Garden Baby

Family-run and family-inspired, Garden Baby is the very image of familiar and welcoming. The organic children’s clothing store is located in historic downtown Ruston, and it fits right in with the comfortable downtown feel. You walk in to soft music and savory scents, to bright natural light and cool colors, and to a warm greeting from Garden Baby’s co-owners, the daughter-in-law/mother-in-law duo Megan and Staci Faulkner.

article by ALANA WAGNER
photography by KELLY MOORE CLARK

Megan Faulkner was pregnant with her first child, Kipp, when she started looking for organic baby clothes for him. A practicing vegan, Megan Faulkner tries to maintain an awareness of the environmental impact of her choices. The process of growing organic fabrics, Megan described, is better for the environment, and the fabrics are gentler on skin. When Megan found her search for organic clothes difficult, rather than stop there, she saw an opportunity to meet a need that, if she had, others might have, as well.

Megan grew up sewing with her grandmother, so the craft was by no means foreign to her. “My grandparents owned a music store, so we’d sit there all day, and I’d help her cut,” Megan said. As someone who loves to create and strives for perfection in whatever she creates, it didn’t take long for her to pick up the skill.

Native to Shreveport, Megan’s love of creating brought her to Ruston, where she studied photography at Louisiana Tech University. Not quite the fit she wanted, she switched from photography to architecture and then settled in art education. “I moved for college and never left,” Megan said of becoming rooted in Ruston. Here, she met her husband, Thomas Faulkner, with whom she also has a daughter, Golda.

Drawn by her own love of creating, Staci Faulkner, originally from Arkansas, also came to Ruston to attend Louisiana Tech. She enrolled in Tech’s fashion program, which was large and well-respected at the time. “I’ve been sewing my entire life, so it’s just an extension of who I am,” Staci said. She first began sewing at age 5, when her mother handed down her old sewing machine. Her grandmother sewed, as well. “My grandmother was my toughest customer,” Staci laughed.

Sewing quickly turned into a business for Staci. By middle school, she was sewing for the public. “I was making cool clothes for myself, and I had to find a way to pay for that,” she said. After college, Staci began making custom wedding gowns before eventually transitioning to working with an interior designer, where she learned how to make draperies and slipcovers. While in Ruston, Staci met her husband, Gary Faulkner, a Rustonite himself. Together, they have four children: William, Thomas, Alexandra, and Jackson. Their second child, Thomas, is Megan’s husband.

Staci and her husband moved around for 20 years, though they lived mostly in Houston. Megan’s son Kipp was six months old when Staci decided to return to Ruston in 2016. She was ready to slow down and wanted to be near her grandchildren. For Staci, being around family is what matters most.

Thus, a shared love of Kipp and a mutual knack for sewing laid the foundation for Megan and Staci to begin a business together making organic baby clothes. They started at the Ruston Makers Fair. “We didn’t know how people would feel,” Megan said of introducing their handmade clothes to the public. “We didn’t have a plan yet, but things start really quickly.” Success at the Maker’s Fair led to an invitation to participate in the Ruston Farmer’s Market. “We took tables, fixtures, mannequins. We tried to make it look like a shop,” Staci said, describing their weekly setup. They enjoyed the frequency and familiarity of the Farmer’s Market, which allowed them to develop relationships with their customers. For Megan, the relationships continue to be one of the best parts of their business.

It only took one month at the Farmer’s Market for them to decide to get their own space. “We were also working out of our houses,” Staci said, “so things were filling up there.” Megan had also been teaching high school art for the past four years. She had decided at the beginning of that summer not to continue teaching. So, when the prospect of opening their own shop arose, Megan’s response was, “Let’s do it, let’s start the shop.”

Megan and Staci feel lucky that they landed a shop space in downtown Ruston. “We wanted to be in an old building. We didn’t want to be in a strip center,” Staci said. “We love downtown Ruston and being part of a community.” They also enjoy the collaboration with other artists, especially women makers, that comes with that community. One way they collaborate is through displaying other artists’ consignment items and art prints in their shop. They feel that the Makers Fair and Farmer’s Market played a large part in their success, and they want to pay that support forward to others.

Though they landed a space in their ideal location, it took some work to make that space one they could use. Their build-out luckily followed the plans they had, and they were able to house both a retail space and a sewing space in their shop. “Being able to switch from our kitchen table to a shop with an industrial machine has made a huge difference,” Staci said. The larger space and equipment also allow Garden Baby to serve as a wholesale drapery workroom.

