Courtesy of Maggie Dimmick
Meditation Cushions
Fashion lovers who dream in color and texture don’t often see the less glamorous side of those pretty magazine spreads: textile waste.
Maggie Dimmick, a Minneapolis textile designer who worked for big-name fashion houses like Eileen Fisher and Elie Tahari, saw first-hand the waste few of us are privy to—from the excessive water used in cotton processing to the piles of leftover fabric stuffed into giant garbage bags destined for the landfill.
So when Dimmick stepped off the “hamster wheel” of her fast-paced, New York fashion career, she decided to contribute toward a solution. This fall, Dimmick launched the Minneapolis-based Ethel Studio, a line of zero-waste meditation cushions she sews together from rescued fabric scraps. Born from her own meditation practice that became essential for coping with the notoriously grueling pace of the fashion industry, Dimmick dreamed up a product that would reduce waste while contributing to others’ well being.
“Mediation changed my life. It sounds cliché, but it really has. I see it with other people, too,” says Dimmick, who began her practice by listening to guided yoga nidra recordings.
By sitting mindfully with her own discomfort—about her career, her life, and what to do next—one thing became clear. “I didn’t want to create another product that people don’t need. I wanted to make something with more of a purpose.”
Maggie Dimmick of Ethel Studio
Dimmick sorts, dyes, and sews the scraps.
Now living and working in the Twin Cities, it’s here that she partners with small, local designers like Hackwith Design House and Winsome Goods to reuse their bits of fabric and give them new life. Once the scraps arrive at the cozy studio Dimmick shares with another artist, she sorts them into 12 color palettes selected for the cushions. Occasionally she dyes white fabric with natural items like acorns or crushed avocado seeds and skins to create rich, earthy tones.
After sewing the patchwork herself, Hmong-American stitchers in St. Paul complete the cushion. Buckwheat from North Dakota fill each creation, which provides bodily support in a variety of meditative positions, from sitting traditionally to laying down or sitting in a chair. Ethel Studio completes its zero-waste cycle by donating any of its leftover fabric to apparel design programs at the University of Minnesota and St. Catherine University.
Sustainably-sourced products come with a price; Ethel Studio meditation cushions cost $148—up to $100 more than cheaply-made cushions. Yet, Dimmick’s one-of-a-kind versions are handcrafted to last. Find them at EthelStudio.com or seasonally at the Linden Hills Holiday Market in Minneapolis.
Dimmick has come a long way since learning about textiles that end up in incinerators or dumpsters. She calls upon her memories of visits to wasteful textile factories in Long Island and India to inspire her artful, earth-friendly designs, which also include wall hangings and quilts.
While Dimmick knows the amount of textiles she’s diverting from the trash is small compared to what’s discarded worldwide, she remains true to her mission—both environmentally and in encouraging people to better their own lives through meditation.
“My hope is that these cushions can simply provide support for people,” Dimmick says, “whether starting meditation for the first time or developing their practice.”
