Our story

How Did All This Nappy Making Begin?

I`m Kerryn. Every Pokkelokkie nappy is designed because I wanted parents to love using cloth—not struggle through it.

I am a proud mother of two boys, wife to my best friend and the owner of a growing business that is helping the planet.

I started making cloth nappies for my first baby when I fell pregnant in 2014, as the thought of throwing bags of single use plastics into the Earth did not sit well with me, at all. My mum taught me how to sew when I was just six years old. I would never have dreamed such a small skill would be such a big influence in my life today. I was lucky enough to inherit her old Bernina sewing machines. And so it began.

Sitting in front of that machine, seven months pregnant, I was weighing up the idea of pursuing making nappies as a business idea. And something remarkable happened. A very beautiful and unusual looking feather floated in through the tiniest gap in my window. To this day I do not know how it got through nor what type of feather it is. It landed on the very nappy I was sewing. This was the sign. Could it have been my mum?

The Move

We started the business on our small dining room table in Fish Hoek, cutting one nappy at a time with a pair of handheld scissors. I think we had about five sales a week back then. As time passed the orders grew. I decided to leave what I thought would be my lifelong teaching career, to pursue my own business. My husband, six-month-old little boy and I relocated to the Garden Route in 2016 where we set up the business in the double garage attached to our rented home at the time. We employed one lady who helped cut. I did all the sewing myself, day in and day out. We finally bought our current home where we turned the bottom floor of the house into the Pokkelokkie workshop. Over the next three and a half years, our team grew to five staff members and myself. Fabric started to crowd every nook and cranny it could find. We needed more space.

We moved the business to a factory premises in the industrial area in Knysna in 2022. Our home just became too small.

Why We Do What We Do

At Pokkelokkie, we aim to create quality products, that work. The cloth nappy market in South Africa has been infiltrated by compromised products - this only brings disappointment to hopeful families wanting to save money and prevent waste.

Our fabric is milled in Gauteng and has been carefully selected for its intended purpose. Every one of our products is made from scratch and thoroughly tested to outperform anything else you'll find on the local market.

We are aware that what we create will end up somewhere. Our goal is to create products that are as gentle on the planet as possible and durable enough to last through many children.We trust people understand the value of a quality, handmade item. Because nothing can really compare to it. Each piece is constructed with our hands and we believe that time, care and craftsmanship are worth valuing.