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GOOD READ
DREAMTEAM
Fortheprojecttobecomea reality
Jeanetteknewshewouldhaveto
assemblea team.Becauseshefeltthe
initiativeshouldalwaysbeBIPOCledshe
calledonmetodesignthe BIPOC in Fiber
logoandAlysonChu
tobuildthewebsite.
Workingwiththe
supportoftrusted
allieswhosharedthe
visionforwhatthe
sitecouldachieve,
theteamstarteda
Crowdfunder
campaigntoraise
£20,000inordertopayforthebranding,
buildandmaintenanceofthenewsite.
TheCrowdfunderfibre-relatedproduct
rewardswerecreatedbysometopBIPOC
makers.TheseincludedSurayaHossain of
Mahliqa– a designerandmakerof
delicatehand-knittedandhand-
crochetedtextilejewellery;LolaJohnson
ofThirdVaultYarns;andLeilaBuxofThe
Urban Purl – both talented indie dyers.FROMDREAMTOREALITY
OnSeptember7 thefundraisercampaign
waslaunched,withthetargetreachedjust
fivedayslater.Thespeedatwhichthe
fundswereraisedshowedthelevelof
support from within the knitting andcrochetcommunityforthisinnovative
project.WhentheCrowdfunderendedon
October4,£32,039hadbeenraisedfrom
533 supportersinjust 28 days– an
incrediblefigurethatbestedtheoriginal
target by over £12,000.Supportcamefrom
manywell-known
companies
including
Stylecraft,Simply
Crochetmagazine
andLaBienAimée
butjustas
importantwasthe
supportgivenby
manyindividuals
wantingtodotheirpart to back this
important project.SUPPORTBIPOCINFIBER
Raisingfundshasbeenarduousbutnow
therewardingtaskofbuildingthewebsite
canbegin.If youwishtosupportthis
projectfinanciallynowtheCrowdfunder
hasended,youcanstilldosothroughthe
BIPOCinFiberPayPal.meaccount.Youcan
alsohelpbyspreadingthewordabout the
projectviasocialmedia:we’reon
Instagramas@bipocinfiberorusethe
hashtag#bipocinfiber.Lastlyif youare
BIPOC,workingwithfibreandwishtobe
includedonthewebsite,registeryour
interest now at http://www.bipocinfiber.com“WHEN THECROWDFUNDERENDED,
£32,039 HADBEEN RAISEDFROM
533 SUPPORTERS IN JUST 28 DAYS”
Realisinghowmanypeopleofdifferent
andmixedheritagesweren’tbeing
representedinthecraftingcommunity,
Jeanettebegantocuratethosenames
she’dbeengivenintothePOCDesigners&
CraftersList.Whathadstartedasa search
forknitweardesignersbroadenedto
includemultidisciplinarydesignermakers,
indiedyers,crochetdesignersandothers
workingwithfibre.Theresponsetothelist
wasoverwhelminggratitude.It brought
practitionersofcolourtothepublicgaze,
enablingmagazinestodiversifytheir
contributorsandraisingtheprofile of
those appearing on the list.
DREAMINGBIG
Jeanettewaspleasedwiththisstartbut
felttherewasstilla lotmorethatneeded
tobedone.Herdreamwasthatthelist
couldbetransformedbywideningthe
rangeoffibre-baseddisciplinesincluded,
andcreatinga websitethatwouldbecome
anonlineinteractiveresource.Withthe
new,broaderobjectivetherewasa name
changefromPOCDesignersandCrafters
toBIPOCinFiber.TheacronymBIPOCwas
chosennotonlybecausethetermis more
widelyusedgloballythanBAME(Blackand
MinorityEthnic)butalsoasa wayofmore
broadlyandaccuratelyincluding those of
mixed,non-whiteethnicity.
Thecreationofthewebsitewillenable
BIPOCdesignersworkinginthefibre
industrytofindandseeoneanotherwhilst
enablingeventplannersandpublications
tobemoreintentionalwhencurating
eventsandissuingsubmissioncalls.It will
poolresourcesdesignedtoimproveaccess
toopportunitiesforBIPOCworkingwith
fibreandalsoraisetheinternational
profile of BIPOC makers working with fibre.
Afewofherfavourite things
Lornaalsoloves...
“...drawingillustrationsfora graphicnovelI’mcreating,baking
bread,reading(currentlyShipofTheseusbyDougDorst)and
spendingwaytoomuchtimeupdatingmyPinterestsite”
FindoutmoreaboutLornabyvisitingherPinterestprofile:
‘vintageknitting’, or her website http://www.lornahamiltonbrown.com