Tag: textile-arts

New Events & Collaborations

You may know The Fábrica mostly as a place to be in, a place where resources and supplies are available to use. The Fábrica is also a collective of humans who often help teach and host open hours at the workshop, but we are also artists in our own right–both as individuals and as a group.

One of our greatest artistic joys is facilitating community art-making, often in the form of protest banners. Maybe you’ve seen some of these banners in the window at the workshop. Maybe you helped make one of these banners. Maybe you’ve even borrowed one to take out to a protest! If you didn’t already know, those banners were all designed and set up by the Fábrica Collective…but they were stitched together by all kinds of people!

This month we have a few events connected to the practice of making textile art together. We hope you’ll join us. And please share with friends!

Events at the Fábrica:

First Friday!

Trans Day of Remembrance

“Memorial Quilt”

Please RSVP here.

@ The Fábrica
703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz

Friday, October 2, 2026
6 pm – 9 pm

In collaboration with The Diversity Center and the Cantu Queer Resource & Community Center at UCSC, we are creating a patchwork banner and flag, inspired by the AIDS memorial quilt. This piece will be on display at the Trans Day of Remembrance vigil on November 20th.

Join us to help make a quilt square to in remembrance of a trans person who passed away this year. Community members are invited to participate in creating quilt blocks with names. Supplies will be provided for embroidery, applique, fabric markers or puff paints.

Ongoing workshop:

“Mending Circle”

@ The Fábrica
703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz

Tuesdays! October 13 & 27, November 10 & 24, December 8, 2026
6pm – 8 pm

Bring something to mend and learn some new mending methods! You’re also welcome to join with any hand-stitching project (knitting, crochet, embroidery, etc.).

SAVE THE DATE!

“Halloween Banner Parade”

Starting @ The Fábrica
703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz

Saturday, October 31, 2026
Around sunset

More info coming soon! Join us for our annual protest banner parade down Pacific Avenue. We will meet up in the courtyard of the Fábrica before sunset. Wear a costume or whatever!

SAVE THE DATE!

“Hub Day!”

@ The Hub (Where The Fábrica lives.)
703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz

Saturday, November 14, 2026
Afternoon

More info coming soon! Friends and fans of the Hub are welcome for a barbecue, entertainment and open house.

The Workshop is Open!

Open Hours:

Saturdays 2pm – 5pm
Sundays 3pm – 6pm
Mondays 12pm – 3pm

Weird hours in the near future:
SHOP CLOSED Saturday 10/31

Please check the Hours/Calendar page for the most current information.

Support The Fábrica !

Making a recurring donation of $5 or more helps us a lot! Thank you for your support!

Miscellanea:

  • If you haven’t done so already, save this phone number in your phone: (831) 239-4289. This is who you should call if you think you’ve spotted an ICE or DHS raid in Santa Cruz County. If you want to join the network of legal observers, you can find info about YARR (Your Allied Rapid Response) trainings on their website and socials.
  • Our lovely neighbors Subrosa are a small arts venue and meeting space that hosts concerts and classes almost daily.
  • Our other neighbors The Bike Church are like the Fábrica for bikes! If you’re new to bike maintenance, check out their monthly “Intro to Bikes” workshop.
  • Check out the Free Skool Calendar.

Follow us on Instagram!

A Month of Abundance

There’s nothing special about early August on the list of holidays in my calendar app. No federal holidays. No well-known religious observances connected to this part of the solar year. And yet, here in Santa Cruz,–although we still have a month or two of nice weather and natural abundance yet to come–the summer break from school is over and kids are heading back to classes.

Among the Fábrica Collective Members, some of us are blissfully detached from the school year schedule. And some of us, as parents or workers–are facing the reality of a changing season. Is summer really over?!?

In fact, there is a sort of calendar that honors early August as one of four important yearly times for celebration and transition. The traditional Celtic cycle of the year marks this approximate midpoint between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox as the festival of Lùnastal or Lúnasa (in Scottish Gaelic and Irish respectively, and various other names in neighboring linguistic groups).

