The role of mothering is fulfilling and delightful (I doubt a single mother would argue with that) but when the children go to school, when they’re tucked in bed, and when a mother yearns for an outlet to reveal her other talents, where does she find it?

Marcie Cuff, an Irvington mother, found her groove last fall when she stumbled across upholstery at a local church event. Loving the fact that upholstery is recycled material, she bought some for her home, and used it to make funky dresses for her two girls. Not wanting to waste any of the fabric, she used the remnant fabric to make cloth dolls.

The endeavor captured not only her environmental passions, most likely grown from a vein similar that influenced her to pursue a graduate degree in biology and become a biology teacher (her job before having children), but it more importantly gave her a space to indulge in her personal interests and talents, outside of her mothering responsibilities.

She crafts after she puts her two girls to bed, ages six and eight, and she has taught herself another trade: felting. She uses wool sweaters that can no longer be worn—ruined either by a mistaken placement in the washer or moth bites—to create zany hairbands.

Now, what once started as her crafting hobby has become popular enough to be her side business, Twig Handmade. The move was inspired when friends expressed interest in buying her designs. Twig Handmade now sells felted hairbands, girls dresses (sizes 2 through 8), dolls, and handbags (all made from recycled upholstery or remnant material). Her materials come to her, believe it or not. Friends drop old clothes off and the local church calls her when moth bitten sweaters turn up in their church clothing sale.

She sells her designs mostly through word of mouth, but also at Artisans Gallery in New Hope, Pennsylvania and, this fall, she and two other women, Eleni LaSenna (a creator of handmade jewelery) and Jennifer Lewis (graphic artist), sold their designs at the local Irvington Farmer’s Market.

LaSenna, who is also a mother motivated to indulge in her crafting talents, started making handmade jewelry this past summer using semi-precious gemstones. In regard to mothers crafting and starting side crafting businesses such as her own called Plum, she said, “its nice for them to have that outlet.”

The two women, along with other moms, get together annually to share their talents.

With the holiday season approaching, Cuff’s business is making a wider impact than last year. Twig Handmade is being featured at Pretty Funny Antiques in Tarrytown on December 1.

Neither Cuff nor LaSenna aim to promote their business to the point where it might conflict with their mothering responsibilities, as Cuff remarked Twig Handmade is a, “nice, little business.”