reproduction of the Mona Lisa, bringing newspapers in the 1960's in Canada to come take a closer look! He was only 18 years old! He also is an architect and has designed hundreds of homes, malls, churches and more. As for Aruna's mother... well she can do anything... interior decorate every house the family business built, create floral arrangements both fresh and dried, macrame, embroidery, cross-stitch... She also has this uncanny ability to combine taste and smell to create the most scrumptious works of international food that no one has ever tasted before! (The cooking skill is the one thing Aruna did not inherit!)
But through it all, her family has always reached out to those in need. And this was passed onto Aruna.
Her passion and mission in life is to inspire as many people as possible to create a better world through art.
"I believe art can bring people together.
I believe that art can help make positive change in this world.
I believe that ancient handicrafts are an integral part of our history and it is imperative that these crafts are passed onto new generations. It is the very fabric of our survival and existence.
What better way than to combine all three....for people to come together and use their cooperative creativity to preserve the past, make real change in the present ... and sow a brighter future."
As a mixed media artist, Aruna has brought this dynamic multi-layered approach into her knitting. She believes this carefree approach is more fun, visually and texturally more interesting and more expressive. She mixes knitting with ... origami, surface embellishments (paint, trims, pompoms, braid, buttons etc), scrapbooking and more!
In fact, this is how her company name came about...Haberdash..short for haberdashery, meaning small sewing notions such as ribbon, buttons and trims and Couture, meaning one-of-a-kind. This is what she shows people how to make. One-of-a-kind works of carefree art infused knitting!
Aruna has taught countless art and knitting workshops in Canada and in Trinidad. She has been on television, had her own weekly newspaper column, written for magazines and has volunteered her time at various venues. Recently, she was the first place winner in International Knitwear Designer--Debbie Bliss'-- knitwear competition. Aruna's Russian Doll baby blanket was featured in Debbie Bliss' magazine and was donated to a charity in England.
"The seed was planted a long time ago when I worked with children with learning disabilities (at The Third Academy School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) in my 20's. It was a life changing event and I loved every minute of it. Fast forward to the present....with three children of my own... well these cumulative life events have made my heart and soul deeply passionate & deeply entrenched in reaching out to our amazing children & youth. To have a child realize their potential and what they are capable of--not only personally but how s/he can instigate positive change in this world--is a lifelong gift of confidence, leadership and love. "
Haberdash Couture Kids was created to do just that....
Studies have shown that knitting helps to develop habits that lead to success. Here are Aruna's top 10 favourite qualities that 'bloom' in little knitters:
1. school test scores increase because the ability to concentrate and think outside the box increases
2. friendships form that would have otherwise never have been pursued (children from various social circles are meeting in the middle and knitting has become the 'bridge'!)
3. confidence is boosted because pride and a sense of accomplishment and completion is one of the goals of all HC's very tangible knitting projects
4. persistence
5. having the opportunity to work both individually and collaboratively in a group
6. knitting in itself is very relaxing and meditative
7. knitting in the millennium has proven to be interesting and fun to both genders
8. children get a real thrill from being able to imagine, invent, create, adorn, and express
9. "Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence": two hands, both sides of brain used --development of fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, math skills, reading skills, language skills.
10. "Interpersonal Intelligence": mentoring, conversing, sharing, exchanging ideas
As you can see the benefits of children doing something as 'simple' as knitting is astounding! Aruna loves that this can all be accomplished with just a bunch of yarn and a pair of needles!
As HC KIDS grows, children and youth will have a voice as to where it should go, what projects HC Kids will do and how they can impact communities. They can take pride in something that can mean something, not only to themselves, but to others. Aruna's hope is that Haberdash Couture Kids will not just be a 'learn-to-knit' group; but a stewardship program of sorts.
Come and join me, won't you?...
***Everything in this website was created by Aruna...all the graphics (excluding clip art), paintings, drawings, patterns, videos and text and is therefore copyrighted.
Copyright Haberdash Couture Co 2015