We continue our weaver spotlights with a conversation with Scott and Janelle of Erizo Wovens! Erizo Wovens is one of the small businesses that we partner with to make our most sought after and rare handwoven Signature Carriers.
Our partner handweavers often are women-led family businesses operating with a small devoted team. We are delighted to share their stories and showcase their textile artistry and intricate work through the Signature collection.
Erizo Wovens are Canadian artisans who make handwoven fabric on wooden floor looms that are over 30 years old! Using this old technology means that they personally handle each thread creating a unique piece every time. With their handwoven fabric, Erizo Wovens makes a variety of items in addition to the fabric sent to us for our Signature collection.
A Family Business
Erizo is a family run business! Scott and Janelle Turner - the owners started Erizo Wovens together. Scott handles all of the website, inventory, shipping, invoicing, and is the general manager. Janelle is the designer along with handling customer service, photography, and chatting on Facebook with everyone!
They both step in and weave, beam, set up the loom, iron, etc - as necessary. Scott and Janelle also have Janelle's dad, Jim, working with them. Jim has been Erizo's main weaver for the last 3 years. He weaves, beams, threads the loom, and does weft testing. He also makes time to be "Papa" to Janelle and Jim's children.
The Erizo team also includes Sara, a weaving program graduate from a local art college. With over 9 years of textile experience, Sara is a master when it comes to looms. Sara can weave between 12-16m a day on a hand loom! She is incredibly gifted at her craft. There is also Erizo's seamstress, Celine. She is a highly skilled seamstress who also does all of the burling and mending (fixing and inspecting the fabric before wet finishing) and works with Janelle on new patterns for items. Celine inspects each and every inch of fabric before it leaves the studio.
Erizo Wovens has been making baby carriers since 2013. Janelle and Scott's firstborn had reflux, colic, didn’t sleep well and was often just a cranky little guy. Babywearing saved Janelle during that first year. Janelle loved all the fabrics, designs, textures of the baby wraps and began collecting them. One day in search of a wrap on a Facebook swap page, Scott asked her, “Couldn’t you just make one of these?”. That's when Erizo was born. Erizo is Spanish for Hedgehog which is Janelle’s nickname. Cute, right?!
They began with hand-dyed Irish linen wraps for the first year or so of business, but those offerings weren't growing their business. Making a decision to either shut down or make a difficult transition led them into the handwoven world. Once they began weaving, they found their niche! Scott and Janelle in the basement of their home, with Nash on a back at all times, finally got things off the ground and their handwoven wraps started selling. Erizo Wovens is now in their 5th year of business and loving every step of the way!
Erizo's Process
We asked Janelle and Scott to describe their designs and inspiration for the woven wraps you make and they said:
"We live in a beautiful place! Surrounded by the Rocky Mountains in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, means that we always have something lovely to see out our window. Janelle is a huge fan of designing from florals, nature scenes; anything to do with the peace that being in the outdoors can bring. We do a lot of custom work as well, so Janelle works directly with the customer and they bring their inspiration to life! This obviously gives a lot of variety in what our designs can be - as each and every mama that comes to us has a different vision of what they want."
Erizo Wovens' designs are very colorful and Janelle loves to use pinstripes to give variation to the woven fabric. A good pop of black and white in almost every design is a trademark of theirs.
A Handwoven For All
Erizo has always been accessible - that was the first thing the Janelle and Scott identified as important and missing from the market when they started their business. When Janelle was first searching for woven wraps back in 2013, it was very difficult to get what one that you wanted. We all know that babies do not stay little for long. Scott and Janelle modeled their business they planned to offer as much to the market as what was being sought after. That means that when a spectacular design comes out, and they sell 200m of it, they keep going!
They added, "There is no “sold out” really at Erizo. And our price point is in the lower bracket of hand woven’s as well - giving a more readily accessible product to the majority of our customers. We also offer payment plans, which many customers take advantage to help them have a legacy piece for their family. We don’t have the fanciest looms, the most intricate weave structures, or expensive hand-dyed weft yarns. Instead, we offer a great product at a reasonable price that is handmade in Canada by people all making a living wage. Supporting Erizo with your dollars has always shown us that our customers very much appreciate those values!"
That being said - Erizo Wovens' products are top quality, heirloom pieces that customers love the softness of the fabric, the sturdiness of their weaves, and the ability to customize their pieces. Their customers also appreciate how fast Erizo is. Their focus has been always been about sharing the babywearing love far and wide. Their customers have come to appreciate a shorter waiting period before having their new Erizo in their hands.
Erizo Wovens offers both full custom and semi-custom baby wraps. A full custom means that you work with Janelle directly to create exactly the design you want. You can check out all the details here. A semi-custom (or sister spot) allows you to pick the item and the length you want, the weave, the weft and any accents you may like. You can take peek here to see what’s available.
Along with this featured blog, we are excited to highlight our collaboration with Erizo handwovens in our pop up shop: https://babytula.com/collections/pop-up This collection of Erizo Signature carriers is available at a special discount for one day only.
We want to thank Scott and Janelle for chatting with us! If you would like to keep up with Erizo Wovens, you can join their Facebook group, Erizo Chatter. You can also check out their Facebook Page and website: https://erizobabyslings.com. Join their email list for updates on sales, new projects coming up, giveaways and more!