Garden Baby quickly saw success in their new shop. “We couldn’t fill up the store fast enough,” Staci said about their own clothing line. So, they began searching for other brands that complemented their style and fit their standard: organic, fair trade, ethically sourced, all of the different factors that went into Megan’s original search for children’s clothing. Megan has long been intrigued by the processes that go into fabrics grown and sourced organically and other elements of the “slow fashion” industry. She brought this into Garden Baby, where Megan and Staci choose natural fibers for their clothing, adding new fabrics when they find ones that meet their criteria. Megan described other slow fashion practices, like purchasing something made in the United States that may be a bit more expensive or buying purposefully to allow artists to make a living wage from their craft. “It’s hard to buy like that 100% of the time,” Megan said, “but even one purchase goes a long way.”

The “fast fashion” industry is what Megan and Staci hope to counteract through Garden Baby. Fast fashion clothing may potentially be worn only a short period before being discarded and replaced. “There are landfills full of discarded clothes,” Staci said. Megan and Staci strive to make children’s clothing that is well-made as well as ethically sourced. They know that good quality clothing lasts longer. Their hope is that, rather than buying many pieces that might soon be discarded, people will buy a few pieces for their children to wear and hand them down. “It’s nice to see people hand our clothes down and share with their siblings,” Staci said. “It’s okay if it’s a little worn or faded. All that has a story to it.” All of these factors play a part in their method to making quality clothing.

“Good quality” for Megan and Staci is determined not simply by the material of the clothing but also by the look, which Staci describes as minimalist. “We try to stick to clean lines, simple designs, and seasonless pieces when possible,” Megan said. “We’re not a traditional southern baby store.” For her, a good quality piece is one that fits this minimalist style. Perfection is also a must-have for any piece. “We want it to be professional and want it to last,” Megan said. And both Megan and Staci agree that how the clothing looks on the inside matters just as much as the outside. Staci emphasized that the inside of the clothing also represents part of who they are at Garden Baby. Additionally, they try to design their line so that all of the pieces can go together. To Staci, a successful piece is versatile, one that can go with multiple pieces and mix and match well.

Over the past four years, Garden Baby has been refined as Megan and Staci have continued to learn what works best. Rather than making every piece in every fabric, Megan began to focus their designs. “In the beginning, we did a lot more prints,” Staci said, “but it wasn’t the look, wasn’t the minimalistic feel we wanted.” They now plan out their line, shopping at markets six months in advance. They also sew fewer body styles and pieces, planning which fabrics they will use for each piece. One of the most important lessons Megan has learned is that it’s okay to say no to a vendor who doesn’t fit what they want for their store. “You never quit learning,” Staci said.

Megan and Staci feel incredibly fortunate for the past four years of owning and running Garden Baby. For Megan, the transition from a teaching job that wasn’t quite what she wanted to something she loves to do every day continues to motivate and inspire her. “I get to come to work and create and be with my kids. It doesn’t even feel like work,” she said. Staci is grateful that sewing has not only been a career for her but has also turned into a family business that she can share with Megan. “Anything can be made into a business,” Megan said. “If you’ve found something you love, don’t be scared to do it.”

Coming out of the current season, Megan and Staci are looking forward to what fall will bring for Garden Baby. They feel that the increased time spent at home these past months has made room for people to learn to do things themselves, like sewing. “It’s fun to be on board with that,” Megan said. “I know several people who have bought sewing machines during quarantine. A simpler time may be coming back, a new beginning.”

Garden Baby’s fall season will be full of new additions. Megan and Staci are expanding their retail space, where they’ll add new patterns to their line and new brands, home accessories, and gifts to the shop. “You can decorate a nursery, buy gifts for friends, and experience personalized service,” Staci said. These new items will be either handmade or hand-selected, and all of them will fit the high standard of quality and consciousness that is an integral part of Garden Baby. “We’re hopefully playing a small part in changing the world,” Megan said.

Garden Baby is located at 200 North Vienna Street in downtown Ruston, with clothing, accessories, toys, and more available in their shop. They carry sizes from 0-3 months to 4T in the Garden Baby line, and some of their carried brands go up to 6T/7T. You can find Garden Baby on Facebook @gardenbaby.love, on Instagram @gardenbabyruston, and at their online shop at www.gardenbabyruston.com.