Lùnastal is a time of abundance and of transition. The end of summer!! And the beginning of the harvest season, Autumn. The days are still long, but they will grow much shorter during this season. There is warmth and plentiful food at this time, but we are cavorting towards the colder and darker part of the year.

In Santa Cruz, perhaps our seasons vary less dramatically than those at more northerly latitudes, but we will also see much change at this time of year. Of course, the kids are back to school. Soon enough, the tourist season will draw to a close and the university students will return. Farmers’ markets and backyard gardens will be at the peak of their bounty over the next few months before retreating to a monotony of leafy greens for the winter. The days will indeed grow shorter. And eventually, we hope, the rain will return.

At the Fábrica, we have a lot planned for the next few months–a lot of which is outside in the courtyard that we share with the rest of the Hub. But, soon enough, it will be too cold or too wet for outside events. Savor these late summer goodies while they last!

Events at the Fábrica:

Art Show at Little Giant:

“Thread Bare”

@ Little Giant Collective
115 River St S, Santa Cruz

Friday, August 7, 2026, 6pm – 9 pm

Our comrades at Little Giant are hosting the Thread Bare show for the second year! “Make your way to LGC for a collection of suggestive pieces from local sewists, weavers, knitters, crotcheters, and embroidery artists.”

More info on our Events Page!

Ongoing workshop:

“Mending Circle”

@ The Fábrica
703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz

Wednesdays! August 12 & 26, September 9 & 23, 2026
6pm – 8 pm

Bring something to mend and learn some new mending methods! You’re also welcome to join with any hand-stitching project (knitting, crochet, embroidery, etc.).

Two Indigo WorkshoPS!!

“Indigo Mothers & Others”

Saturday, August 22, 2026, 1 – 4pm
* Limited to 6 participants!

“Big Blue Community Indigo Vat”

Sunday, August 23, 2026, 12:30 – 3pm

Find a full description of both workshops on our Events Page.

@ The Fábrica
(Outside in the Courtyard)
703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz

The Workshop is Open!

Open Hours:

Saturdays 2pm – 5pm
Sundays 3pm – 6pm
Mondays 12pm – 3pm

Weird hours in the near future:
SHOP CLOSED Saturday 8/22, Monday 8/24

Please check the Hours/Calendar page for the most current information.

Mil Gracias & Big Thanks:

We hosted our annual yard sale last month and it was a great success! Thanks to everyone who helped out with the event or came to buy supplies. We made some money for our rent fund! And we cleared out a lot of space to make room for new donations of fabric and supplies. We hope you found something nice that inspires you to create and repair!

Support The Fábrica !

Making a recurring donation of $5 or more helps us a lot! Thank you for your support!

Miscellanea:

  • If you haven’t done so already, save this phone number in your phone: (831) 239-4289. This is who you should call if you think you’ve spotted an ICE or DHS raid in Santa Cruz County. If you want to join the network of legal observers, you can find info about YARR (Your Allied Rapid Response) trainings on their website and socials.
  • Our lovely neighbors Subrosa are a small arts venue and meeting space that hosts concerts and classes almost daily.
  • Our other neighbors The Bike Church are like the Fábrica for bikes! If you’re new to bike maintenance, check out their monthly “Intro to Bikes” workshop.
  • Check out the Free Skool Calendar.

Follow us on Instagram!

Yard Sale!!!

The most important think you need to know about the Fábrica right now is that we’re having our annual Super Crazy Extra Cheap Stash-Busting Yard Sale this Saturday. Details and more treats below.

Red, purple, and white flags with liberatory slogans hang from a front porch and flutter in the breeze. The flags are from this years May Day printing event with The Fábrica and Little Giant Collective.

Events at the Fábrica:

Fábrica fundraiser:

“Fábrica Yard Sale”

Saturday, July 11, 12-4pm

@ The Fábrica
703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz

The Fábrica’s 3rd (approximately) annual TEXTILE ARTS YARD SALE is coming up on Saturday, July 11 at 703 Pacific Ave in Santa Cruz. The sale will be in the courtyard of The Hub and inside The Fábrica and SubRosa from 12-4pm.

