Weaving Sea Cliff back together

The single strand of yarn moved over and under, over and under, held by a child’s small hands. She sat on the ground, eye-level with the bottom of the loom, which towered above her. Lifting each longitudinal thread connected to the loom’s frame, the child guided the yarn horizontally, stitching a pattern as the finished product grew.

The loom leaned against the wall of St. Luke’s Church, the site of Sea Cliff’s weekly Farmers Market. It is usually em-ployed to create small-scale art projects or to knit winter scarves, but on July 14 the loom became a symbol of unity for resident Kristie Leigh, who was intent on weaving the village back together.

Describing her effort as a “community weaving project,” it is an extension of the activity at her company, Crafted, which she founded in January. Among the workshops offered there, Leigh’s weaving class became the most popular. And then she began to notice an abrupt shift in the community.

After the last village election, in March, “The town became very divisive,” Leigh said. “There was a lot of finger-pointing and division, which is not what Sea Cliff stands for. I needed to find a way to reconcile the tension.”

At Crafted’s first weaving class after the election, Leigh discussed her observations with the women who attended. They encouraged her to start a community-wide effort by setting up a larger-than-life loom at locations around Sea Cliff, moving it from place to place and inviting people to weave a line of string into it.

“This project would get everyone involved, bring us back together and have something to show for it,” Leigh said. She wasted no time, and in just a few days, she built the five-foot-square loom with her husband, Brooks.

Leigh and members of her class wanted to begin the project in a location where it would have a diverse audience. “We thought the Sea Cliff Farmers Market would be the perfect place,” said Jordan Loftus, a participant in Crafted’s weaving class. “The location attracts a mix of people, so a variety of individuals would weave together.”

Amy Peters, founder of the Farmers Market, supported the effort, because she had also noticed the at-times contentious atmosphere in the village. “The community weaving project is an amazing idea,” she said. “I love the idea of people participating in a collaborative effort, and I certainly appreciate the metaphor.”

From the moment Leigh debuted the project, it began bridging a gap and attracting attention. People from around the village, young and old, new and longtime residents, took part. “My hope for the project was to blend the different people who live here together and have them learn from one another,” Leigh said. “It was beautiful to watch my dream come to life, and to meet so many new friends.”

She plans to continue the work at the Farmers Market this summer, as well as at upcoming Sunset Serenades concerts and the annual Mini Mart. “When it’s finished, I would love to display it in high-traffic places in Sea Cliff, like the libraries,” Leigh said. “I especially want kids to see it, talk about why we made it, and say, ‘Hey! I wove that line right there.”’

While sometimes only a few inches of string are added at a time, what is described simply as “the project” grows every day. “Even if it’s just one line, it all comes together in the end,” Loftus said. “It’s a symbolic masterpiece, and like Kristie, a genuine asset to the Sea Cliff community.”