By Harley Nefe
With the mountain scenery that surrounds the area and the breathtaking views that can be enjoyed by all, the High Country is a hub for outdoor opportunities. Hiking, camping, and picnicking are just some of the ways nature enthusiasts can experience the environment. And with all of these activities, there is one product available that can take one’s adventure to the next level.
Whether you’re going to a live music festival or catching a sporting event at the park, Tarpestry tarps make a statement no matter the occasion.
Ted and Carrie Swartzbaugh are the owners of Tarpestry, a local business that offers American-made water-resistant outdoor blankets and decorative tarps that put a beautiful buffer between people and the elements, allowing everyone to get closer to earth.
The raw majesty of the outdoors and the relaxing and refreshing pleasure of being immersed in it is the driving force behind Tarpestry, a company that has been around for 13 years. Invented by two music festival lovers who wanted a dry seat, Tarpestry combines the functions of a tarp with the softness of a tapestry. The versatile products provide protection from the occasional unpleasantries outside – moisture, dirt, sand, itchy foliage, and insects – so that everyone may enjoy nature with ease.
Tarpestry’s journey began during the summer of 2010, when Ted and Carrie were vending at music festivals across the country.
“We were working for a screen printer in Denver, Colorado,” Carrie explained. “And actually – the screen print shop started in Boone. We were working for them, and they had a t-shirt line with different art prints. So, we went to festivals to sell their t-shirts, and we were vending for a year when the Tarpestry idea came about.”
Ted and Carrie stopped at a festival near their hometown, and Carrie’s stepdad, Tom, visited and shared his “million dollar idea.”
Carrie continued, “My stepdad came and said that he really wanted a quilt with a tarp on the bottom because he loved going to lawn concerts, but didn’t like a wet butt.”
Ted and Carrie agreed that the idea was genius, and their imaginations went wild as they pictured the many places to use a blanket with a tarp attached to the bottom. They also thought about their own tendencies.
“We realized that we would usually go to shows and put down a crunchy blue tarp, and because it was sweaty and uncomfortable, we would put a tapestry on top of it,” Carrie said. “So, just from driving from festival to festival, we thought, ‘Actually, that would be a really cool product to do.’ And we were just messing around with it at first.”
Carrie further described how they snapped together a tapestry and a tarp, which worked, but it wasn’t comfortable.
“So, then we went to a fabric store and sewed up the first one,” she reflected.
“Everything was crooked about it,” Ted said, laughing.
However, the idea clicked. Tarp plus tapestry equaled Tarpestry.
The Swartzbaughs realized that they couldn’t just add a tarp to a tapestry to get the effect they wanted, and that led them to seek out new materials that had the best qualities of both. Combining the water-repellent, UV-resistant properties of a tarp with the intricate designs of a tapestry, the Tarpestry outdoor blanket is a soft and durable weather-resistant ground tarp that widens comfort zones.
Tom, Ted, and Carrie were all ecstatic and enthusiastic about the endeavor.
“It’s our honor to dedicate the Tarpestry concept and product to Tom. He was a strong fireman and amazing storyteller with a triumphant laugh,” the Swartzbaughs shared. “Most of all, he was a devoted father to three girls. Tom gave his all, everyday, to his family and to his fire department. While he never got to see a finished Tarpestry product, we know he is with us in strength, love, and courage everyday.”
For the rest of the summer, Ted and Carrie brainstormed on long road trips and got feedback from festival-goers and other music-lovers along the way.
“Once we were on the road doing festivals, we realized we didn’t want to go back to working for other people if we didn’t have to,” Carrie said.
Ted added, “We kept going, and we kept pushing through, and we ended up coming to a point where we had to make a decision of going all in or not. So, we just went for it. It’s been up and down and sideways and backwards – a true adventure.”
Returning to Colorado that fall, the Swartzbaughs buckled down to make Tarpestry happen. In early 2011, they created the prototype, and the first product line was on its way to market.
“It took a while to find the right materials,” Carrie explained. “Then we eventually found a manufacturer in Denver.”
All Tarpestry products were hand cut and sewn just outside of the city by Stryker By Design.
“They were the shop managers for Madden backpacks,” Ted said.
The base fabric of each Tarpestry is heavy duty and is similar to duffle bag materials. Built to last, the products are made out of polyester and poplin.
Every spring and summer, the Swartzbaughs would hit the road for their Tarpestry Tour and set up shop at music festivals across the country.
