dresses. “We did really well,” said Mrs. Coon with

dresses.

“We did really well,” said Mrs. Coon with a bit of surprise in her voice.

“We made enough to buy more stock,” she said with a smile. -

After their 4th of July success, the two organized as a business, named themselves and set about acquiring more stock.

By Christmas of 1990, the two were prepared for their second show--at Mountainside Market in Washington.

Their expanded inventory-belts, pencil boxes, mittens, booties, Guatemalan items and more clothing items-rewarded them with even greater inventory.

“There are so many obstacles,” said Mrs. Coon.

Spending daylight hours with her four children, evening hours with her family and weekend hours with the band leaves few hours for the two to work.

Tie-dying requires time and space. Materials must be soaked and prepared one day before the actual dying, which takes several hours.

“We usually work in the evening or at night,” said Mrs. Coon.

Mother of two, Mrs. Berta’s schedule is similar.

Besides production problems, the two are faced with questions on where to store the items made.

“One of these days, we would like to have a shop or even a mail order catalog,” said Mrs. Berta.

At present, with stock limited and extra items stored in the Coon home, the two women travel to craft shows such as Sperryville’s Apple Harvest Festival in October and do home shows that are “sorta like Tupperware shows,” said Mrs. Berta.

From these shows, the two hope to take orders, make supplies to order and deliver in time for holidays or deadlines.

“That way people are getting just what they want,” said Mrs. Coon.

With tie-dye clothing returning in popularity among children, teens, college students and adults, business is booming.

Using better quality material-a 100 percent cotton~and more durable and bright colors, their technique has been perfected and their stock has grown.