Made by Mom Gift Guide: Peculiar Pets turns vintage bedspreads into lovable creatures

"I draw a lot and everything I do is really cartoony," she tells me."So it was a natural."

Lyon began selling those first few Peculiar Pets at Knockabout, her store that featured handmade items and has since closed. But interest grew for the creatures. So Lyon began looking for more vintage chenille bedspreads to turn into stuffed animals, using only bedspreads that are torn, stained or damaged in some other way.

Eventually, Lyon went from selling Peculiar Pets at a handful of stores in the area to more than 100 stores across the country after hooking up with somebody to represent her at the major trade show New York International Gift Fair.

"They just really took off," she tells me. "It got crazy."

Peculiar Pets appeal to kids. The soft, worn fabric makes the animals particularly cuddly. Lyon still looks twice when she sees a child carrying one of her creations at the grocery store.

But there's something about the fabric itself, which dates from 40 to 60 years old, that appeals to adults too.

"A lot of people buy them for the nostalgia of the fabric. I'm sure I have more adults who have them than kids," she said. "It's amazing how many people will say that their grandma had that bedspread."

Lyon has had to scale back her business because of those very same bedspreads. They are becoming more difficult to find and more expensive. She now just sells at 10 stores in North Carolina.

"It's much more manageable now," said Lyon, who at one point was sewing 50 or 60 hours a week to keep up with demand.

Now that she has more time, Lyon is working on other projects, such as her Petite Pets line, which she creates using old cashmere or mohair sweaters.