How to make your local yarn/fabric shop fat friendly
This image is from Shelli Can’s “Go Love Yourself” collection, released on Valentine’s Day 2020. It reads “all bodies are make worthy.”
I’m all for loving yourself but let’s remember that no one can self-love themselves into a chair that is too small for their body. This Valentine’s Day, as a gift of love and appreciation to myself and all my fellow fatties in the fiber community, I am sharing my top tips for any local yarn/fabric shop invested in making their space fat friendly. Please feel welcome to share widely!
Note: This post may be written TO shop owners/employees, but it is written FOR fat customers with tenderness and fierce love. ❤️ If you are a plus size person who frequents local yarn/fabric shops, perhaps this post will equip you to articulate what you need to be comfortable and supported in our community. If you find that I have missed something, please feel free to contribute in the comments below!
A fat-friendly local yarn/fabric shop must have:
1. Fat friendly seating
Look for sturdy chairs with wide seats and no arms. If space is an issue, consider benches or seating that is less size-dependent. If you are not sure where to begin, Ash of thefatlip.com has published an excellent article on 27 sturdy chairs for fat people. Also be sure to consider the space around the chair — is there enough room to pull it out from the edge of the table and for people to walk around it — and the spacing of seating for individual workspaces (like sewing machine stations).
And remember, if a chair breaks when a human sits in it, the problem IS THE CHAIR, not the human.
2. Extra long measuring tapes
The standard measuring tape is 60”. Not all people have body measurements that fit within 60”. It is embarrassing, awkward, and less accurate to take someone’s measurements using two measuring tapes. I recommend shops replace their 60” measuring tapes with 80”+ measuring tapes (I think 120” is the most readily available — my ideal would be 90” but I have yet to find these for sale anywhere).
3. Plus size dress form(s) & samples
I got teary-eyed when the shop where I work ordered our first plus size dress form several years ago. It means so much to be able to display my samples in a way that does them justice. Plus size sweaters can look sloppy on smaller dress forms or hangers (yes, extra wide hangers are also a thing), with the edges of the shoulders slipping off and the body gaping oddly. Granted, plus size samples require more materials and time to produce, but they are well worth the effort: plus size customers will be feel appreciated and (bonus!) they will buy more yarn/fabric than straight size customers.
Aimee of La Bien Aimée has all the samples for her shop in Paris knit in her size, 2XL. She points out that a smaller customer can still try on a plus size sample, and with some skilled pinning, get an idea of how it will look on their body; the same is not true in reverse. I really don’t know why more shops haven’t picked up on this???
A size 22 dress form displays a 54” cropped sweater (Ursa) over a linen tunic. A measuring tape is draped around the neck of the dress form and a smaller sample is hanging on the wall behind.
4. Clear information about accessibility
Does your shop require someone to use stairs to access it? Is there accessible parking? Where? Are there curbs between the entrance to the shop and the parking that will make it inaccessible for a wheelchair user? In the shop, is there space between displays for a wheelchair to navigate? What about things that could make the space more challenging for customers with sensory concerns, like flashing lights or heavily perfumed soaps/candles etc.?
Accessibility is complicated and there is no solution that will make a space perfectly accessible to everyone. The key is to communicate effectively to potential customers whether or not your space will work for them. I recommend making a statement on your website about the specific accessibility issues in your shop, adding a note to your Google Business listing, and maybe adding a sign to the entrance of your shop.
5. No diet talk
Diet culture is pervasive and it requires time, energy, and resources to learn how to divest from it. I highly recommend Jervae’s ebook, 6 Laws of Fatphobia, as a primer for understanding fatphobia. In general, The Body is Not an Apology and the anonymous online essayist Your Fat Friend put out excellent content for (un)learning diet culture as well.
As a shortcut, here are some phrases you should avoid saying or condoning in your shop:
Anything comparing yarn/knitting to food/an addiction you should get over
“I’m waiting to make this pattern until I lose __ pounds.”
Assigning value judgment to foods in a group setting: “I really shouldn't, I’m trying be good.” (Eating the food your body communicates you want is good.)
“I (she/he/they) am too old/fat/__ to wear that.” (You can wear whatever you want whenever you want.)
Anything that relies on the assumption that a smaller body is better (praising weight loss, reaffirming someone else’s excitement about their own weight loss, etc.)
I am not suggesting that you call out any customer who uses this language (especially if the customer is larger than you or your employees), but you can practice ways of setting boundaries that communicate to anyone else who might overhear such statements that you do not condone fatphobia in your shop.
“We are committed to helping folks make clothes to fit their bodies, whatever their size.”
“We believe the clothes should change, not the body!”
“We love seeing people use making as a way of celebrating/honoring the body they have today.”
”The great thing about this pattern is that it looks great on people of all shapes and sizes.”
6. Fat-friendly all-gender bathrooms
Wobbly toilets and tiny stalls are a fat person’s nightmare; non-gender inclusive bathrooms perpetuate harm and violence to trans and gender-non-conforming people. Shops that rent space may have a harder time addressing this issue, but I encourage you to evaluate your particular situation and prioritize any necessary changes.
A table shows a number of in-progress making tools: a notebook with a hand-drawn plus-size croquis, some gauge swatches, a pair of knitting needles, a cutting mat, pencils and graph paper, a measuring tape, and the bottom hem of a sweater that is mo…
7. Plus size patterns
I have never walked into a local yarn/fabric store and found that every pattern I was interested in came in my size. Most often, I have found the opposite. How disheartening would it be to walk around a shop, find a piece you love, spend an hour fondling yarn/fabric choices, and then ask for the pattern only to realize that it doesn’t come in your size?
Label all your samples with not just the pattern name and the size of the sample but also the available size range of the pattern. Better yet, work toward replacing all patterns/samples that do not go up to at least a 60” bust with ones that do. Meesha of Promised Fibers (@promised.fibers on Instagram) has a blog post with recommendations for size inclusive pattern designers in sewing, knitting, and crocheting, the Curvy Sewing Collective has a great resource of sewing pattern companies that offer plus sizes, Renee Stauffer (@coffeewithroomforcream on Instagram) has created a series of bundles on Ravelry with knitting patterns going up to various bust sizes, and Yelley (@yelleyknits on Instagram) has a Ravelry bundle with crochet patterns going up to a 60” bust.
While you’re at it, why not seek out and highlight size- and gender- inclusive patterns by BIPOC designers?
8. Sufficient supplies for plus sizes
Plus sizes require more yarn/fabric than straight sizes. Consider ordering more skeins/yardage in fewer colors from a curated palette instead of ordering smaller quantities in more colors. If stocking sweater quantities of yarn is beyond your means as a small shop, find ways to communicate to customers how you can get the larger quantities for them, and train employees on reliable procedures for taking custom orders.
I hope you found this post helpful! Please remember that I do not speak for all fat people and I am not (nor do I wish I were) the ultimate resource for all things fat accessibility/body positivity in the making community. Please listen to the fat people in your life and feel free to add your own additions to this list in the comments!