L.A. fashion designer and singer Kelly De Martino has cast a big net with the latest incarnation of her six-year-old apparel collection, Minnow. And we’ve fallen for it — hook, line, and sinker.

The collection started out as a hand-dyed-and-stitched line of tees De Martino sold at a wee stand in the Melrose Flea Market. Her D.I.Y. goodies were quickly snatched up and sold in style emporiums like Fred Segal and Kitson. But after a year of crouching over dye-bins in the bathtub, De Martino “hung-up her needle and thread” and high-tailed it to Paris, where the Renaissance woman focused her artistic inclinations on releasing her first album, also under the Minnow moniker.

But De Martino’s flair for design never lay fallow—she continued to make Minnow merch to sell while on tour and designed sweaters for the French knitwear label, raw 7.

But after five years of globetrotting, De Martino discovered she was pregnant. “I knew I would have to stay put for awhile,” mused De Martino. “The most natural thing for me to do was to turn on the sewing machine so I work from home while with my daughter.”

Now Minnow functions like a madcap “test-kitchen” where wares such as cozy knits, security blankets (what adult isn’t screaming for one of these) and chic schoolgirl sacs are created. De Martino handcrafts each piece, either from found or raw materials, infusing her left-coast-to-left-bank style. “Most of what I make comes from a place of necessity,” she said. “The reconstructed cashmere sweaters came from me needing something warm to wear to the air-conditioned hospital. The leather satchel came from needing a cool small bag to carry to the flea market or up the street for coffee.” Prices range from $12 for a onesie to $125 for a chic reconstructed sweater.

While she appreciates strong and bright colors, “the layers of ivory and cream that blanket Paris,” are most inspirational, said the petite beauty. And, of course, Minnow also features mini-Minnow wear for newborns. Apparently De Martino received so many white onesies after delivery, that she tossed the majority into a hand-blended dye batch for a baby Minnow collection.

A star is born.

Minnow is available at Tavin, 1543 Echo Park Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90026 and Flounce Vintage 1555 Echo Park Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90026.

Photos: Kelly De Martino, by Alexia Silvagni for French magazine; a hand-dyed Minnow onesie, courtesy of Tavin.