St. Theresa Textile Trove, one of Main Street's most successful shops, is a dream business.

        Becky Hancock, 53, and her sister, quilter Terrie Mangat, 48, who had a studio in Over-the-Rhine, were working through the death of their parents in the early 1990s and looking for a something different to do.

        “We had been raised Catholic and loved all the religious and folk art and had this very eclectic interest,” Ms. Hancock says.

Sarai Snyder (left) of St. Theresa Textile Trove helps Barbara Diehl of Anderson Township choose beads for her bracelet-making craft. (Dick Swaim photo) | ZOOM |

        “One of her (Terrie's) friends gave her a statue of St. Theresa, and she put it in her dining room. She said she was having dreams, and a spirit told her to open a shop, keep it small and intimate and it would be a success.

        “She'd been a fabric collector since she was 5, and I had always loved beads and embellishments.” The shop was a natural.

        “Some of the (Over-the-Rhine) kids were asking her to teach them how to sew. A lot of the buildings were being renovated, and we noticed St. John's had a building available,” she says.
       

Working with the neighborhood

        The sisters' focus has been promoting arts in the neighborhood and working with kids.

        “Our goal was to be a positive nurturing influence,” Ms. Hancock says. “We wanted to provide something people could be proud of and use to enhance their lives.

        “So we decided to keep St Theresa as our mentor. St. Theresa is the patron saint of people who have lost their loved ones — particularly parents — and this was just at that time in our lives.

        The fabric shop, like many of its neighbors, is a one-of-a-kind, far from the mall mentality of chain stores, cookie-cutter merchandise and quick-charge check-outs.

Boxes of beads in a rainbow of colors and sizes. | ZOOM |

        Its advertising is word of mouth — seamstress to quilter to crafter.

        People come from Indianapolis, Louisville, Chicago and New Jersey to spend a day treading the shop's creaky floors and poking among the antique shelving to explore the world beyond gingham checks and navy blue wool. There are bolts of dupioni silks, batik prints, African mud cloth, aboriginal prints, embroidered Japanese silks, mirrored Indian cloth and hand-painted sheers.

        “We started with African textiles because Terrie was into quilting with them,” Ms. Hancock says. “Then we went to hand-dyed bali and batiks, then the silks because of the texture and color. We sell mostly cottons, especially the hand-dyed and batik, then the silks and fancy velvets.

        “It's a colorful, magical place,” she says. “It's a bead store, a button shop, a craft source — and a weakness for those with an eye for color and texture and shape.”
       

Browser's paradise

        Wooden cases are filled with beads of every shape and size — glass crosses, cabashons, glass, Indian lustre beads, chevron strands, shells, gourds and agate beads.

        Rainbow strands cover a back wall next to hand-dyed fabrics, and strings of heavy African bone beads hang a dozen deep along a shelf under a row of African jugs decorated with shells.

        “We want (customers) to be blown over by color and beads and shapes and textures and get their creative juices flowing,” says Ms. Hancock, who bought her sister's share of the business when Ms. Mangat moved to Mexico four years ago.

Hand-dyed and batik cotton fabrics. | ZOOM |

        Shopping is never quick here — or easy.

        “It's one of those places you don't dare go in if you don't want to spend a lot on fabrics. You can spend days there,” says Jeanne Barnes of Mount Lookout.

        “My biggest complaint is the parking. The hour meters just aren't enough. I have trouble getting in and out in an hour, what with looking at fabrics and talking to the people who work there. There's always someone to exchange ideas with.

        “It's a place where you are challenged by the fabric. It's so beautiful, you just have to find something to do with it,” she says.

        But don't expect your run-of-the-mill textiles. Leave those to the chains.

        “We have a more eclectic, eccentric mix,” Ms. Hancock says.

        “In the last issue of Martha Stewart Living (magazine), there was an article on oil cloth from Mexico on place mats and lunch bags using these gingham checks and safe, conservative patterns. We are a big source of oil cloth, and she put us in as a reference. People were calling, looking for the gingham stuff. We have everything but gingham.

        “Martha chooses the safe stuff. We choose what's over the edge. You'll find the fabrics here everybody else is too timid to carry — above the norm. That's one of our goals.”

Help from the staff

       

        Guidance or advice on projects is a bonus from shop employees. Most are artisans who have come to the shop looking for fabrics or beads and have stayed on selling what they make.

        “Almost everyone here has some kind of hobby that has to do with beads or fabrics,” employee Amy Wallace says. “I started by selling beads to the owner and came part-time.”

        Today, Ms. Wallace has a rack of her hand-made bead earrings on the counter. And manager Kathleen Keefer makes gift bags, clothes and necklaces displayed among the bolts of fabric.

        Customers include quilters, clothing designers, priests looking for church garments, moms decorating kids' rooms, interior designers, florists, design students, doll makers, beaders and crafters.

        “We even get people who don't know how to sew. They just like the feel or the color of a fabric and want to drape it over something,” Ms. Hancock says.

        Teaching is still part of the shop's plan, though Ms. Hancock says the spring riots and space limitations slowed things a bit.

        “Now we do weekday or weekend classes instead of night.

        “We have quilting, sewing, bead-making, kimonas, pillows. A woman is going to do some Seminole piece work. And we are trying to get other well-known quilters. Kassee Fassett from England is coming Oct. 10 to lecture. The only requirement is that people bring a donation to the FreeStore or the church.

        “We offer scholarship classes for the Over-the-Rhine (residents). And the ones who come, it does make a difference in their lives. It gives them a new skill, an outlet. One of the ladies who lives down the street wanted to learn how to sew. So we hired her to do some part-time work, and she makes some of her own simple outfits.

        “We're not out to conquer the world. We just want to be there for people who want to take the opportunity.

        “One by one.”

       St. Theresa Textile Trove, 1329 Main St., Over-the-Rhine; open 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. Information 333-0399. www.sttheresatextile.com.
       

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