Each month, The Studio loans $500 to artisans in need in order to help them advance their business and livelihood. You can read more about this project here. Below you'll see who we supported in 2023.
This month we're splitting our $500 loan between to two textile artisans in Tajikistan.
Nilufar uses hand embroidery processes to create detailed cloths like the one above. She applied for a loan to buy fabrics and threads to expand her embroidery business and The Studio is helping her take her business to the next level with this loan!
Manzura creates detailed cloths for functional and decorative uses, and needs to buy a new sewing machine to continue producing work for her clients. I think you can see from the picture that her sewing machine is beyond antique! The Studio is supporting her in buying a new machine so she keep her business going.
This month The Studio is supporting two businesses in South America who need help purchasing materials to create their crafts and keep their businesses growing.
Keylin is a hammock maker who learned the skill from her parents and wants to keep the family trade alive. The Studio is helping her purchase threads for weaving the hammocks so she can support her growing family and parents who share a home in El Salvador.
The Margaritas de Chuisuc (left) is a group of women in Guatemala who make traditional belts decorated with intricate beading. The Studio is helping them purchase materials including belts, beads, and thread so they can produce more products to help them grow their business. Most of the members are mothers and grandmothers who want to help provide more income for the family so their children have access to higher level education, and this loan will help them make that dream a reality!
This month we're supporting two women artisans who need some supplies and equipment to keep growing their businesses and supporting their families.
Salminah is a mother, wife, and basket maker from Lebak, Indonesia who uses her profits from her basket making to help support her children's education costs. She needs more weaving supplies to make more baskets and The Studio just finished out her loan so she can get the materials she needs.
Shahnoza is a master seamstress who has been sewing for 17 years and learned the trade from her mother. She creates traditional tablecloths known as "kurok" by hand, and helps support her family with her sewing skills. She needs a new sewing machine to continue growing her business and The Studio just completed her loan amount so she can go get her machine straight away!
In April, The Studio is supporting two artisans who need more supplies for their businesses to create more stability for their families.
Nuray is a mother and artisan who creates traditional Turkish molded figurines and sells them to help support her family. The Studio supported her this month in buying more molds and powders to be able to take her business to the next level!
Tufa creates traditional Tongan dresses and suits using coconut and palm based materials and dyes. She cares for her elderly parents since all of her other siblings have moved abroad, so this loan will help her give her parents the medical and lifestyle support they need!
In May, The Studio is supporting two women who have worked hard to build successful businesses, but need an extra bit of help to take their businesses to the next level.
Sojida is a mother in Tajikistan who has been building an embroidery business to help support her family and is ready to take the next step in her business -- buying a computer-based embroidery machine. The Studio is helping support her to make this big purchase so she can take her embroidery business to the next level.
Seruwaia is a mother of five who designs necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and fans made in the traditional materials and styles of Fiji. The Studio is helping her purchase a large batch of beads and thread so she can sell her work in a market stall -- an opportunity that will help her pay for education costs for her children.
In June we're supporting two embroidery artisans from Tajikistan who need supplies and equipment to advance their businesses.
Fazilamo crafts pillows, blankets, and decorative items embroidered in the traditional Tajik style. This loan will help her purchase fabrics and a new embroidery machine so she can produce her items more quickly and with a higher quality.
Mukaramai creates traditional women's clothing using sewing and hand embroidery techniques, a craft she learned from her mother. She helps support and care for her parents as they age, and this loan will help her expand her business so she can better support her family through her business.
In July, we're supporting two women in Tajikistan who need fabrics, threads, and equipment to keep growing their embroidery businesses.
Nilufari is a seamstress and embroidery artisan in Tajikistan who is working hard to support her children while her husband works in Russia. She started her sewing business 10 years ago and has grown it into a reliable income source for her family. The Studio is helping her purchase a large batch of fabric and embroidery thread so she can produce and sell a larger amount of work at once.
Dilafruz is an embroidery artisan from Tajikistan who helps support her three children with her embroidery business. She has been sewing all her life and has grown her embroidery business from the ground up. The Studio is helping her purchase a new sewing machine which will help her produce more of her traditional folk art style clothing and cloths.
