Craft designer creates new line
By Hannah Hager
Stay-at-home mom Mary Ayres is a reserved artist.“She can just sit in her craft room and be as happy as can be,” said her daughter and business partner, Sara Ayres.
Soft-spoken -- but eager to talk – Mary and her daughter recently launched a new line of handmade baby gifts on their Web site, www.lilcubby.com
It's not hard to imagine Mary sitting in her screened-in back porch in Boyce, constructing crafts by knitting, sewing, gluing or fastening just about anything.
She's not just an artist -- her pragmatism is what makes her designs so appealing.
Mary is modest and simple, and her designs follow suit. She orders white, 100 percent cotton onesies and sews her designs on the chest.
The appliqués range from what she calls “retro” to “seasonal” -- from peace signs to American flags.
“I'm just doing things I thought people might like,” she said with a smile.
Enter her name into a search engine and you'll find her items, ranging from a pink cat goodie bag to a quilt garnished with doilies.
Eventually, Sara, a resident of Tampa, suggested to her mother the idea of starting a business selling her goods.
Sara quickly took over the left-brain duties of the operation. She handles the Web site and publicity, and Mary, the more creative one, designs the products.
The business was officially launched with the Web site on April 1.
Despite encountering some complications during the Web design process, the two women have experienced few problems.
“We want to do everything ourselves, start to finish,” said Mary.
Sara spends her time marketing – everything from craft shows to mailings – and her mother passes the day in her craft room.
The two defined the business venture as a great bonding experience, adding that they work well together. Their successful business relationship, they admitted, is something they couldn't have done when Sara was younger.
Although her handmade crafts have been featured in several magazines, Mary hasn't received much local attention for one reason: She doesn't seem to want it.
She's sent out interest queries to publications for her business but almost refuses to take praise in the form of recognition. She'd rather pass the time in her craft room, said Sara.
Their mother-daughter baby-clothing line has taken off since the launch.
As for the baby business, both women had simple answers.
Mary describes her designs as personal gifts that are “important for a new life.”
“Everyone my age is having babies,” said Sara, adding that people will always be having babies, so demand won't go down.
Mary started sewing when she was 12; one of her first crafting memories is of raiding her mother's clothes closet, cutting the cloth and making new ones. She even remembers transforming a pillowcase into a shirt for herself. But scavenging through antiques shops for lace and doilies became too expensive, so she now buys supplies wholesale.
Mary and Sara hope their business will continue to grow. They plan to eventually expand it in order to sell her patterns and to offer personalized embroideries.
Mary said it took her awhile, but she realizes now that two minds work better than one – although there are no plans yet for her to move outside of the craft room into the business arena.
One day, however, Mary hopes to relocate closer to her daughter and “have a nicely decorated studio with a table and chairs in the corner for her grandchildren” – who will perhaps be sporting her designs.