We will have tons of fabric, sewing patterns, knitting and crochet tools, yarn, notions, sewing machines, and vintage clothes for sale at great prices! This is a fundraiser to support the continued operation of our community textile arts workshop. And this year our friends at LGC will be joining with some bargain prints and live silkscreening at the event. Please share!

Ongoing workshop

“Mending Circle”

@ The Fábrica
703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz

Wednesday, June 29, 2026
6pm – 8 pm

* Starting in August, the mending circle will be every 2nd and 4th Wednesday.

Bring something to mend and learn some new mending methods! You’re also welcome to join with any hand-stitching project (crochet, embroidery, knitting, etc). No machines during this time.

Knitting is a Summer Sport

A motley collection of blue, gray, green, and black yarns of varying thicknesses and textures are perfect for the 3 Day Pullover. All of these were salvaged/donations from the Fábrica.

I recently heard someone refer to knitting as a “Winter Sport” and, while I understand that sentiment entirely (it is certainly slow and fuzzy compared to many warm weather activities), I’d like to argue that knitting is just as enjoyable and practical during the summer.

If you’re an avid knitter, you are probably familiar with the need to have multiple knitting projects going on at the same time. Different knitting projects require different levels of focus and space, so they’re suitable for different environments.

For example, when you’re by yourself, lounging on the porch and enjoying the long June and July evenings, work on your more intricate and bulky project, something that requires counting or reading a pattern and changing colors. I’m working on the King Salmon Sweater from Boyland Knitworks. It’s my first stranded colorwork project in a long time and it definitely requires some attention to detail!

During the summer of 2026, you might also find yourself watching a thrilling World Cup match at the pub with a crew of friends. If you absolutely must bring a handicraft with you, bring something so simple that you don’t even have to look at it! A simple scarf would be perfect, but I’m working on the deceptively simple 3 Day Pullover by Laerke Bagger. This is an excellent project for using a bunch of different yarns you find at The Fábrica, or leftover from your other projects.

And if you’re taking a plane, train, or (the passenger seat of an) automobile on a summer trip, bring something small and complicated that will help you pass the hours without taking up too much space in your bag. Some folks might prefer a lacy shawl or a colorwork knit cap, but I usually opt for socks. I have been using the Muleteer Sock pattern for years and years. It’s a very simple toe-up pattern, but you can change things up to make it more interesting. Sometimes I do seed stitch across the instep, use a self striping yarn, or change up the length and ribbing pattern for the ankle.

By the way, when making socks, I highly recommend knitting both socks at once on two setfs of needles. This will make it easier to knit both the same, without keeping meticulous notes. And, best of all, when you’re done, you’re done!

By Elaina, one of the Fábrica’s co-founders and Collective members.

The Workshop is Open!

Open Hours:

Saturdays 2pm – 5pm
Sundays 3pm – 6pm
Mondays 12pm – 3pm

There will be no regular open hours on Saturday, July 11, due to the YARD SALE!!

Please check the Hours/Calendar page for the most current information.

A Note About Donations:

Some of you may know that we (lovingly!) refer to our neighborhood as the sketchy end of Pacific. And although the area is rapidly gentrifying, the sidewalks on our block see their share of low-level chaos. For this reason, we kindly ask that you never leave donations in front of the shop when we’re closed. Those donations might end up becoming a hazard or a mess before we’re next open and able to take them inside.

If you have a large donations, it’s always best to contact us in advance. And if you want to make sure we’re open, just double check our website or social media. We always post online and put a sign on the door if we need to be closed for some reason.

Support The Fábrica !

Making a recurring donation of $5 or more helps us a lot! Thank you for your support!

Miscellanea:

  • If you haven’t done so already, save this phone number in your phone: (831) 239-4289. This is who you should call if you think you’ve spotted an ICE or DHS raid in Santa Cruz County. If you want to join the network of legal observers, you can find info about YARR (Your Allied Rapid Response) trainings on their website and socials.
  • Our lovely neighbors Subrosa are a small arts venue and meeting space that hosts concerts and classes almost daily.
  • Our other neighbors The Bike Church are like the Fábrica for bikes! If you’re new to bike maintenance, check out their monthly “Intro to Bikes” workshop.
  • Check out the Free Skool Calendar.

