What Does Fabric Mean to You?

It usually starts with a message. 

This time, it was a request to call a community member before Christmas. When I get a message about fabric donations my heart races a bit and I try not to hold my breath. What will be in the bags and boxes? Treasured lengths or tiny scraps? This message was the one from my dreams; a lady no longer had an active business and did I want her fabric? 

When the donation came, the car was full of fabric, a kaleidoscope of colors. I didn’t just see bolts of gorgeous fabrics, I saw EAD dresses for twirling “princesses”. I saw satiny, bloomy pants under flowing Afghan dresses worn by young ladies and their mothers.

The day after I sorted my fabric bounty, I called a friend, the “matriarch” of the ladies. She offered to distribute most of the fabric in batches of yards to those who would most treasure and use this high-end material.

When she saw me, my friend was almost giddy with excitement. Recently, a beloved fabric store had closed and many women in the Afghan group were sad that their favorite store was gone. Now, however, there was a large donation of beautiful, high-quality fabrics for them to choose from. We loaded her car up and, by that evening, she had already started giving away lengths of cloth.

The next day, an expectant mother came down to browse and left with a large bag of fabric to make beautiful things for a new baby girl coming soon. Minutes later, a mother and her teen daughter were filling a bag to make clothing. 

The smiles!

It felt like a luxurious celebration as they felt the textures and admired the colors. The young lady’s face lit up as she held some lovely vestments that had been donated, and I heard her plan out loud in her native language how she would turn them into pretty dresses for her baby sister. That sister sat at the table eating applesauce (because they all know where my stash is) while Mom and big sister chatted over fabric. They had walked from their house in the rain with the baby in a stroller just to go fabric shopping with me, so on the way home from work I dropped off their plentiful harvest.

I plan to use some of the fabric as an excuse to visit another lady who has been on my heart and needs a check-in. To me, fabric donations are more than just bags of potential treasures for creativity. Fabric is a tool to build community, to build relationships, to encourage cultural pride, to encourage entrepreneurship, and mostly to promote mental health. 

The mother with the teen girl? Her social event of the week is coming to visit our wardrobe and to go fabric shopping. 

The mother with the upcoming birth? Fabric meant that she would be prepared to welcome a new child. 

The mother having a rough month? It meant that someone loved her and was thinking of her. 

What does fabric mean to you?

Stefanie Nichols
Artisan Empowerment Specialist

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