Our Story

From a teacher's curiosity to a Louisiana legacy.

It started in a Webster Parish classroom. Anthony, a Louisiana history teacher and coach, asked his students to name things uniquely Louisiana. Someone said "brown cotton." He'd never heard of it.

That question opened a door to a story far older than most Louisianans realize. Brown cotton — also called coton jaune, or yellow cotton — was already growing in the Americas, cultivated by Native peoples, long before the Acadians arrived after their exile from Nova Scotia in the mid-1700s. The Acadians adopted it, wove it into the fabric of their families, and has been passed down from family to family for over 200 years.

Today, in their twelfth season, Sarepta Brown Cotton ships remnants, fabric, and finished goods to weavers, quilters, and lovers of natural fiber across the world — keeping a piece of Louisiana's living heritage alive.

Anthony & Carol Mullins · Sarepta, Louisiana

From Bolls to Blankets.

I
Louisiana

Plant & Pick

Heirloom seeds saved year to year. Each boll harvested by hand.

facebook.com/SareptaBrownCotton →

II
Louisiana

Gin

Seeds separated using a small tabletop gin, the old way.

III
North Carolina

Card & Spin

Ginned fiber turned into sliver and yarn at Gaston College.

gaston.edu →

IV
Pennsylvania

Weave

Yarn woven by Patrick Kline at Family Heirloom Weavers.

familyheirloomweavers.com →

The Shop

Heirlooms woven from the field.

Every piece begins with cotton we grew ourselves and ends in the hands of an artisan who treats fiber like fine art.

Bedding

Acadian Blanket

Woven on vintage looms in Pennsylvania. Queen blankets are seamed down the middle, two hand-stitched panels — true to the original Acadian construction. King size by special order.

Queen $200 · King $300
Inquire →
Throws · over 100 patterns

Brown Cotton Throw

45" × 74". Over 100 stripe patterns and colorways — plum, whiskey, red, blue, charcoal, and our natural brown.

$100
Inquire →
Kitchen · over 100 patterns

Hand Towels

Hand-sewn from our woven fabric. Available in over 100 stripe patterns.

$25
Inquire →
Hand-sewn

Throw Pillows

Hand-sewn pillows in our brown cotton stripes — reds, plums, blues, charcoals, and the natural brown.

$40
Inquire →
Carol's · 350+ sold
Made by Carol

Louisiana Ornaments

Hand-cut state-of-Louisiana ornaments from our woven textiles.

$11
Inquire →
Sold by the pound

Textile Remnants

Real off-cuts from our production. For quilters, art quilters, and primitive crafters.

$20 per pound
Inquire →

For other products, please fill out the contact form.

For the Love of Louisiana · A Numbered Series

Sixty-four parishes. Sixty-four remnants. One Louisiana.

One of Anthony's former students — an outstanding one — has been building Louisiana from our remnants. Each artwork is the state of Louisiana rendered in fabric, parish by parish, with sixty-four hand-cut pieces of Sarepta Brown Cotton — one for each parish. No two parishes share the same scrap. No two pieces in the series are alike.

Inquire about a commission →

A Heritage Piece, Holding Heritage Pieces

Brown cotton textiles look right at home in an antique glass-front cabinet — a heritage piece itself, fit for the cotton inside.

Folded throws and blankets on every shelf, striped pillows on top. Brown cotton was meant to live in rooms like this. It belongs with old wood, beveled glass, and quiet light.

Find Us In Person

Where to find Sarepta Brown Cotton.

Our products are carried in eight stores across Louisiana and Arkansas, plus three Louisiana cultural institutions.

Cultural Partners

LSU Rural Life Museum

Baton Rouge, Louisiana
4560 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge, LA
Visit →

NUNU Arts & Culture Collective

Arnaudville, Louisiana
1510 Courtableau Hwy, Arnaudville, LA
Visit →

West Feliciana Historical Museum

St. Francisville, Louisiana
11757 Ferdinand St, St. Francisville, LA
Visit →
Retail Locations

The Marketshops at the 115

Henderson, Louisiana
2942 Grand Point Hwy, Henderson, LA 70517
Visit Facebook →

Pippa Lane Antique Boutique

Minden, Louisiana
808 Broadway St, Minden, LA
Visit →

Nanapuddins Antique Mall

Homer, Louisiana
510 N Main St, Homer, LA
Visit →

Granny Li's Resale Boutique

Dover, Arkansas
Visit Facebook →

A typical Sarepta Brown Cotton display — pillows, throws, and folded textiles in the full range of stripes and colors.

Bolls to Blankets · Speaking

We tell the story everywhere.

Anthony and Carol travel across Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and beyond, sharing the history of brown cotton with libraries, gardening clubs, quilting guilds, schools, museums, and historical societies. In a single year, they gave nineteen "Bolls to Blankets" presentations — from the Quilters Guild of Dallas to Master Gardener meetings at Southern Arkansas University to the Lincoln Parish Library, and many more.

Sterlington Elementary · Third Grade

Carol speaks to more than a hundred third graders about Louisiana's brown cotton heritage. The cotton field banner stands behind her; the projector reads "BOLLS TO BLANKETS · June 20, 2023." A retired teacher's wife, in front of a sea of red shirts, telling the next generation a piece of Louisiana history most adults don't even know.

Bossier Parish Libraries · History Center

Anthony mid-story, hand on his chest, fully in it. A folded brown cotton throw lies on the table beside him. Every attendee leaned in, handout in hand. The talk covers brown cotton's ancient origins, its 200+ year Acadian heritage, how it's grown and ginned by hand in Louisiana, and how the fiber travels — to North Carolina to be spun, to Pennsylvania to be woven, and home to Sarepta to become a finished heirloom.

A Full Circle

It started with a teacher and his students. It came back around to a grandson.

Sarepta Brown Cotton began because Anthony, a Louisiana history teacher, asked his students to name something uniquely Louisiana. One of them said "brown cotton."

A decade later, Anthony and Carol stood in front of more than a hundred third graders at Sterlington Elementary — telling them the same story. Sitting in that audience was their own grandson.

One of those students once told their teacher about brown cotton. Now their grandson is one of the students.

From kindergarten classrooms to the Quilters Guild of Dallas — we'll bring the cotton, the loom samples, the textile remnants, and the story.

Book a Talk

Also from Anthony

Memorial Day

A song · written 2004 · still played each Memorial Day in Waterloo, New York — the official birthplace of the holiday
2026 Video
Watch →
Contemporary Version
Listen →
And a Children's Book

EVIE — by the same hand.

EVIE

Written by Anthony Lionel Mullins · Illustrated by James Hislope

A whimsical, Halloween-inspired tale of two playful brothers, a retired lady, and evenings filled with trickery and charm. Drawn from Anthony's own Louisiana childhood, the story grew from a ten-minute classroom writing prompt into a full hardcover picture book — printed in a first run of 1,080 copies at Friesens Corporation (Altona, Manitoba) — an employee-owned book printer in continuous operation since 1907.

James Hislope's illustrations are full of hidden details — the kind of book that rewards a second and third reading.

$24 · Signed hardcover
Direct from Anthony & Carol
Order Evie
Order or Inquire

Let's talk about cotton.

Whether you're a weaver, quilter, designer, museum buyer, a parent or grandparent looking for the perfect book — or someone looking for a one-of-a-kind heirloom — we'd love to hear from you. Send a note and we'll be in touch within a day or two.

  • FarmSarepta, Louisiana
  • OwnersAnthony & Carol Mullins
  • Phone318-402-8246
  • Emailalmullins@centurytel.net
  • Facebook@SareptaBrownCotton
  • ShipsWorldwide