WORDS

When deciding on a name for this platform, I looked at words relating to textiles. Obviously. But I also looked at words relating to writing and storytelling. That is what this platform is about – stories about textiles.

I kept returning to the word THREAD. According to the dictionary, it has two meanings:

• A long, thin strand of cotton, nylon, or other fibres used in sewing, weaving, and embroidery.
• A theme or characteristic running throughout a situation or piece of writing.

Perfect.

The second word I was drawn to was FABRIC. Again, with two meanings, both relating to things that are important to me.

• Cloth, material, or textile
• A structure or a framework, as in ‘the fabric of society’.

These two words say everything that I wanted to say. The physical materials we use to wrap ourselves in and decorate our bodies and personal space, as well as the stories and narratives we use to communicate and share our lives with others.

That is what THE FABRIC THREAD is about

• textiles and needlecraft
• the stories we tell with and about these textiles and needlecraft

COMMUNITY

The second definition of the word FABRIC also spoke to me. The fabric of society – community. Physical fabric or cloth is made up of different threads woven together. Threads that are of different lengths, strengths, materials, colours, and textures. Threads that are intertwined and stretch in different directions.

The quality and strength of the resulting fabric are determined by the collective quality and strength of each thread. It is the perfect metaphor for community. Individually we are thin, weak, and not up to much, but together we are strong. And our strength comes from the fact that we are not all the same, or all going in the same direction. We need the intertwining, the weaving, and the coming together to give us structure and strength.

COMMUNICATE

Going back to the dictionary, I discovered two new definitions added to the word THREAD.

• A projecting helical rib on a pipe or a bolt, allowing two parts to be screwed together.
• A series of electronic messages following a single topic, as on a message board or social media.

Again, it refers to creating a structure as well as to connecting. Thread is not just about fibre and fabric. It is about people. It is about connecting. It is about how things relate to each other and how each part supports the other to make the collective better and stronger and to make it useful and lend it purpose.

ACTION

The word THREAD is also used as a verb – and action. The dictionary says:

• To pass a thread through the eye of a needle
• To position a thread for use in a machine
• To pass a pipe or bolt through a threaded opening
• To make one’s way through a crowd
• To weave through obstacles such as traffic
• To put things together, for instance, a string of beads

In all these cases, to thread means to move and to connect to make something, or just make a way, to move forward.

On The Fabric Thread, we encourage everyone to recognise their own thread – the fibre in the fabric of life.

Each one of us is but one thread in the complex fabric of life, yet an important part of its structure and strength.