05/16/2023
Support the teachers and vendors of Stitches in any way you can. This is a huge blow to the fiber industry. These are individuals that support themselves and their families.
The bankruptcy of XRX, Inc., home of STITCHES events and former publisher of XRX Books and Knitter's Magazine, was announced yesterday, and except for a brief statement posted on their website, the company has completely disappeared.
The kind people at XRX single-handedly launched two of my ongoing careers: as a teacher at the national level and as a technical editor.
Lifelong friendships and solid business partnerships began at one STITCHES event or another. I met a solid majority of the fiber industry folks I know through STITCHES. You know quite a few of them, too, as teachers or vendors or travel buddies.
Those teachers and vendors are hurting right now.
One virtual STITCHES event was held this past weekend. Those teachers aren't going to be paid. Teachers who had contracts for future, now cancelled, STITCHES events are now scrambling to fill those sudden vacancies in their calendars so they can replace the income they expected to make and now won't.
Vendors will be the hardest hit. They have already paid hefty booth fees months (sometimes up to a year) in advance, and most likely won't be reimbursed. These vendors now have to try to find alternate shows or festivals to participate in, on short notice, so they can make the income they would have received via XRX, so they can continue to feed their families, pay the mortgage, pay medical bills, save for college, etc. Oh yeah, and to attempt to recoup those huge booth fees that have already been lost.
If there's a teacher or a vendor you admire who has lost or will be losing income due to this bankruptcy, please seek them out and see if there's a way you can support them. Are they teaching classes online? Take them. Do they have product you can purchase online? Place an order – then place another order. Sign up for their newsletters. Go to shows they'll be attending. Send words of encouragement. Share any social media they post, so they can reach a wider audience. If they have a Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee or a tip jar button on their website, hit that button and send them some money.
The bankruptcy of XRX, Inc. is already having a huge impact on the fiber industry. Please help if you can.