Follow us on Instagram!

Happy Summer!

If your life is tied to the school year–through children or employment or whatever–then we wish you a very happy start to summer! May you have more free time for crafts and may you be enjoying the long, warm days. We have a bunch of exciting stuff coming up this summer, so please read on.

A Note About Donations:

Some of you may know that we (lovingly!) refer to our neighborhood as the sketchy end of Pacific. And although the area is rapidly gentrifying, the sidewalks on our block see their share of low-level chaos. For this reason, we kindly ask that you never leave donations in front of the shop when we’re closed. Those donations might end up becoming a hazard or a mess before we’re next open and able to take them inside.

If you have a large donations, it’s always best to contact us in advance. And if you want to make sure we’re open, just double check our website or social media. We always post online and put a sign on the door if we need to be closed for some reason.

Events at the Fábrica & Around Town:

Free Skool CLASS w/ The Bike Church:

“Bike Frame Bag-Making Workshop”

Sunday, May 31, 2026
11am – 3pm

@ The Fábrica,
703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA

This workshop is completely full! If you signed up and got a spot, don’t forget to show up tomorrow! If you didn’t get a spot, go follow The Bike Church and Free Skool Santa Cruz on Instagram so you don’t miss the next one! Or sign up for the Bike Church newsletter on Substack.

See the events page for a full description.

Ongoing workshop

“Mending Circle”

@ The Fábrica
703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz

Wednesdays, June 3, 2026
6pm – 8 pm

After “Mending in Public Day” last month, some of us hatched a plan to have an ongoing mending circle at the workshop. Join us for the first meeting this coming Wednesday.

Bring something to mend and learn some new mending methods! You’re also welcome to join with any hand-stitching project. No machines during this time.

Art event w/ Indexical:

“The Day That Never Came”

Multiple Events Friday – Sunday, June 5-7, 2026

@ Indexical, 1050 River St, Studio #119, Santa Cruz (at The Tannery)

The Day That Never Came / El Día Que Nunca Llegó is a collaborative sound installation, inviting audiences into the social realities shaping life of people without housing.

Amplifying the voices of unhoused and formerly unhoused individuals in Santa Cruz County, the project brings forward stories of survival, displacement, addiction, parenthood, memory, and resilience

The project also features visual works by Little Giant Collective and The Fábrica’s own Ann Altstatt and Joy Schendledecker.

Opening Reception + Q&A
Fri., June 5, 2026, 6-9pm

Workshop: Housing Rights Protest Banner Making (w/ Fábrica Collective Members!!)
Sat., June 6, 2026, 1-5pm

There’s a lot more information about this multi-day experience on our Events Page.

Save the Date!!

“Yard Sale!!”

@ The Fábrica
703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz

Saturday, July 11, 2026

It’s time for our annual blow-out sale. We need to make room for all the amazing donations that come in from our Santa Cruz crafting community. That means super cheap prices on fabric, yarn, notions, and more! Save the date and we’ll see you next month!

The Workshop is Open!

Open Hours:

Saturdays 2pm – 5pm
Sundays 3pm – 6pm
Mondays 12pm – 3pm

Please check the Hours/Calendar page for the most current information.

Support The Fábrica !

Making a recurring donation of $5 or more helps us a lot! Thank you for your support!

Miscellanea:

  • If you haven’t done so already, save this phone number in your phone: (831) 239-4289. This is who you should call if you think you’ve spotted an ICE or DHS raid in Santa Cruz County. If you want to join the network of legal observers, you can find info about YARR (Your Allied Rapid Response) trainings on their website and socials.
  • Our lovely neighbors Subrosa are a small arts venue and meeting space that hosts concerts and classes almost daily.
  • Our other neighbors The Bike Church are like the Fábrica for bikes! If you’re new to bike maintenance, check out their monthly “Intro to Bikes” workshop.
  • Check out the Free Skool Calendar.

Follow us on Instagram!

May Day is Coming!

