Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Jones.
Hi Amber, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started Hanging By Threads in 2009 selling handmade purses and aprons on Etsy. Throughout the last 16 years Hanging By Threads has morphed as my own tastes and interests have morphed.
Today I mostly make textile jewelry and collage art heavily influenced by the west Texas desert and northern Mexico landscapes and folk arts. The colors, the plants, the sky, the stitches on the embroidery: they stay with me long after I’ve seen them.
I love repurposing to find new uses for old, previously loved textiles in my handmade pieces, so you will find that nearly all of my pieces have at least one repurposed element in them.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t think a small business ever has a “smooth road” laid out in front of it. For me, my biggest struggle has always been creating a balance and carving out time for this thing – this business – that brings me so much joy and satisfaction. Until mid-2022 I was teacher and school administrator for more than 20 years, and that career demanded so much of my life and time.
Even now, being home full time continues to present challenges carving out time for Hanging By Threads, but I do what I can when I can. I try not to feel guilty when life demands I do things that are not for my little business. My sweet and supportive husband and I have some positive changes on the horizon that should allow me to devote more time to Hanging By Threads by this time next year, so that’s encouraging!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I create one of a kind textile jewelry and collage art using new, repurposed, and vintage materials. I scour my own stores of fabric and old textiles and clothes, thrift stores, as well as my friends and families cast-offs. The brighter the colors and bolder the pattern, the more I’ll probably love it!
I inherited all my grandfather’s neckties and use those in many of my pieces, too. The patterns and colors on neckties caught my attention at a young age; I still stop whenever I pass a necktie display at a department store just to admire the colors and patterns.
The most difficult pieces I make are textile collage landscape pieces. My ever-patient husband stops all the time while we’re out overlanding on our vacations in Big Bend so I can take pictures of landscapes to use as inspiration for these textile collages. While I love everything I make, these textile collages make me most proud.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up I was very quiet and reserved in public, but much more free and comfortable in small groups of well-known friends and family. I was a weird mix of girlie girl and tomboy: I loved dresses and Barbies but I also loved being outside riding my bike and climbing trees, usually doing all of those in a dress!
From the time I began school, I was a terrible student and, like I said, quiet and shy until I changed schools when I was 13. I started attending a private school on 22 wooded acres and found my voice, my confidence, and my people. Finding your tribe can change everything. This school, those teachers, and those students changed the trajectory of my life and helped me find confidence is experimenting with my taste in music and clothing, and being comfortable not moving with the crowd.
I found that, at a young age, I loved fabric. My mom, dad, and both grandmothers could sew quite well; it was my parents, though, who taught me both hand and machine sewing. I started hand sewing Barbie clothes when I was about 8 and graduated to making my own clothes in junior high school. The time my parents spent teaching me this craft planted the seeds for me to find the joy in textiles and utilizing them in the works I produce today.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hangingbythreads.etsy.com
- Instagram: @hangingbythreadstx
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/hangingbythreads