“We continued on with festivals because it’s the perfect music festival product,” Carrie shared. “For camping, you can hang it up like a tarp, and then you can take it to shows and put it on the grass.”
Each Tarpestry has grommet rings, so people can choose to hang them up for privacy, weather protection, or decoration. Or they can use the holes to stake down the Tarpestry on a hill or when it’s windy.
In 2016, after a few years of deliberation, the Swartzbaughs decided to move back to Boone in their home state of North Carolina.
“We wanted to have kids and be closer to family,” Carrie explained.
“And we both went to school at App State, so we knew the area here. If we were moving back to North Carolina, this would be where we would live – in the mountains,” Ted added.
From first being run from the garage, then the basement, to a bedroom, Ted and Carrie have now set up their office in a barn on their family’s farm outside of Boone.
They eventually found a local manufacturer, Tsuga, to produce Tarpestry.
“It didn’t take us too long to find Tsuga,” Carrie said. “It was a pretty easy transition.”
Ted added, “I think the transition from the festivals is interesting because when we lived in Denver, we mostly did west coast festivals and events, and it felt like almost starting over when we moved here. The festivals here were like, ‘What is this?’ And we had already spent six years building that repertoire, and it was like brand new again.”
“Our shop in Denver was still making them when we first moved here,” Ted further explained. “They sent them on pallets to Kingsport, outside of Johnson City, because that’s where the Yellow freights drop off was.”
Therefore, Ted began asking around about other partnership opportunities.
“I went to three or four different embroiderers and seamstresses, and nobody wanted to do it,” he described. “And finally someone was like, ‘Why don’t you go and check out Tsuga?’”
Founded in 2008 by outdoor enthusiast and industry vet Jimi Combs, Tsuga was born out of a desire to build gear that fused bomber durability with unique functionality, according to the website. Tsuga began building high-end canopy systems, designed to “make time spent outdoors even more enjoyable and trouble-free.”
“We looked them up online, and then went there,” Ted described. “They were making canopies, and we were like, ‘This makes sense. This is exactly what we are looking for.’”
As Tsuga started to grow, so did their product line – utility bags, totes, and custom gear for companies throughout the community.
“They were at the very early stage of getting ready to accept outsourced third-party orders like us,” Ted explained. “So, they decided to take us on, and since then, it’s been a great fit.”
In early 2017, Tsuga completed the first “made in NC” Tarpestry line.
“We are proud of our Colorado roots and are excited for our future in the mountains of Appalachia,” the Swartzbaughs shared. “Tarpestry is officially built in the Blue Ridge.”
Born in Colorado and built in North Carolina, Tarpestry can still be found at many of the festivals the business started at.
“We go back to Colorado once a year for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival,” Carrie said. “We’ve done that one every year we’ve been a business.”
Apart from going out west, Ted and Carrie will also travel south to Asheville for some events.
“We’re affiliated with Mountain BizWorks and the Outdoor Business Alliance, which are both based in Asheville,” Ted said. “We have some variations of those groups here in Boone. We’ve also done some networking events and gear swaps.”
Photo by Ted Swartzbaugh.
Ted continued, “The Outdoor Business Alliance used to be called the Outdoor Gear Builders. They recently changed names a few months ago. They’ve been pretty influential because it’s a network of 70-plus outdoor gear organizations and companies in Western North Carolina, from Eno to Tsuga. It’s been influential for us to network with those people and do custom work for some of those companies as well. There’s other organizations we’ve worked with, like Airstream Life magazine and Certified Master Home Inspectors – they use the products in crawl spaces during home inspections.”
Tarpestry is also a member of Startup High Country, an organization with local entrepreneurs that support businesses of all shapes and sizes.
“Something we have worked on the past couple of years is networking with different giveaways and brands and organizations,” Ted said. “There was a PR company tha we worked with that got us some cool channels. It was kind of lucky, but somebody from Men’s Journal wanted to do a write-up in exchange for a Tarpestry, and Men’s Journal ended up putting our product on the Today Show.”
“I like the [products Tapestry] makes because they have the grommets at the corner. You can stake them out so everything stays nice and neat, and it’s water resistant, so when you have dewy grass, you’re not going to have any moisture coming up when you’re sitting there hanging out,” Clint Carter from Men’s Journal described on the tv segment.
Other press Tarpestry has received came from The Manual, BigLife Magazine, Outside magazine, Gear Institute, Gear Junkie, Wide Open Spaces, Condé Nast Traveler, Field Mag, and a plethora of other media outlets.
Tarpestry has also done some custom work and fundraising efforts with Blue Ridge Conservancy.