You may have thought the rainy season was over. Did you put away your waterproofs? Did you dig out your open-toed footwear for the season ahead? Well, you’ll have to pull out that rain jacket again, because your presence is kindly requested…

All of a sudden there’s a lot happening! We have some new interactive events on the calendar. We are also sharing news about some exciting happenings hosted by our comrade organizations, both in town and up on the UCSC campus.

Events at the Fábrica & Around Town:

UCSC Arts + Ecology Festival:

Protest Banner Sewing Bee

Wednesday April 22, 2026

Banner sewing: 1pm – 4pm
Festival: 10am – 10pm

@ The Digital Arts Research Center, UCSC

We’ll be out at the Arts + Ecology Festival: Creative Resistance later this month with a new banner to sew. Come by and add some stitches, and check out all the other presenters, workshops, films and more.

The kids are alright!

“Fashion Teens 2026”

Friday, April 24, 2026
6:30pm – 8:30pm

@ Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz

Use this link to reserve your tickets now!

This event is organized and supported by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and the Arts Council of Santa Cruz County. The Fábrica has provided work space for teen designers and makers whose work will be shown in this stunning show. Tickets are free but they’re going quickly.

In The Streets!

“Mend in Public Day”

Saturday, April 25, 2026
11 am – 1 pm

@ Pacific Ave and Cooper St, Santa Cruz, CA (in front of the old O’Neill Surf Shop)

We will host a Mend in Public Day event in Santa Cruz! Everyone is welcome!

We will have a hand-crank sewing machine and some extra supplies for embroidery or hand sewing. Bring something to mend or a hand stitching project. Bring your own foldy camp chair if you can.

First Friday Art Show:

“My Mom Would Be Proud of Me”

Embroidery by Blaize Wilkinson

Friday, May 1, 2026
6pm – 9pm

@ The Fábrica, 703 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA

This month we will feature new works from one of our long-time collective members and dearest friends.

“My mother was a guild-certified Master Embroiderer; I am not. She died almost two years ago, and these works are not about grief, but also aren’t not about grief. They represent things I find interesting, including time, geology, archeology, human labor, and the natural world. I don’t think my mom would understand what I’m trying to do, and it’s also obscure to me, but I think she would have liked the work itself.”

Community Event:

“May Day”

Banner Printing w/ LGC

Saturday, May 2, 2026
11 am – 2 pm

@ Little Giant Collective, 115 River St South, Santa Cruz, CA

This is our annual May Day event celebrating International Workers Day. Come screen print fabric pennants with slogans celebrating labor and liberation.

This event is free and open to the public.

The Workshop is Open!

Open Hours:

Saturdays 2pm – 5pm
Sundays 3pm – 6pm
Mondays 12pm – 3pm

Please check the Hours/Calendar page for the most current information.

Support The Fábrica !

Making a recurring donation of $5 or more helps us a lot! Thank you for your support!

Miscellanea:

  • If you haven’t done so already, save this phone number in your phone: (831) 239-4289. This is who you should call if you think you’ve spotted an ICE or DHS raid in Santa Cruz County. If you want to join the network of legal observers, you can find info about YARR (Your Allied Rapid Response) trainings on their website and socials.
  • Our lovely neighbors Subrosa are a small arts venue and meeting space that hosts concerts and classes almost daily.
  • Our other neighbors The Bike Church are like the Fábrica for bikes! If you’re new to bike maintenance, check out their monthly “Intro to Bikes” workshop.
  • Check out the Free Skool Calendar.

Follow us on Instagram!

April News from The Fábrica

Here’s the latest news from your favorite local, DIY, creative re-use project. Workshops, concerts, mending as performance art? Yes. All of that and more.

Events at the Fábrica:

A concert!

“Loom Music”

with Phoebe Vlassis

Wednesday, April 15, 2026
7 pm – 9pm

@ The Fábrica

Attention weavers, music nerds, yarn fiends, and art-lovers of all kinds! We are beyond excited to be hosting Loom Music, a concert in the courtyard with musician/weaver/artist Phoebe Vlassis, who makes music with her voice, loom, and electronics.

