STITCH ‘EM
DON’T DITCH ‘EM
Peter Dopchev
THROUGH SEWING NIGHTS AND CLASSES, EMILY KULPA HOPES TO HELP PEOPLE REPAIR, RESTYLE AND HANG ON TO THEIR FAVORITE TOGS. By Stephanie Maltarich
Emily Kulpa hosts a Community Sewing Night at her shop, Resilient Threads. 18
Emily Kulpa has loved thrifting for used clothing since she was in high school. A couple of decades later, she’s in the business of getting the used textiles back on the clothing market through her shop, Resilient Threads. Now she wants to teach people how to repair their own favorite togs. “Sometimes when I pick a piece from a store, there’s one button missing, or the tiniest hole,” explained Emily. “And I’m thinking someone gave that away because they don’t have the know-how or the tools to fix it.” Emily moved to Crested Butte from Summit County four years ago. For most of her adult life, she used her culinary degree to work in restaurants. But a brief encounter with a guy wearing a vintage Calvin & Hobbes t-shirt at a music festival in Gunnison changed her career trajectory. That guy was Crested Butte local Zach Vaughter. Soon after they met, the pair
brainstormed all things vintage and then opened Resilient Threads. What started as a 200-square-foot pop-up shop is now an Elk Avenue storefront that sells vintage, eclectic and funky used clothing. Emily is passionate about getting imperfect clothes fixed and back into people’s closets, and she is creating community classes and sewing nights around repairing clothes. Last summer, Emily’s mom, an expert seamstress, visited Crested Butte for a month. She spent much of her vacation with her sewing machine in the back of the shop, fixing clothing items Emily didn’t know how to repair. Before long, Emily noticed friends coming by, sitting on the couches for hours working on their own sewing projects. “That’s actually where this whole thing came from,” she said. She envisioned a Community Sewing Club, a weekly gathering for people to learn
