Needles, thread or yarn and a steady hand are all one needs to be part of Gibson Southern’s newest club: textiles club.
This organization is for all people who want to express their creativity by sewing, crocheting or any other type of needlework. Members do not need to have any experience because everyone is learning at their own pace. While the main focus is mainly on crocheting at this time, the possibilities are endless to what people can create.
“It is really just an environment to showcase your work,” junior Allison Spindler said.
Spindler is one of the founders of the textiles club.
After having the idea to create the new club, Spindler began scheming on how to make it a reality, though she was concerned about the interest of the students and wondered if anyone would join.
“I saw a TikTok of another school having a crochet club and thought that would be so fun,” Spindler said.
She brought this idea up to Gibson Southern Visual Arts Teacher Laura Russell mid-April of last school year. She turned down the idea of starting the new club at that time because of how late it was in the year but thought it was a great idea.
“I have wanted to do this for a long time, something that is not related to fine arts so much,” Russell said.
As the new school year rolled around, Spindler was anxious to see what was going to happen with the creation of the club. Luckily, Russell received the okay from Principal Jon Adams, and they were ready to make the textiles club a reality.
Earlier this school year, the textiles club had its first meeting and were shocked by the numbers .There were a total of 15 people who showed up and even more registered to join.
“There were a lot more people than I expected,” Spindler said. “Hopefully more people will be able to come.”
Word about the textiles club spread throughout the South Gibson community and were happy to help the group start.
“We had two huge tubs full of yarn donated to us from the community,” Spindler said. Because of the donations from local benefactors, there is no cost to be part of the textiles club.
As the year goes on, they hope to establish a schedule of when meetings will take place. Club organizers plan on setting up meetings for after school once a week. The after school meeting times will allow members to decompress from the long and draining day while working on their crochet projects.
“I enjoy crocheting a lot,” sophomore Hadassah Hutchinson said. “It is very relaxing and takes a lot of things off my mind.”
Hutchinson is new to the textiles club and does not have much experience. Though crocheting fit right in with her other interests, and she wanted to learn more about it.
Russel realized that crocheting became more and more popular among students in school, which gave her hope for the future of the textile club.
