Dara has a lifelong experience of sewing and working with fabrics. She learned how to sew while involved with 4-H in her hometown of 1200 people. Despite having received her PhD in Educational Administration and with the support of her husband, she made the decision to become a stay-at-home Mom. She initially made clothing for her two children while sitting at the dining room table. She then started sewing baby blankets, burp cloths and children's coats for friends as gifts. The response was extremely positive.

Several events expanded Dara's efforts and aspirations. A friend underwent a bone marrow transplant for his cancer. Dara made him an adult sized blanket made of the same material she used for her baby blankets. He and his family truly enjoyed it and remain fortunate to receive comfort from their blanket year round. When they went to purchase a new couch, they even took their blanket to the store to make sure the couch's fabric matched the colors of their Dara (blanket). Dara's elderly mother-in-law loved her lap sized (36 x 58 inches) blanket as did the five girls of a dear true friend. Old security blankets were abandoned and the girls went to bed and came to the breakfast table in their blankets. Keeping her family's Jack Russell Terrier off of the blankets proved nearly impossible.

As a result of these experiences, the young child, adolescent, adult and pampered pet blanket markets were entered utilizing the same fabrics Dara used with her baby blankets. Referrals and interest increased significantly which lead to the formation of Dara & Co. LLC.
 
With that success, a market search was performed. It was determined that there were not any unique high quality blankets of comparable fabric combinations in the general retail market. Similar blankets available in boutiques and on-line stores were often not made of comparable quality fabrics or were paired with less expensive cottons or fleece. These blankets were also often offered at prices that would be considered untenable for most.

Dara's goal was to produce a blanket of extremely high quality fabrics while maintaining a cost structure that allowed the blankets to be offered at an attractive price.
 
However, the quality specifications of the fabrics and the colors offered by Dara and Co.'s U.S. suppliers were limited and unfortunately special requests could not be accommodated. In order to influence the quality and expand the array of colors of the fabrics she offered while maintaining a competitive price structure, the direct importation of fabric from overseas manufacturers became the obvious solution to explore.

Therefore, with an emphasis on quality and detailed specifications, fabric research was undertaken as well as the pursuit of the right business partner. Over 100 companies were contacted.

Dara's fabric specifications were of a special yarn, pile (length of the yarn) and weight that even the overseas suppliers did not routinely manufacture such fabric. Similarly, Dara had certain colors that she wanted developed based upon specific Pantone numbers. Many companies told us that none of their customers required such quality, that it was simply too expensive and that they either wouldn't or couldn't produce fabrics of the quality and colors Dara & Co. deemed was necessary.
 
With the assistance of a friend's daughter (KD) who is a graphic designer, Dara had also facilitated the design of her own signature fabric that at first glance nearly imperceptibly contains her name within the pattern. Dara familiarized herself with the design program and is preparing other adventures. Production of this signature pattern fabric was paramount to the business plan as it would be an exclusive offering only by Dara & Co. and participating retailers. The ability to produce this fabric was another very important requirement of Dara & Co.'s prospective business partner.

A seemingly daunting task was undertaken involving several trips overseas to visit various manufacturing and dying companies. It is important to note that in addition to meeting Dara & Co.'s high quality standards for the fabric, no child labor could be used. A business partnership was formed with a family owned business that held philosophic beliefs comparable to Dara & Co.'s. After being welcomed into their home and traveling leisurely with them, a friendship ensued. Dara's two young children and the owner's young daughter, who are close in age, have shared letters, gifts and have talked on the telephone. They have become friends and carry pictures of each other in their backpacks. 
 
A friend (JB) had innocently suggested one day that Dara should outsource the sewing aspect of the business when things get busy enough so she could continue to spend the majority of her time with her pre-school aged children. Exploring this option was also entertained during the travel overseas by visiting several sewing operations. Manufacturing and labor costs in local U.S. markets had made it problematic to achieve the ascribed corporate goals of maintaining an attractive cost structure. However, the art of sewing such fabrics requires extremely experienced workers. It was determined that very few sewing factories could meet the standards and produce such a high quality blanket. The sewing is complicated by the thickness of the fabrics as well as the intrinsic and individual stretchable characteristics of each fabric type. Unexpectedly, Dara was fortunate to be introduced by her newly discovered fabric business partner to a sewing company with similar values toward its employees. A company whose experienced adult workers smiled and sewed in a climate controlled area with drapes and ribbons on the windows.
 
Dara is grateful for her company's expansion into new markets, the development of two new business partnerships as well as for the new found friendships. Dara & Co.'s transition to an outsourced production model was a result of Dara's due diligence, persistence and sleep deprivation that allowed her dream to become a reality.
 
Several successful beta test projects continue to expand the customer base for which Dara is very thankful.

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It is important to note that with recent concerns over lead contamination in products from China, Dara & Co. had their fabric tested by three independent labs that did not detect any measurable lead or phthalates in the fabrics^{1,2, 3}.

¹ Acid digestion method with Lead (Pb) content determined by Inductivity Coupled Argon Plasma Spectrometry.

² Lead (PB) by Flame Atomic Absorption (Los Alamitos, CA)