Sustainable Swaddle: Cherub's Blanket makes organic baby products with a tiny footprint

Mary Farrell's Es Fueris line of organic women's clothing lasted just three seasons before the Cleveland native ran out of money and time.

But the leftover bolts of thermal, naturally colored cotton reminded Farrell of a baby blanket, and in 1996 she launched a new, more successful line: Cherub's Blanket.

"It clicked," she says. "There are no patterns to make a blanket. I could sew them myself, and so Cherub's Blanket was born."

Working from home, Farrell spearheaded the company's production for nearly 15 years until orders for the cozy covers overwhelmed her, and she left her job as a financial planner.

"I really couldn't keep up the volume by sewing only on nights and weekends," Farrell says. She applied for and won Cleveland's 5th Street Arcades Retail Development Grant Competition in May, using the money to open Bright Green Gift Store, a space where she could sell her blankets and other vendors' sustainable goods.

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