This Family Farm Turns its Homegrown Cotton into an Entire Line of Consumer Fabrics

Covered In Cotton’s throws, towels, napkins, runners and baby blankets are made – from start to finish – in the Carolinas.

Farmers Tracy and Ty Woodard’s cotton goods business Covered In Cotton is truly a dream come true. Literally.

One morning in December 2017, Tracy Woodard woke from a dream that inspired her and her husband to turn the cotton grown on their South Carolina farm into blankets.

“We’ve been growing cotton in our family for generations and once the cotton leaves the farm and is sold on the world market, I have no idea where it ended up,” said Tracy Woodard. “The dream was the catalyst to get it started. The dream was Covered In Cotton.”

By the end of 2018, they had figured out how to make a textile product in the United States, how to build a company and how to market a product.

The Woodards began making throws, which are lightweight blankets and decorative covers used for snuggling on the couch or accenting furniture. Since late 2018, throws have remained Covered In Cotton’s top selling signature product, a favorite of people looking to give a useful yet classic-looking gift.

The Woodards were farmers who had no experience in the retail and manufacturing markets, but they are not afraid of challenging work. The Woodard family farm is 5,000 acres of land in Darlington, South Carolina where they grow cotton, corn, soybeans, peanuts, beef cattle and timber. Approximately 2,500 acres of their land is strictly for growing upland cotton.

In addition to making throws, the cotton is used to manufacture hand towels, baby blankets and table linens like napkins and runners. But throws and blankets have always been the heart of the business.

“We’ve got a few different collections of throws with color options, some with fringe and some without,” said Tracy Woodard. “All of our throw blankets are 50 by 70 inches. The cotton is breathable, natural fiber so it’s a year-round type of throw that our family and thousands of people across the country and the world enjoy year-round. If it doesn’t move in our house, it has a throw blanket on it. They are well-used and well-loved.”

The farm’s first field of cotton was planted by Ty Woodard’s grandfather Frank in 1962. That first seed planted more than 60 years ago is responsible for the thriving cotton production on the farm today.

“We plant our cotton on the farm in the spring, usually April and May, and it’s harvested in the fall during October and November,” said Tracy Woodard. “We take the best of the cotton we grow and send it to the cotton gin mill in Darlington County. The rest is sold into the world market.”

The cotton destined for use in Covered In Cotton’s products begins a 500-mile round trip being processed before it returns to the farm as fabric or finished product. Not only is it entirely grown and made in America, but the manufacturing process is also done in only two states, North Carolina and South Carolina, which brings back memories of days when textiles were king in the region.

The cotton is picked using a large John Deere cotton picker machine that picks six rows at a time. It is then sent to the gin mill where the seeds are removed from the cotton and kept as cattle feed or to manufacture cotton seed oil.

The cotton fibers are then sent to Hill Spinning in Thomasville, North Carolina where they are twisted into yarn. Next stop is the yarn plyer at Shuford Mills Hickory Hills, North Carolina where they take two strands of yarn and twist them together to make two-ply yarns.

The yarn then makes its way back to Blacksburg, South Carolina where it is weaved into products at commercial weaver Weavetec. The products then make it back to the Darlington farm where additional sewing and cutting may be done before being shipped to individual customers.

“We’re very fortunate to have local American companies that work with us and that is crucial to our success,” said Tracy Woodard. “Finding them so close to home was really a blessing and we love working with them. They’ve taught us so much about the textile process along the way considering we are cotton farmers first and foremost.”

Covered In Cotton adds an incentive to the purchases of their throws. For every 10 throws sold, the Woodards donate one throw to a children’s hospital in the surrounding area. They do so out of compassion and a scary real-life experience.

“A big part of what we do for our business is what we call Cotton For A Cause,” said Tracy Woodard. “In 2015 we had our twins Tobin and Tyson, and our little boy Tobin contracted bacterial meningitis. He spent 35 days in a children’s hospital and had emergency brain surgery. The doctors cautioned us that he may not survive and if he did, he could have a lot of things to deal with, blindness or hearing loss or developmental delays, but the Lord healed him.

“He is 10 years old now and he is doing fantastic. He’s healthy, makes straight A’s in school, plays all the sports. We had a nurse while we were basically living in the hospital with him who gave us a blanket. So, when the Lord gave me that dream two years later, he brought back to mind Ali, the nurse who had given us the blanket.

“It was one of the most difficult things our family ever experienced, but now we can look back on it and see the blessing in all of it. We want to remind Ali that there is not such a thing as a small act of kindness.”

The Darlington farm is run by the third generation of Woodards and Tracy and Ty may one day leave the business to their twins and older son Tate. They certainly cultivate business with their firsthand approach that has Tracy including a hand-written note with every sent order.

“We manage the entire process from seed all the way to the box that shows up at your door,” said Woodard. “Our return customer rate is over 25%, and really closer to 30%.

“As simple as it sounds, just treating others like we want to be treated is something we feel very passionate about. We are not only providing high-quality American-made products but a high-quality personal experience, too.”