Over the course of a few months, Michelle, a friend from a fiber arts group I'm a part of, frequently mentioned an organization she volunteered & how much she enjoyed her weekly volunteer days there. I asked the name. She replied, "Threadbenders". What a great name for a fiber arts group! Curious, I asked if I could come see the facility for myself & interview the staff, volunteers, & fiber artists who worked there. She agreed & arranged a date/time with them on one of her volunteer days. I was thrilled!
Birth of Threadbender Textiles
Five years ago, Monica and Ron Spooner formed Threadbender Textiles. Monica had been temporarily teaching weaving to a group of their daughter Abby (then a teenager) & her friends through another program. They realized they wanted to build a more permanent & consistent way to support Abby & her friends. They also wanted to expand their exposure to diverse skill-building opportunities via fiber arts in general, but weaving skills specifically. Thus, TreadbenderTextiles.org was formed. Over time, additional artists joined & a wonderful facility was established with more types of looms & equipment than I could have imagined. The products they produce are beautiful, enduring, & treasured by those who purchased them.
Entering the Camarillo, CA facility through the store, I marveled at the variety of the products Threadbender Textiles artists create & sell.
The range of products Threadbender artists produce include:
Home Goods: Placemats, napkins, kitchen & hand towels, rugs, table runners, wall hangings
Clothing: Scarves, shawls, hand warmers
Misc: purses, kumihimo key chains, lavender sachets, luggage tags, fabric-based collages, & much more.
Beyond the gift store, I entered an airy, high-ceiling workshop area filled to the brim with a variety of looms, source materials organized by type, worktables, some sewing machines, & a clever 2nd story storage “loft” with a pully system to raise & lower supplies in the back.
Hanna, one of the staff, showed me the wide variety of looms they have while the artists demonstrated the variety of tools they used & techniques they applied. The looms ranged from small, tabletop looms with no pedals to large 40-inch wide looms with up to eight floor pedals, & several variations in between. The table loom configured with hand pedals was used by an artist who could not use her legs or feet.
Most artists used manual shuttles, but one loom was fitted with a "flying shuttle," which I'd heard of but never seen. It made a satisfying "thwonk" sound as it hit each end. Click on the below video to see for yourself.
The Day's Crew
The staff arrange experts from local fiber arts guilds and communities come to the Threadbender Textiles facility to introduce & demonstrate new fiber arts techniques & equipment. The students, staff & volunteers find so much joy in the process, they constantly respond to the demos by asking themselves, "How is that done? What will it take for us to do it? Do we need new classes? Additional equipment? New materials? Student/Artists, volunteers, & staff learn together what they skills they need to build in order to integrate new techniques, new equipment, & create new products. Every day here is a learning & skill building adventure!
Exploring ThreadBenders.org has given me a deeper understanding of what it takes to be a "Thread-Bender" (my adopted term for a community-building weaver). I now appreciate the hand-woven products so much more since I've seen what it takes to make them. I hope it does the same for you. The Fiber Arts track of Fibershed Adventures has just begun! Please explore & share other notable, community fiber arts groups uplifting communities in your Fibershed Region! I’ll be doing the same.
such an enjoyable read. thank you for a lovely insight into threadbenders. you write so marvelously.