Feltmakers Competitors

Since we first opened in 1969, alot has happened. Dharma started as a yarn store and then added dyes for Tie-Dye and then fabric paints, then T-shirts, then clothing, and on and on. We opened another store in Marin County in 1975 and closed the Berkeley store sometime after. We started mailing a catalog in the early 70's and the mail-order sales quickly overshadowed the store's and became the focus of the business. Later, in the early 90's when the internet was born, we built a rudimentary web site for Dharma which was later, and continues today, to be developed and perfected by other talented people who work here at Dharma. There are now as many as 90 people working at Dharma full or part time. Hundreds of employees have passed through on their way to other lives. Some really great people who have joined in making Dharma an honest, straight-talking company! All the folks who work at Dharma continue to this day trying to keep Dharma a Fair, Honest and Straight-Talking company. Dharma's Guiding Principles Dharma Trading Co. was started in 1969 on the principle that it's possible to be involved in business while maintaining good ethical values. This is to say that one can be successful in business while acting honestly, truthfully and fairly. Therefore, honest, truthful and fair treatment of customers, suppliers and employees is the most important goal of the company while it tries to make a profit.

FELT is a studio, and a label founded in 2000 by Kathryn Walter whose direction focuses on the material and culture of modern industrial felt through PRODUCTS, EXHIBITIONS and INTERIORS. Influenced by her background in visual art, Walter has created a body of work ranging from small objects to large-scale installations. She has designed and made a collection of accessories and furnishings, and developed a series of wall-coverings that have been adapted to numerous sites. Walter works with architects, designers and clients that want to use felt and have a context for its application. She can respond to sites, budgets and ideas to create unique results for each situation.

FeltWorks is owned and operated by Mary Ellen and Russell Chamberlain. Mary Ellen has a fine arts degree in painting, and has been a fiber artist for many years. Russell joined the company full time in 2001, and brings to FeltWorks his background in marketing and small business management. Together we are the sole designers and primary production artists at FeltWorks Studio in Athens, Ohio. We've been playing with wool,the stuff felt is made of,for some twenty years now. In the mid 90's, we began raising specialty-wool sheep on our Southeast Ohio farm. Some of the wool we spun into yarn for knitting and weaving, and some of the wool we sold through our retail yarn shop and gallery, Main Street Fibers. As our flock multiplied, we soon had more raw wool than we knew what to do with. To put a barn full of excess wool to good use, Mary Ellen began experimenting with feltmaking,a great way to use lots of raw wool,and a new fiber passion was born. Selling our work locally at first, we spent the next few years developing techniques and refining designs based on customer feedback. In 1999, we sold Main Street Fibers so that we could devote ourselves fully to studio production. Our company is now in its fourth year, and our FeltWorks line of products is available in fine craft galleries across the country.