Mission

BACKSTRAP WEAVERS helps refugee and immigrant women obtain hard-to-find supplies so they can continue their craft. We organize venues and connect women in order to promote themselves, communities, and cultural values because no single area facility exists for this purpose.

Through weaving and related activities, women can break the language and cultural isolation that prevents them from helping and empowering themselves.

Montagnard women in traditional dress.

We operate in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, especially Greensboro and Guilford County, which has a high concentration of South and Southeast Asian women including a unique population of Montagnard tribes from the Central Highlands of Vietnam and from Cambodia. Traditional skills like backstrap weaving were universally practiced in their homelands.

Here in the Piedmont, a handful traditionally weave. Some want to weave or sew or knit. Others have related professional skills as seamstresses and tailors, while others pursue sewing and knitting for personal pleasure. Often, what prevents women from weaving is the (small) cost of materials and the feeling that their past useful skill is now useless in America.

We welcome everyone to participate and collaborate with us!