BUFFALO, N.Y. — Stitch Buffalo is on the move. The textile art center closed its space on Niagara Street last Friday and will soon move to a new location on Plymouth Avenue in Buffalo.
2 On Your Side got a look inside the new Stitch Buffalo space on Wednesday afternoon, and compared to the old space, it's huge. It is designed specifically to give refugee and immigrant women the room to make and sell what they create.
"The moving truck will arrive on March 11," said Dawne Hoeg, Stitch Buffalo's founder and executive director.
Hoeg founded Stitch Buffalo to give refugee and immigrant women a place to feel empowered and earn money by creating one-of-a-kind items, everything from ornaments to jackets.
Stitch Buffalo started in an old butcher shop on Niagara Street in 2018, but it's time to move onto a bigger space designed specifically for Stitch Buffalo.
"It's been full of hopes and dreams of what could be, and so this has been two years in the making of thinking about what is the best possible solution for our three programs, and this open floor plan is so exciting for me because when you walk into the retail space, you can see the people, and the products, and everything being made right here in Buffalo," Hoeg said.
The space is wide open and will include a community table, sewing machines, and a wet studio.
"A wet studio is a place where the messy textile arts can take place, so block printing, natural dyeing, marbling, all kinds of textile design," Hoeg said.
With more space, and a larger retail area, more women will be able to be part of Stitch Buffalo.
"Women can come in and stay for the day. They don't have to run in and run out because our space is tight and there is no place for them to be. They actually can sit and work at our community table," Hoeg said. "They're so excited. A few women have come to see the space with me, and the phrase at Stitch Buffalo right now is, when is the new home opening? And so, do I meet you at the new home? So, it's very much their home, their second home here."
And if you look outside, there's a garage door over to the side. That will be the new Second Stitch donation and sorting area. You will be able to drop off donations and buy other people's donations to support Stitch Buffalo and keep textiles out of our landfills.
Hoeg hopes to have a soft opening March 25.