Unfunded and on the fly, with the hope of creating a center dedicated to making and mending through fiber and textile arts, a group of Santa Cruz organizers banded together. Given the opportunity to rent half an office with PedX, the since-moved bicycle courier co-op, Ann Altstatt, Elaina Ramer, B Miller and Stef Wolfe founded The Fábrica in 2010.

Now, the textile arts resource center and tool co-op has grown into a well-established community space, relocated to a larger unit within The Santa Cruz Hub for Sustainable Living. Walking down Pacific Avenue, the space can be found in a bright green building, with a “No Borders” tapestry pinned to the window. 

​The Hub also houses various other community-driven projects, including The Bike Church, Tenant Sanctuary, Hard Core Compost, SubRosa, Santa Cruz Climate Action Network and the Santa Cruz Welcoming Network. 

​Inspired by ​skillshare projects from around the Bay Area and beyond, The Fábrica keeps an expansive materials and tools library, ranging from fabric, leather, buttons and zippers to sewing machines and sergers. 

 Sara Homan, a volunteer for The Fábrica, threads a sewing machine for Fábrica attendees.

Visitors of all skill levels are welcome, making it an accessible outlet for creative education. Though The Fábrica relies largely on donations to stay open, volunteers work to reestablish how individuals can relate to one another outside of commerce. The community is invited to use or take what they need and give what they can. 

“Volunteers like myself are here to give as much or as little input and guidance as folks want, but there are also other people in the space. It becomes this horizontal learning environment, where people can swap ideas and perspective techniques,” said Ann Altstatt, who is often behind the scenes managing the website, social media and finances.

​​As seen through a mirror in The Fábrica, Lucas pins a pattern against a piece of fabric. Lucas, who hadn’t sewn for years, visited The Fábrica to make a cosplay of Yuri, his favorite character from the Fire Emblem series of games.


In a time when public spaces often come with a price tag, Altstatt found that the best resistance to public life being co-opted by capitalism, which limits places where people can share belonging and dignity in simply existing, was aspiring to create a place to do just that.

“Mending something, salvaging something, is active resistance against consumerism and capitalism. But also, finding connections outside the rigid bounds that we are being offered,” Altstatt said. “Accepting and caring for each other is resistance.”

The Fábrica volunteer Sara Homan [LEFT] instructs Lucas [RIGHT] how to use a sewing machine.


In response to President Donald Trump’s election in January 2016, The Fábrica established a protest banner lending library. The project is a collection of handmade banners sewn by collective members or during community events. 

Visitors to The Fábrica’s website can scroll through an image collection showcasing the numerous banners available for lending, donning phrases such as “All Power to the People” and “The Future.”

“The more community connections that we forge, the more of a net we all have for when there’s natural or political disasters that threaten people’s wellbeing,” Altstatt shared. “In terms of the political climate, or destabilization and disaster and war genocide, things globally that affect us locally, it can feel too big. 

It can feel overwhelming. In addition to thinking about how I’m part of those bigger systems, I find a lot of meaning in doing things that are hands-on and small enough that I can wrap my head around.”

Stacks of donated textiles and sewing tools line every wall of The Fábrica. The workshop’s inventory is organized entirely by volunteers, who occasionally leave silly labels on the boxes.

The space hosts events for fundraising, as well as to teach community members tangible sustainable living skills, with programs like mending circles. Above all, The Fábrica exists to motivate expression, community gathering and sustainability. 

​“I love the different kinds of cross-community combinations. There’ll be young people and old people, unhoused folks and folks from the immigrant community,” Altstatt said. “Those connections, even if they’re not necessarily lasting, are folks sharing space momentarily.” Altstatt said. 

Current open hours are: 

  • Monday: noon to 3 p.m. 
  • Saturday: 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. 
  • Sunday: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

Closed the first Sunday of every month.