Approved Textiles

Approved Textiles Weaving a sustainable, socially responsible, and ethically sourced textile future.

As a q***r + trans-run fabric store, we feel uniquely situated to try to start this conversation in this public space.So...
06/16/2026

As a q***r + trans-run fabric store, we feel uniquely situated to try to start this conversation in this public space.

Somewhere along the line, Pride organizers started opting for the super-sized, Big Gulp, wholesale editions of Pride.

On one hand, we get it: be gayer, obviously.

06/13/2026

In 2020, Natalie Diaz published the interconnected poetry collection Postcolonial Love Poem. Throughout the work, Diaz explores love as resistance and affirmation, the embodiment of histories, and the relationship between the body, land, and water.

One of the book’s central subjects is water:

“We think of our bodies as being all that we are: I am my body. This thinking helps us disrespect water, air, land, one another. But water is not external from our body, our self.”

I return to this framing often when thinking about symbols, especially the American flag.

Flags are designed to represent states, governments, and borders. The American flag does this clearly: fifty stars for fifty states, thirteen stripes for the original colonies.

But symbols also shape what we learn to notice and value.

The flag teaches us to imagine the United States primarily as a political structure made up of states united. Less visible are the rivers, ecosystems, Native nations, territories, and interconnected forms of life that exist within and beyond those borders.

I’m interested in what happens when we shift the symbol’s center of gravity away from governance and toward relationship, interdependence, and the systems that sustain life itself.

We’re trading stars and stripes for galaxies and rivers.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw, who I read as, two men holding hands walking down the street. Spring break, 2004...
06/07/2026

I’ll never forget the first time I saw, who I read as, two men holding hands walking down the street. Spring break, 2004, West Village. I saw nurturance of q***rness in public and my life was changed.

Public displays of q***rness and transness that subvert normative cultures will forever be my catnip.

Then I got this text from my sister this morning and was reminded why.

I also realized I need to reclaim the rainbow more fully so I can speak this person’s language. This person who felt the need to communicate their hurt in such an unfortunate way.

If hurt people hurt people, this is where I rely on allies and accomplices who have people in their lives who use slurs to choose love and help them heal.

I think part of the reason this hit me so hard is that I became resentful of the Pride flag as corporations, institutions, and big business co-opted it within capitalism.

Pride as profit, not Pride as survival.

I had to search for a new symbol that I could communicate with. BUT symbols only matter if they help us reach each other.

For any allies who need an actionable on Philadelphia’s day of Pride: unblock or refollow that problematic in-law and engage.

It’s party time. Let’s give each other presents
06/04/2026

It’s party time. Let’s give each other presents

06/02/2026

I’m going to sew this hana f***n for my sister’s birthday and it’s going to be cute as s**t AND useful.

Our fourth and final pack is what started this project.One of my favorite Ben Jealous quotes goes something along the li...
05/31/2026

Our fourth and final pack is what started this project.

One of my favorite Ben Jealous quotes goes something along the lines of: a room is only as diverse as the number of different definitions of justice around the table.

For those just joining: As we look to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, we at Approved Textiles are looking at ways we can continue into the next 250 years with patience, love, empathy, collaboration, and understanding at the center of our work toward collective liberation from systems of oppression and discrimination.

For us, nothing epitomizes this more than Ben Jealous’ Never Forget Our People Were Always Free. Throughout his memoir, Jealous shares the ways collaboration and connection are key to social change, providing example after example of how building alliances—even in the most unlikely of places—creates change.

He should know. He served as the youngest President of the NAACP.

If you go back and listen to the songs over the previous posts in our feed for the 250 packs, you’ll hear different cultural interpretations of Amazing Grace, perhaps the most iconic of all gospel songs.

With this pack, we really leaned into that energy of collaboration, like gospel. Someone will still see these designs and think, perhaps, they’re only within one tradition. We’re excited to show the ways they’re more than that.

Because the hardest part isn’t that it’s this or that. It’s that it’s both.
Not either/or, but together.

We just have to listen.

All packs are now available online and in person. We’ll release the full set on Faire later this week. Make sure to use our Faire Direct link in our bio if it’s your first time with us.

