Tryon resident Mimi Alexander has taken her passion for sewing to a whole new level, opening Bandana Market for business last year. This business is now going mobile, with Alexander driving around the Tryon area, the Upstate and Tennessee.

The market utilizes American-made bandanas for a list of items ranging from belts to purses and backpacks. Alexander is a native of Kingsport, Tenn., and her passion for sewing took off in a different direction when her two sons, Matthew and Madison, were little.

“I made my first bandana quilt about 20 years ago when I had two little boys, small toddlers,” Alexander said. “And when we would go to my husband’s softball games, we would take it and it lived in the car. Kool-Aid and grass stains would just wash out, so it was easy.”

She went on to make quilts in the school colors of her sons and their friends for graduation presents. Making items out of bandanas was just a hobby at that point, Alexander explained, and her passion for sewing dates back to when Alexander was just eight years old when she first learned how to sew.

“When I started doing more and more, I started adding other smaller items with a lower price point such as dog collars, belts and lanyards,” Alexander said. “When I got busy enough, I was able to start buying American-made bandanas instead of the imports I had been using which was really important to me because there were people who would not buy a product, especially a bandana, if it wasn’t American-made.”

Alexander said she takes pride in using American-made bandanas for her products now, and says the materials for each product come from Carolina Yarn Processors, Inc. in Tryon for a manufacturing company in Greenville, S.C.

“My favorite part is that I am using American-made bandanas from here in North Carolina,” Alexander said. “I have about 15 different products in different colors, and I have new ideas all the time. People request things and I just have ideas, so I’m always trying to figure out how to make it durable so that will look good as well.”

Harnesses are an item Alexander said a lot of people have been requesting and so she is working on the practicality of those.

“I make purses and headbands, and I needed something for the boys so I make belts too,” Alexander explained. “Of course, with the girls the belts are unisex. My grown son helped me design the drawstring backpack and it has pockets for your phone and wallet, which most don’t.”

These pocketed drawstring bags have been really popular, according to Alexander. The Bandana Market travels around North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee to farmers markets, and can also be seen at places like the Foothills Humane Society for a few hours at a time.

“Sometimes, you could get these from a business as a promotional item, but these are not, so that’s kind of cool,” Alexander said. “The pop-up shop is relatively new, as I’m still working on the painting and signage, and I prefer to go around to shorter events as opposed to a three-day crafts festival.”

Painting the inside walls of the shop and laying down new flooring give the shop the look and feel of a boutique rather than a cargo trailer, in Alexander’s words. Working for herself means she can cycle through the items she makes, for example, this week she’s been making the headbands that are double-sided with two colors.

“I’ve decorated it with rustic items, baskets and shelves so it’s been really fun,” Alexander said. “I’m available to do events, and I get requests to do fundraising events and when a shop wants to do a spring fling kind of thing.”

The Bandana Market does have a website where individuals can peruse the online store as well as place orders and requests at bandanamarket.com. The shop can also be found on Etsy by typing in the search bar “BandannaMarket.”