2024 Rust Belt Fibershed Symposium Feature

Learning Stations & Vendors

January 27
1-2 pm: Morning symposium ticketholders only (see saturday morning events- SOLD OUT)
2-4 pm: Free to general public

Address: W 78th Street Studios, 1300 W 78th St. Cleveland, OH 44102
Free and open to the public from 2-4 on 1/27! Come learn alongside us!

Ever wondered what alpaca fleece feels like? How to crochet, sew, or felt? What botanical dyes are? How to create beautiful things out of native grasses? How to soften buckskin leather? How linen is made? Want to buy local, beautiful fiber for knitting and other projects directly from farmers? Peruse vintage vendors for unique finds? Support slow fashion makers in our region?

Check out our Hands-On Learning Demos and Vendor Listings Below!

For full weekend agenda and details, please see the main symposium page.

Hands-On Learning Demo Hosts:

For full weekend agenda and details, please see the main symposium page.

Vendors

Current Official List

Fiber Farms

yarn, fleece, raw wool, hides

The Buzzard Farm
The Buzzard Farm is a small, regenerative alpaca fiber farm in the Pennsylvanian Appalachian Region. By enacting responsible rotational grazing, composting manure to spread on healing lands, we hope to help our planet by greatly improving our overall soil health while keeping our own carbon footprint as small as possible. All of our branded alpaca items are produced entirely on our farm.
Instagram | Website

Grumpy Goat Experiment
We are a small family farm in western Ohio bringing to our community organic vegetables, grain crops, honey, maple syrup and fiber from our flock of CVM/Romeldale sheep and Pygora goats. We use two local mills (ANF and Zeilingers) to help process our fiber into roving, combed top, cloud, and yarn, while also selling some raw fiber each year. We have also been experimenting with a dye garden and offer a limited supply of colorful combed top and yarn - our favorites so far being: coreopsis, scabiosa, cosmos, goldenrod, marigolds, woad, pokeberries, and purple basil.
Instagram | Website

Powers Acres / Oxbow Orchard
We are two diversified family farms using regenerative practices raising Icelandic Sheep for meat, wool and hides. We practice Intensive Rotational Grazing with our flocks, leaving our pastures long enough to recover completely, which gives our animals the best possible nutrition and produces high quality wool. We shear, skirt, wash and process all of our Icelandic wool into luxury yarns and other finished products. Powers Acres is working towards opening a mini mill in NE Ohio in the spring of 2024.
Powers Acres: Instagram | Website
Oxbow Orchard: Instagram | Website

Mitchell Wool Co.
When you buy our yarn, you're supporting Michigan families. The sheep live on our farm, the neighbor grows the hay, the grain is local, our mill that spins it is 40 miles away. We dye with plants mostly grown on the farm. We're about the flock, the family, & the planet.
Farm Grown Yarn for Flocks Sake.
For Community's sake. For Planet's sake. For Family's sake.
For the right reasons long term.
Instagram | Website

Ross Farm Mercantile
The Ross Farm is a generational operation in Southwestern PA raising multiple rare and heritage breeds of sheep and producing yarn, roving and products from their sustainable wool. Nearly all of our products are minimally processed, breed specific, undyed, unblended and produced by small, family farm-based businesses. We are committed to limiting our footprint and raising our livestock in an ethical and sustainable way. While the farm is located in PA, the products are housed in OH at our studio.
Instagram | Website

Stewards Tannery
Stewards Tannery is a farm-based tannery producing natural veg-tanned sheepskins, leather and leather products. Our vision is to develop an ecosystem of tanning services and products that support Great Lakes shepherds, serving as a link between farmers, artisans and our communities.
Instagram | Website

Tarheelbilly Farm
I sell fiber and wool products from my flock of Tunis sheep. Conscientious management of the flock make observation, flexibility, and resilience paramount. We value our partnerships with small fiber mills and fiber arts as we promote the benefits of farm to fiber relationships.
Instagram | Website

Fabric & Notions

Esperanza Threads
Sustainable business with a sustainable mindset, it's in our fibers. From the fabrics we work on in our classes to the products we sell and distribute – we put earth before economy. Working with natural and organic fibers in our product lines and deadstock donated textiles in our recycled lines.
Instagram | Website

Tansy Recycling
Tansy Recycling is a micro recycling co-op in Akron, OH that utilizes abundant plastic waste to make recycled products that are unique and durable, such as our signature buttons and pots. We also use natural dye methods to up-cycle clothing. We believe in working towards circular recycling and up-cycling systems in NE Ohio.
Instagram | Website