From her website: “Phoebe is a weaver and musician from Athens, Greece, currently based in New Orleans, Louisiana. … Her most recent project connects weaving with music, using the loom as a percussive instrument.”

See a video of Phoebe’s Loom Music on Instagram and more on her website.

Community Event:

“Protest Banner Sewing Bee”

UCSC Arts + Ecology Festival

Wednesday April 22, 2026

Banner sewing: 1pm – 4pm; Festival: 10am – 10pm

@ The Digital Arts Research Center, UCSC

This Earth Day come help us create a new banner for the Protest Banner Lending Library! We’ll be out at the Arts + Ecology Festival: Creative Resistance later this month with a new banner to sew. Come by and add some stitches, and check out all the other presenters, workshops, films and more.

In The Streets!

“Mend in Public Day”

Saturday, April 25, 2026
11 am – 1 pm

@ Pacific Ave and Cooper St, Santa Cruz, CA (in front of the old O’Neill Surf Shop)

We will host a Mend in Public Day event in Santa Cruz! Please join us.

We will have a hand-crank sewing machine and some extra supplies for embroidery or hand sewing. Bring something to mend or a hand stitching project. Bring your own foldy camp chair if you can.

Community Event:

“May Day”

Banner Printing w/ LGC

Saturday, May 2, 2026
11 am – 2 pm

@ Little Giant Collective, 115 River St South, Santa Cruz, CA

This is our annual May Day event celebrating International Workers Day. Come screen print fabric pennants with slogans celebrating labor and liberation.

This event is free and open to the public.

The Workshop is Open!

Open Hours:

Saturdays 2pm – 5pm
Sundays 3pm – 6pm
Mondays 12pm – 3pm

Please check the Hours/Calendar page for the most current information.

Support The Fábrica !

Are you interested in volunteering with The Fábrica? There are lots of ways you can help out around the shop or at events. If you have some free time you’d like to spend with us, fill out the volunteer interest form.

Making a recurring donation of $5 or more helps us a lot! Thank you for your support!

Miscellanea:

  • If you haven’t done so already, save this phone number in your phone: (831) 239-4289. This is who you should call if you think you’ve spotted an ICE or DHS raid in Santa Cruz County. If you want to join the network of legal observers, you can find info about YARR (Your Allied Rapid Response) trainings on their website and socials.
  • Our lovely neighbors Subrosa are a small arts venue and meeting space that hosts concerts and classes almost daily.
  • Our other neighbors The Bike Church are like the Fábrica for bikes! If you’re new to bike maintenance, check out their monthly “Intro to Bikes” workshop.
  • Check out the Free Skool Calendar.

Follow us on Instagram!

Hand-Printed, From Mumbai

This lovely hand-made fabric spent some time in the bin labled “Handmade Fabrics from Around the World.”
The original label was still attached!
According to a language translation app, the label describes attributes of the fabric such as size, price, location, and style of printing.

There’s a lot to criticize about how technology and capitalism have affected textile arts (and every other aspect of our lives!). However, technology sometimes allows us to learn and discover things that we wouldn’t otherwise have access too.

A gorgeous handmade cloth with an intricate printed design had been living in the “Handmade Fabrics from Around the World” bin at the The Fábrica. The cloth had a crispy, old-looking paper label affixed to one corner. With the help of a language translation app, we were able to take a picture of the label and discover more about the cloth. Of course, language translation apps are not always very accurate, but this is what we think we’ve learned:

First of all, the label is written in Hindi, using the Devanagari script. The cloth comes from the Mumbai Sapanagar Village Industries Association. Applying our own understanding of fabric production (weaving, dying and printing, etc.) to the words we see on the translation, it seems this label included places for the worker to write in various characteristics of the fabric. Those included thread count, cloth length, printing method, fabric content, dye lot, and retail price. Although the worker’s beautiful script can still be read in some places (the original piece was 1.85 meters), most of it has faded or worn away.

This translated label gives us a few answers about its origins, but there’s so much more to know about the making of a textile! How many people were involved? What is the Village Industry Association? How did the fabric end up in Santa Cruz? And so much more! What questions do you have about how a piece of cloth is made?