The average American throws away 82 pounds of fabric material every year, contributing to 92 million tons of global textile waste.
A Sunnyvale nonprofit is on a quest to reduce that amount, while also supporting local crafters.
At a warehouse at 1240 Birch Ave., FabMo volunteers collect hundreds of scraps of fabric, along with leathers, tiles, carpets and more, and the organization sells them at an affordable price. Their efforts help save roughly 70 tons of materials from ending up in the landfill each year. Most of their inventory comes from weekly donations made by dozens of San Francisco Design Center showrooms, but others come from community members hoping their materials can be creatively repurposed.
Palo Alto resident Hannah Cranch is the co-founder of the organization, which opened its Sunnyvale headquarters in 2020. As a former school teacher, Cranch would collect and distribute discarded fabrics to her peers, who would then use the material for classroom projects.
“I knew that other art teachers would be wild eyes to get these gorgeous things,” she said inside the warehouse recently, surrounded by yards of colorful fabric. “That’s what made me say, ‘Wait, wait, stop throwing things out. Other people can make use of them.’”
As her collection grew, Cranch and her husband, Jonathan, were inspired to open a sustainable place where locals could easily access the materials, including aspiring textile and fiber artists or teachers in need of craft supplies. Jonathan, who died in 2022, helped FabMo apply for nonprofit status in 2010, opening its doors to dozens of volunteers hoping to join the cause. They set up shop inside warehouses in Palo Alto and Mountain View before moving to Birch.
“It’s a great social environment to volunteer in,” said long-time volunteer Holly Welstein. “I just love it when someone new comes in and says, ‘Wow, all of this stuff was going to be thrown away?’ That’s definitely the response you get.”
Interested shop-goers can make an online appointment to visit the Sunnyvale facility, or place an order to pick up materials through their online store. The nonprofit also hosts meet-ups and workshops around the South Bay, where local residents can learn new skills and meet like-minded creators.
We recently asked Cranch about her experience with FabMo. Her answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Q: What does FabMo stand for?
A: Fabrics and More. My husband thought of the name.
Q: Where does FabMo get its donations?
A: We drive up (to the San Francisco Design Center) once a week with black plastic bags. We do the work, go around every floor in the building, every show room and speak with them personally — “Do you have anything today? What about your carpets?” Stuff like that.
(Private parties) have become a very major source of donations for us. We don’t solicit those, but people now inquire all the time. There is a heightened awareness of the problem — textiles don’t recycle well.
Q: What are your thoughts on textile waste?
A: We’re very happy that the problem of textile waste is coming to the forefront. We are seeing other places in the U.S. address it and some really interesting things happening in Italy and in Australia. There’s a building and energizing of interest to problem solve. While we think what we’re doing is pretty unique, it’s delightful to hear about similar places in Austin and Colorado, a little bit of a place in Seattle, New York and Philadelphia.
Q: What are some exciting projects people have created from shopping at FabMo?
A: So much of what we see is so truly inspiring, it’s overwhelming. People have done amazing things with different types of fabrics and piecing them together into quilts, it’s just amazing, amazing stuff. One woman, who does our FabMo newsletter, made a traditional quilt using silk. She had these stars that almost glowed because the shininess of the silk was offset by the colors. Its mind-boggling how much time that would take.
Q: What do you enjoy the most about FabMo?
A: The incredible support we get from volunteers, and getting to know people and see what their interests and passions are. Also knowing that what we’re all doing is doing something to make the community better, or help in some way. It’s really neat to have people feel useful.
Some who come for the first time actually say, “I’m so overwhelmed,” and we say, “That’s OK, just come back another time.” Not that we want to make people feel gasp-y, but just to have them appreciate that it is monumental. That’s kind of fun.
Name: Hannah Cranch
Age: 81
Position: Co-Founder, FabMo
Education: San Jose State University, majored in education and minored in French and English
Residence: Palo Alto
Five things about Hannah:
— Hannah and her husband, Johnathan, first held fabric distribution events inside their Palo Alto home.
— She is not a huge consumer, and likes to find ways to reduce waste.
— She has adopted pets for the last 50 years, including cats and dogs and chickens.
— She worked as an art teacher in the Palo Alto Unified School District
— She has a fascination with learning languages.