Shoppers bustle about Columbia’s clothing stores marking the start of this year’s Holiday shopping spree.  Most people think of clothes they purchase as far-removed from this community; national brands manufacturing pieces in far away places.  However, there is a community of clothing designers right here in Columbia.

By Emily Allen (Columbia, Mo.)

Leroy Fishstix prints Midwestern designs on repurposed clothing. (Emily Allen/KBIA)

Sift through the racks at Columbia’s Maude Vintage and you can find more than 40 local artists.  It’s home to Leroy Fishstix, a clothing line with tags that say it’s “Printin’ and grinnin’” on second-generation clothing.  Its creators Felicia Leach and Tom Sasseen screen-print designs onto cardigans, flannel shirts and anything in between.

“It’s got a very Midwestern feel with things like animals and cowboys and stuff with horns.”

The couple started the line three years ago.  Leach says she’s been screen-printing for a long time and she taught the art to Sasseen.  She has a degree in printmaking.  Leach says they create their designs in their home studio and each piece is unique.

Tom Sassen (left) and Felicia Leach (right) screen print these designs onto their line Leroy Fishstix in their home studio. (Emily Allen/KBIA)

Every single shirt that we make basically that’s the only shirt of that in existence.  Yeah, it might be printed on something that you could have bought at some other department store but we take that sort of thing and we put different prints and colors and etcetera.”

Sasseen says a friend who deals in vintage and reclaimed clothes gave them recycled clothes to print on.  He says their clothing matches the current fad of people seeking out vintage pieces.

“They appreciate the fact that they can get original you know interesting prints on something other than a t-shirt.”

Local shoppers have taken interest in Leroy Fishstix.  The couple says they’ve sold a lot of shirts over the past couple years.

“It’s nice to see this stuff out there.  To see that it’s gone beyond just the scope of our friends or our house.”

While Leroy Fishstix reinvents recycled garments, another Columbia designer sews garments.

Leanna Grove, the woman behind Prayer Grove, hopes to bring stable economy to women in developing countries through her clothing line. (Emily Allen/KBIA)

Leanna Grove is the woman behind Prayer Grove, a clothing line with proceeds that extend beyond Columbia’s community.  Grove says she wants to bring attention to women in developing countries who use their skills and talents to support themselves and their families.

“I want people to kind have an outward look on life that’s not just consumerism but it’s like using other women’s gifts to like give sustainable economy to themselves is really important.  There are people all over the world that don’t have that.”

Grove says she uses the craft of sewing that she learned when she was young to bring her cause to life.  She sews dresses, shirts, scarves and skirts that channel patterns and colors from the past.

“I started just sewing like mini dresses from the seventies and so I mean literally it’s vintage.  The cloth is not unless it’s repurposed but it’s vintage.”

Grove says she began Prayer Grove this past summer.  She dedicates her Fridays, which is her day off from work, to sewing.  Grove says that being a clothing designer in Columbia is more than just creating garments to sell.

“I feel like it’s more of an art here.  It’s more of an expression for people.”

Grove says she feels more linked to the community through her work with Prayer Grove.

“It’s an expression of myself and it is expression of my passions and I love to share that with people.  I feel like I have a connection greater to Columbia because of that.”

Grove sells her garments at Maude Vintage as well as on her Web site.  Thirty percent of the profits from each piece she sells online and 10 percent in store goes to a Central Asian Non-Governmental Organization that works with women in developing countries.

Back at Maude Vintage, owner Sabrina Braden sorts through a pile of repurposed clothing as an employee rings up customers.  She says customers purchase these local pieces and have made these artists’ sales successful.

“I think people see the value in making things for themselves or buying things that are unique or were hand-made by someone else that are from their community.”

Maude Vintage sells more than 40 local artists but Braden says she hopes that number continues to increase into the future.

“We have room for more, I welcome more all the time.  I think it will keep on a growing pattern with what with see with what people can make and do.”

(This story originally aired on Off the Clock: December 3, 2010)