Vintage

ScatterShop Collector
Cleveland local vintage collector stocked with joyful, gently used clothing. While I favor silk, linen, and wool fibers, space is made for all fabrics. My aim is to give energy back to historical trends while providing affordable options to twist up your wardrobe.
Website

Finished Goods

Upcycle/Scrap Reuse

House of Tame
I make one of a kind garments using secondhand clothing & fabrics, with a focus on low waste, size inclusion, fit and getting y’alls cute butts in some cute ass affirming clothes!
Instagram

SilkDenim
Inspired by the beauty of worn fabric, Louise and Sarah Silk (mother and daughter) started SilkDenim to make Art You Can Use. We re-make 100% recycled materials into individually crafted objects. We use worn fabrics by deconstructing used clothing by hand. We make our work as a response to unsustainable 'fast fashion' and one-time use products.
Instagram | Website

Local Cut & Sew

Cleveland Sewing Company
Cleveland Sewing Company mindfully creates legacy quality goods to live a more eco-conscious lifestyle. We work with natural and organic fibers, locally sourced landfill-diverted fabrics and fabrics made from recycled textiles and water bottles. Our goods are meant to drastically reduce single use products and keep you and our planet healthy.
Instagram | Website

Faan Slow Goods
Faan is a slow fashion brand creating workwear-inspired unisex pieces from organic and salvaged fabrics since 2015. Each piece is cut and sewn by a small team in Cleveland, and every production scrap is reused or composted. Faan’s domestic supply chain, organic sourcing and natural dye program underpin our mission to help establish a circular model for apparel production within the Rustbelt Fibershed.
Instagram | Website

Found Surface
Found Surface is a Cleveland based garment company producing sustainable and domestic cotton clothing, all completely sourced from ethical, domestic supply chains. Found Surface clothing is made to look great, last a lifetime, and do so without hurting people or our environment.
Instagram | Website

Yellowcake Shop
Yellowcake is the signature line of women’s outerwear and accessories designed and crafted by artist and Project Runway alumna Valerie Mayén. As a brand, our aim is to produce high-quality, luxury pieces that provide value for the consumer and a better life for all those who inhabit our world. We do this by Handcrafting all of our products in the USA, which allows us to ensure that the quality we intend is the same quality that you receive. Enacting everyday practices that reduce our carbon footprint, lower our contribution to textile waste, and educate others about these causes.
Instagram | Website

Knitwear

SAGE DYE
SAGE DYE is an artist, archivist and designer currently based in Kent, OH. She works primarily with handmade textiles and yarn sourced from family, friends, and secondhand markets. Blending secondhand objects with experimental handiwork techniques, SAGE DYE creates highly tactile works of wearable art.
Instagram | Website

Natural Dyes

Maggie Latham Studio
Botanical and dyed goods made in Cleveland, Ohio using materials which are locally sourced whenever possible.
Instagram | Website

Praxis Fiber Workshop
Praxis Fiber Workshop has been growing Japanese indigo on vacant parcels in our neighborhood in Cleveland since 2018. We have spent years working with the community to process the dye using the traditional method of Japanese Sukumo. Now, for the first time, we have formed a cooperative to support the development of our indigo program and we are extracting pigment and making powder available for sale. We are so excited to share our first indigo dye kits with you!
Instagram | Website

Re-Art Threads
Re-Art Threads is an embodiment of my agricultural and environmental interests combined with art. Ecological sustainability and a low carbon footprint are the heart of my business. I rely solely on local food waste streams and foraged native plants to color my scarves and prioritize sourcing fiber locally whenever possible.
Instagram | Website

Ethical Sourcing

Harkin
Custom designed leather goods slowly made in Cleveland, crafted in traceable vegetable tanned leather. The story of the animal to the material to the end product only travels through a few hands across a few states while maintaining low waste and a high end product.
Instagram | Website

Publications

Clearline Magazine
Clearline Magazine is a Detroit-based environmental and sustainable textile magazine. Our recent release, issue 005, focuses on land and farm-to-fashion. Clearline welcomes artist submissions and curates the submitted art alongside interviews, creating a publication rich with art in a variety of mediums. During the event, copies of issues 003-005 will be for sale until sold out, and QR codes for digital versions will be provided as well.
Instagram | Website