We’re nearly two weeks out from our online offering of Bojagi + Patchwork, and we want to make sure materials arrive in ...
05/29/2026

We’re nearly two weeks out from our online offering of Bojagi + Patchwork, and we want to make sure materials arrive in time. Because of that, registration for this workshop will close next Friday, June 5.

Register in the link in our bio.

Bojagi + Patchwork is one of our favorite offerings because it helps people finally start projects with the fabric scraps they’ve been holding onto at home.

If you’re following us, there’s a good chance you care about fabric’s impact on the environment. So many of us hold onto scraps knowing we’ll eventually find a meaningful use for them—this workshop helps unlock the skills and confidence needed to make that happen.

While this class is centered around hand stitching, Matthew will absolutely show you how to translate these techniques onto a sewing machine for larger or more time-sensitive projects.

_____

If you’re in a bordering state, we have a little more wiggle room :) And if you’ve already registered, we’ll be shipping materials soon, so keep an eye on your inbox for tracking information.

05/27/2026

Are you following yet?

This year, we’ve joined the Square Yard Project at PA Flax to grow flax on Fabric Row.

The PA Flax Project is actively revitalizing the flax industry in Pennsylvania. In the Venn diagram of Approved Textiles’ values—handmade, artisan-made, sustainably made—the PA Flax Project is smack-dab in the middle.

Have you read their vision statement?

“We work for a world where beauty and growth don’t come at the expense of people or the planet. In our vision of the future, work is meaningful. Economic opportunities heal the earth. And an American linen industry thrives based on healthy soil and profitable farms.”

Why flax?

Processing fiber flax from field to spinnable fiber is a zero-waste, fully mechanical process where every part of the plant has a purpose: long line fiber for linen, tow for coarser yarns and paper, and shive—the woody core—for uses ranging from animal bedding to building materials.

We’re excited to share our progress

In Postcolonial Love Poem, Natalie Diaz writes about water as something that is not separate from us, but part of us.I t...
05/25/2026

In Postcolonial Love Poem, Natalie Diaz writes about water as something that is not separate from us, but part of us.

I think about that a lot when I look at the American flag.

The flag tells a story about states and borders: fifty stars for fifty states, thirteen stripes for the original colonies. But it doesn’t tell us much about the rivers, land, ecosystems, or Native nations that existed long before those borders and still sustain life now.

We wanted to imagine a different kind of symbol. One that feels less about ownership and control, and more about connection, movement, and life itself.

We’re trading stars and stripes for galaxies and rivers.

The summer 2026 hand sewing offerings at Approved Textiles are finally open.We don’t fully know what to expect this summ...
05/21/2026

The summer 2026 hand sewing offerings at Approved Textiles are finally open.

We don’t fully know what to expect this summer. Between the 250th celebrations and World Cup, we’re holding a version of the season that isn’t too packed, and isn’t too light.

Big picture: classes and workshops are anchored in July and September. In August, Matthew and I are getting out of Philadelphia for a week to recharge before holiday season begins again, and we’ll scale back programming while we’re away. (I’ll never forget someone coming in the second week of September asking for help putting together Christmas gifts 😅) We’ll share more as August gets closer.

Some new additions are connected to our core classes and how our understanding of time in classes has shifted:

We’ve been thinking a lot about what people actually need from hand sewing classes. Time is limited. Attention is limited. And hand sewing doesn’t rush.

We tried different formats—longer sessions, shorter sessions, different price points—but the feedback was consistent: two hours is not always enough, and even three hours can still feel like a beginning.

So we’ve restructured two of our core offerings around that reality.

Sashiko 2
Our original curriculum tried to balance technique and design, but after a year of teaching, we’ve found a 2-hour class doesn’t fully allow both to land with confidence. So we’re splitting them up. This class is only open to students who have completed Sashiko 1 in the Spring.

Tune Up
When we learn a new skill, we have to keep practicing it or we lose muscle memory. We take seriously what it takes to build and retain a practice. While an intro class can open the door, sustaining it takes time. We’re in this together.

NEW OFFERING
The Night Out
There’s something special about Friday nights in the summer. Matthew and I wanted to create an all-inclusive night that meets that feeling: drinks and snacks while hand sewing, slowly flowing into dinner with a local James Beard award-winning chef. After you reserve your seat, all you have to do is show up.

The full schedule is up on our website, linked in our bio.

Address

710 S Fourth Street
Philadelphia, PA
19147

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