Tarpestry has taken hands-on action in the community by initiating a river clean-up event.
“It was for the business community to get together to help clean up the river and to make it fun because we are trying to make a collaborative business,” Ted explained.
“Sometimes I reach out to organizations, and other times people reach out to us and are interested,” Ted said. “We’ve had a couple of wedding parties order them. Some people use them for internal promotion. Some festivals will order an extra 5-10 to give out to management or staff. Clean Vibes – They are an organization that clean up the grounds of festivals every morning of the event. They have given Tarpestries out as prizes for volunteers who pick up the most trash.”
Other fundraisers have been with Conscious Alliance.
“It’s a food drive at concerts,” Ted explained. “They sell posters and other items for food donations to give to community shelters. Backline is another organization we fundraise with. They connect mental health therapy avenues for people in the back of the house of the music industry – musicians, light people, sound guys, production staff.”
He added, “Something that is really important to our company is that we do feature artists a lot. That’s a big drive for us. We try to reach out to artists in the music industry in the community because it’s cool to collaborate that way.”
Being connected with music festivals and artists is a common thread that has always been woven into Tarpestry’s history. The company has done a lot of custom work for bands, such as Widespread Panic, Leftover Salmon, and the Infamous Stringdusters.
When asked what their favorite Tarpestry ever made was, Carrie said, “We love the band Widespread Panic, and they wanted to do a custom one, so that was a really big deal for us. That one is my favorite because it means so much.”
Ted shared his thoughts: “Mine is kind of on the same sentimental level. It was the first custom we did for Telluride Bluegrass, and it’s a cool design. It’s a bunch of cowboys riding instruments to the river in Colorado. It’s an old western style poster; it looks like a classic.”
For a while, Ted and Carrie kept one of every Tarpestry they ever made; however, it eventually got out of control, as they have produced over 200 different designs.
The variety of designs is a distinctive quality of the business. Ted and Carrie hand select prints for customers to choose from, but they also partner with local and national artists to create unique displays.
“You can make anywhere between one and a billion with a high resolution image or graphic,” Carrie said. “It’s digitally printed on poplin fabric. We can do photographs, art files – really anything with high resolution.”
For the business, Ted tends to serve as the point of contact.
“Once I get some of the details and imagery, I send it all to Carrie, who is the graphic designer extraordinaire who does all the editing,” he described.
With a background in advertising and experience with Photoshop and InDesign, Carrie reviews all of the files.
“Then we take the files and send them to the fabric printer,” Carrie explained. “All the materials are sent to Tsuga. They cut it and sew it, and we pick them up and roll them. One of the great perks is them being made locally.”
For folks who are interested in the products, visiting the company’s website at Tarpestry.com is the best and easiest way to place an order.
“Unless you find us at an event,” Carrie said. “We’re here and there and everywhere.”
Networking efforts and word of mouth seem to bring in the most business.
One of Tarpestry’s valued customers, Alac Wall, heard about the company in 2021 before she moved to the High Country.
“A friend of mine had one lying across the floor of her minivan for car camping, and at first, I thought it was just a really pretty tapestry, until she explained that it was actually a functional tarp, and then my mind was blown!” Alac exclaimed. “I immediately ordered two in different sizes.”
Deemed “the best outdoor blanket on the market” by Forbes magazine, Tarpestry products come in different styles and sizes.
“We offer a mini version, dog bed covers, bandanas, as well as accessories for them like stakes and rope,” Carrie listed.
Photo by Carrie Swartzbaugh.
Ted and Carrie also sell Crazy Creek Chairs, which are described as the perfect pairing with Tarpestry. The chairs are lightweight, and customers can take comfort to the next level by adding chairs to their outdoor blanket setup for all kinds of adventures.
Alac shared, “My kids and I take our Tarpestry everywhere – parks, concerts, festivals, bonfires, and picnics. We also go to the beach, river, and lake with it as well as camping, hiking, and sporting events. The list goes on! We use it all year round to sit on or for hide-and-seek. We also use it as a rain, sun, wind, privacy shield or a rug or tablecloth, and much more!”
“Who doesn’t love art mixed with functionality?” she asked. “They are so much more fun than a boring plastic blue tarp and far more durable.”
Alac noted, “Ted and Carrie are a lot like their products – fun, funky, unique, and reliable! Supporting Tarpestry is so much more than buying a tarp with a little pizzazz. You’re also supporting sustainability, artists, the local community and economy, and best of all – an awesome, local, family-owned business.”
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