The Unique Bird

Hi there! My name is Sarah Canitano and I am the owner/ designer at The Unique Bird.

I was a Garage Sale Girly from the start and spent many a happy summer day cruising Kettering, Ohio with my Grandma looking for treasures at garage sales. Always on the hunt for all things Barbie, I loved finding original 1960’s Barbie clothes, not owned by the other girls on the block. My love for Barbie clothes grew into a passion for fashion. As a graduate from Kent State with a degree in Fashion Design, I worked as a designer for Abercrombie & Fitch. It was exciting to infuse vintage detail, fabric patterns and graphic techniques into the designs that I was creating. After seven years in this industry, I soon discovered that I could combine my design skills with my love for collecting vintage home décor. When I started my online business, The Unique Bird, about four years ago, I was trying to figure out a way to enhance my selection of vintage home décor pieces with different prints, patterns and textures. My collection of vintage fabrics and clothing were not doing anyone any good just sitting in a pile on the shelf. I started pulling from my collection and repurposing the vintage into a few pillows at first. I really loved how the pillows turned out, but wanted to find another way to make use of so many great vintage fabrics! I was trying to come up with a smaller giftable item though, that could be used again and again, and eventually my reusable vintage fabric wine bottle wraps, reclaimed vintage sweater wine bottle cozies and reusacle vintage fabric coffee cup cozies were born!

All of my handmade items are designed and sewn by me, using vintage and reclaimed fabrics that I find garage sailing, thrifting and at flea markets all over the great state of Ohio and beyond! Since I use vintage fabrics in my designs, quantities are limited. I can’t exactly hop in the old silver flea (a.k.a. my car) and head to the fabric store for more. I think that using vintage and reclaimed fabrics really does make my handmade pieces unique and often one of a kind!

Sew I hope that you will come and check out my unique handmade designs at Not Your Mama’s Craft Market on November 30th!