Meet me at “Sustainable Spinster”

(Text shared from @sustainablespinster Insagram account. Originally posted December 5th 2024)

Hi 👋 My name is Zoë Van Nostrand. I’ve been a passionate and informal student of textile arts since I was a child. Over the last twenty years I’ve traveled around the world seeking out textile traditions in every country I traveled to, as well as taking every textile related class I could afford in my home community of the Finger Lakes.

I recently received a small grant to teach mending and repair programs which inspired me to create a separate account to promote these programs.

But first let me offer some context for my handle, and promotional moniker moving forward, because words have power and history behind them.

S P I N S T E R
Spinster has a negative connotation in modern English, but did you know it used to refer exclusively to unmarried working class English women in the 17th century who financially supported themselves through spinning and carding wool? The lowest cost tools available, that allowed women to support themselves and create a necessary trade good through the skill of their hands; a good that then literally clothed people. “Spinster” has also been reclaimed by certain aspects of the American feminist movement, pushing back against the narrow minded narrative that women’s worth is gained only through marital partnership. I consider it an honor to practice, preserve, and promote the traditions developed by my European ancestors in the working class, and in my small sphere shift the way words have turned against them.

S U S T A I N A B L E
As someone who loves clothes, textiles, shopping, and crafting- while also being extremely concerned about the extremely negative and long-lasting environmental impacts of textile and hobby crafts production has on the planet, I have built my personal textile practices around reusing materials, reducing waste, and prioritizing working with naturally occurring and biodegradable materials as much as possible. This is intentionally woven into how I share information and how I craft, and will be a consistent aspect of what I share here.

I have more thoughts on these words, but Instagram has a word limit so I’ll tie up this post here. 🪢