Leigh Anne Hilbert is the Network Coordinator for the Carolina Textile District, an enterprise of The Industrial Commons.Leigh also opened The Drygoods Studios, a community driven mixed-use studio space in the heart of West Asheville, where she sells her canvas and leather bags and accessories.
In our conversation, we talk about her most recent publication “Vanishing Fleece: Adventures in American Wool.” A tale of her year-long exploration traveling to farms and mills across America in order to transform a 676-pound bale of fleece into commercial yarn.
Mary Jeanne Packer is the owner of Battenkill Fibers in Greenwich, New York. Battenkill Fibers is the last standing wool fiber mill in New York offering commercial scale carding and spinning for fiber farms and manufactures of yarn and fiber products.
Jessica is a farmer and weaver located in Western North Carolina. At Rusted Earth Farm their goal is to produce and design sustainable, handcrafted textiles from the soil up.
Fiberhouse is a collective that partners with farmers, artists, designers, fiber folks, and scientists to explore from farm to fabric and then back to farm.
Kayla Powers is the creator of Salt Textile Studios. Kayla crafts one-of-a-kind, handwoven textiles for home and lifestyle with the belief that goods can be both beautiful and ethical. Her textiles are woven with local fiber, dyed with natural materials and are made to last. Kayla works on the East side of Detroit, Michigan and draws inspiration from the people and the history of the city.
Casey Newman is an environmental educator, natural dye cultivator and co-owner and operator of Cedar Dell Forrest Farm. A forest farm that aims to maintain the health and integrity of the natural ecosystem while sustainably raising animals and growing food on the non-forested portion of the property.
She is the founder of SLO Fiber Studio, a project named after her married initials S-L-O which can be read as "slow" - a hopeful word in a world that often moves too fast.
Tamara is a sustainable wool fiber farmer, homesteader, and natural dye cultivator. She started out as a hobby farmer with her family but has recently transitioned to a production farm.
Sara is a Hungarian natural dyer and small scale grower based in Budapest, Hungary. Over the past year she has been collaborating with a rural eco-community to grow dye plants and run small-scale experiments, in which she re-purposes vintage garments with natural dyes.
Kindigo is a Korean brand , making sustainable & skin-friendly textile products with Korean natural indigo. They run an indigo farm and several indigo workshops in order to introduce Korean indigo extraction and dyeing methods to people today.
