Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Hauer.
Emma, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My passion for weaving began back when I was a student at MassArt. I had toured the Fibers department and completely fell in love with the loom room and knew I had to learn how to weave. It’s a very technical, labor intensive art form and that’s what I love about it, there are steps to follow but it still allowed for creative freedom, it hit all the marks for what I was looking for. I’ve been weaving now for about 7 years and still love it. It wasn’t until senior year I really started to consider having a small weaving business and being able to put my weavings into the world. I decided in 2017 to finally take the plunge and open up an Etsy store with some scarfs and household items. Previously I had only sold my work at small local sales and through private commissions so it was quite a difference to jump into the online retail world. I had to teach myself a lot about the platform and running a small business, it’s a never ending work in progress but it’s been fun and rewarding.
Has it been a smooth road?
I definitely would say there have been struggles and there still are new challenges coming up all the time. One of the reasons I put off opening a shop for so long was feeling like I have no idea how to do it or if I had time. I finally stopped making excuses and just forced myself to do it and learn, that has been a fun challenge. I think another struggle I still face is that weaving is a really slow process, think slow fashion, and slow it down again and that’s weaving. Large pieces can take weeks or months even if I’m working diligently, even when I work fast it’s still a slow process from start to finish so building inventory has been a long process. I’ve started to include other work that’s faster to make like sewing pouches and bags from fabric that I already have woven which has helped. I think starting a small business and continually working at it there will always be things popping up but it’s all part of the process.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My business is called Sweater Weather Co. and I make woven wearables and household goods. The name came about because most of my wearables are for chilly weather, or more affectionately known as sweater weather. All my products are woven by me in my studio, I’m a one woman show so I design, make, and package and ship every product. I also do some knitwear and plan to introduce more of that this winter. I specialize in woven scarfs, I focus on creating a unique handmade product using high quality materials, something beautiful yet functional. Every time I ship an order I’m filled with a sense of pride, to see someone love and enjoy what I’ve made always gives me a wave of energy to keep pushing to do this. I think just being a weaver sets me apart, there are weavers out there but it’s not a common art form which makes it feel special. I also really enjoy to dye yarn and create my own color palette, I do use pre dyed yarn as well but I love being able to control the color and placement of a pattern. It’s much more time consuming but I think the end result is always worth it.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I think Boston has an amazing art community and every year more and more handmade boutiques are popping up. Boston feels more welcoming and easier to start in than some other cities. What excites me is how many new stores are opening up that feature local artists, I think it’s an excellent way to get your art out there but to also cultivate an appreciation for handmade goods. Of course there’s always room for improvement and I think the city could really benefit from having more live/work artist housing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.etsy.com/shop/SweaterWeatherAndCo
- Instagram: @sweater_weather_co
Image Credit:
Bio and model pic by Anthony Fusco
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