Students interested in sewing, crocheting, knitting, macrame and embroidery are joining a new student Fiber Arts Club.

Club President Isabella Milani said she wants to bring the AACC community together, one thread at a time.

“I think art clubs are really important in general, because people getting to learn how to express themselves and their own creativity is important, especially when you’re getting older,” Milani, a first-year environmental science major, said.

Fiber arts refers to artwork created from textiles like yarn, fabric or thread. Club members will work on quilts, sewing and knitting projects during meetings, Milani said.

“I do believe that the act of making something by hand in community with other people is an unbelievable learning opportunity,” faculty adviser Hannah Bredar said. “In many ways, it kind of exemplifies what the community college is for.”

Milani said she had hoped to find a community of like-minded people at AACC who shared her interest in sewing, only to end up disappointed.

“I was really excited about getting to know the community and stuff in the school, so I started looking at clubs, and I wasn’t really interested in anything, so I was like, hey, I’ll make my own,” Milani said.

Milani said she wants this club to be a community for students to learn from each other, create art side by side, collaborate and meet people with similar interests.

She said she plans to hold weekly, hour-long meetings for students to craft together. Club members also might join campus pop-ups to display their creations.

“I’m just so delighted that there’s more student energy around those projects,” Bredar said.

Milani said she wants to help keep this art form alive. “Taking things from the older generation and passing it down, I think it’s really important,” Milani said.