In August The Studio is providing loans to two women who live in countries where financing for women is extremely scarce: Turkey and Tonga.
Cemile is a mother of two and a professional blanket maker. With this loan, she will purchase fabrics and threads that she needs to continue growing her textile business. Cemile lives in a rural part of Turkey where loans are not typically available for women, so this loan is an incredible opportunity for her business!
Akosita is a single mother with six children who lives with her sister in Tonga. Together, the two sisters support their children and run a weaving business making ta'ovala, a traditional woven cloth worn in formal Tongan occasions. The cloth is made using a leaf native to Tonga called pandanus, and The Studio is helping the sisters buy a large batch of the leaves in order to make a bigger batch of the cloths to sell at local markets.
In September, The Studio is supporting two artisans who produce traditional cloths and mats that are in high demand in their cultures.
Siteri learned the craft of making tapa, the traditional Fijian cloth that is made from the bark of a mulberry tree. The bark is made into a fibrous pulp, dried, and hand painted by Fijian women like Siteri all across the country. Siteri is growing her tapa business and The Studio is helping her purchase a large batch of materials including the cloth, paints, and brushes needed to produce her products.
Santos weaves traditional sleeping mats in El Salvador, and needs large batches of tule (a sturdy grass used as weaving strands) in order to run her expanding tule mat business. She lives with her in-laws and cares from them along with her husband and 6-year-old son, helping financially through her weaving business. She weaves dawn til dusk Monday - Saturday, then sells the mats at a local market on Sundays. The Studio is helping her purchase 15 rolls of tule which she will use to meet the high demand of mats she produces!
In October, The Studio is supporting two artisans who work in the fiber arts to produce locally made traditional items.
Mine is a knitter who sells her hand knitted goods including children’s booties, vests, and other clothing items in her hometown in Turkey. The Studio is helping her purchase more yarns so she can expand her business and provide more stability for her family. This loan is part of a special program that helps facilitate loans to low-income women in rural parts of Turkey where women don’t typically have access to loans.
Santos is a hammock weaver, a trade she learned at a young age from her parents and has passed on to some of her own children. The Studio is helping her purchase silk and poly-knitted yarn for hammock making in large quantities so she can purchase her materials at the wholesale price, thus leaving more profit for her business. She is a mother, wife, and grandmother living in a shared space with her five children and their kids, all of which depend on her financially, and she says this loan will go a long way in helping her improve her family’s living conditions.
This month The Studio is supporting an embroidery artist in Tajikistan and a potter in Kenya to buy the equipment they need to grow their businesses.
Margaret is a mother of four children, and has had an arts-and-crafts business for the last 10 years making and selling jiko liners, a ceramic pot that Kenyans use as coal grills for cooking their daily meals.
The Studio is helping her purchase clay soil, red ore, and cement, which she uses to produce the cookware that helps support her family. With this large purchase, she can create and sell more pots in a short period of time.
Maftuna creates traditional embroidered blankets in Tajikistan using a process called gulduzi, which is one of the most difficult techniques in gold embroidering. The Studio is helping her purchase a new embroidery machine to help speed up her process and avoid time-consuming hand stitching work that is wearing on her hands.
In December, The Studio is supporting two artisans, and one group of artisans in Guatemala.
Nargiza is a seamstress and mother of two from Tajikistan who sews embroidered Tajik cloths and clothing. The Studio is helping her purchase a new embroidery machine, which will speed up her process and allow her to sell more products each month. Being able to sell more products will help her support her family and improve their living conditions.
Gülzade is a mother and grandmother in Turkey who runs a textile shop selling fabric, threads, and yarn to help support her family. The Studio is helping her purchase more yarns and threads to sell in her shop, which will help her provide more support for her growing family.
Unidos De San Lorenzo is a group of artisans who work together to provide financial and labor support for each other’s textile businesses. The group produces traditional Guatemalan embroidered blouses, and The Studio is helping them purchase more materials so they can produce larger quantities of their goods to sell at local markets.
Each month, The Studio loans $500 to artisans in need in order to help them advance their business and livelihood. You can read more about this project here.
