Staff Spotlight: Sarah Ervin
This month, we're hanging out with Sarah Ervin to chat about all things creative, fabric, and even yarn made from... dog hair?! Get ready for a fun peek into the world of our Fabric Department Lead at ACR!
How did you find Austin Creative Reuse?
I think I first heard about Austin Creative Reuse from a sewing friend, back when it was in the Linc. I don't remember what I bought that first time, but I know it was love at first browse!
What’s your favorite part about working at ACR?
My favorite part of my job is probably that feeling of inspiration I get from seeing projects that other people have made from things here, touching raw materials waiting to be transformed, or just talking to volunteers or customers about the creative practices that light them up! I'm also truly grateful for the moments of zen I experience when I'm sorting and processing donations. I just really love fabric and find those parts of my job meditative and restorative.
How’d you end up as the Fabric Department Lead at ACR?
My path to ACR has definitely been winding, from Arkansas to Chicago and finally to Austin, with stints in costume construction, higher education, and business administration. I was working as a personal stylist for nearly 7 years before starting here, and I realized I really needed to find work that better aligned with my personal values and that was more creatively inspiring. I'd volunteered at ACR a few times and loved it, so when I saw the Fabric Department Lead position posted, I took a chance and applied! I'm glad I did.
What’s the most interesting thing you’ve found donated to ACR?
Probably yarn made from dog hair! I was volunteering with a friend, securing balls of donated yarn, and we got to a bin of very coarse, scratchy yarn. When we emptied the bin, we found a business card for a woman who turns your pets' hair into yarn!
Are you an artist, crafter, or maker? What mediums do you work with?
Right now, my main hobbies are sewing and crocheting, in addition to a little amatuer creative writing and music making. I sew a lot of camp-style shirts for myself and my husband out of vintage fabric, much of which I've gotten from ACR. I also did a lot of drawing and ceramics in college and especially loved figurative sculpture. I'd like to get back to those someday, but... so many hobbies, so little time!
What do you do when you’re not working at ACR/what other hobbies do you have?
I practice yoga everyday and just started a Tai Chi class with my husband. We also like to roller skate together, bowl semi-regularly with some friends, host a monthly supper club, and hike/camp a couple of times a year. I'm also in a very unproductive band called Ghost Butter—we're figuring out how to make ambient-ASMR-poetry.
Do you have any children or pets?
We currently have one cat named Dandy, who was a stray that adopted us. We found her asleep on our porch one morning, fed her a piece of sliced turkey, and she never left. She's an old lady now, adapted to her sleepy life of indoor leisure, jumping up to watch the occasional opossum in our back yard or her favorite TV show, Yoga with Adriene (she likes watching Benji the dog).
Are you from Austin? And if not, where are you from?
I've been in Austin for 8 years now, but I'm originally from Arkansas. Both places feel like home to me. You might see me wearing my vintage red Arkansas tee sometime!
Wowza, what a talent Sarah is, wouldn’t you agree? Don’t forget to join us next month to meet another one of ACR’s amazing staff members!