A Mindfulness Zen Weaving Dojo
Loop of the Loom is a relaxing destination from New York City’s hustle and bustle where you can release yourself freely, anything is possible with SAORI weaving.
Since 2005, Loop of the Loom is the only registered SAORI weaving studio in the New York metropolitan area, and we are delighted to introduce you to this unique and easy-to-learn form.
Loop of the Loom is also an artistic community that enjoys the freedom and love of SAORI weaving. Here we practice the philosophy of SAORI like a zen dojo by weaving to find our inner peace. You will not be forced to copy the technique, nor be judged because we all respect individuality.
Through over 20 years of teaching experience, we have originated a unique session named "Mindful Zen Weaving" which has been providing thousands of people around the world with a meditative and aesthetic weaving experience. We welcome people from all walks of life to discover the mindfulness benefits of our little zen dojos.
Our Studios
Our original studio opened in 2005 in the suburb, Englewood, NJ. In 2008, Loop of the Loom moved to the Upper East Side, and in 2019 we opened the second studio in DUMBO, Brooklyn to connect with the vibrant Brooklyn arts and crafts scene.
With SAORI's growing popularity, Loop of the Loom has been invited to collaborate with local schools and universities, hospitals, sustainable fashion designers, community events, and museums. We also host sustainable textile workshops with master craftspeople in traditional Japanese arts.
Our Stores
Every year Yukako visits remote villages in Japan to learn traditional handicrafts on the verge of extinction. These experiences have changed my vision to revive these ancient sustainable methods with natural materials to inspire others.
In-store and online, we sell our handmade works by weaving and dyeing. High-quality Japanese looms, imported fiber arts tools, organic cotton products, exotic natural yarns/fibers, and natural dyes which we carefully curated with sustainability and wellness in mind, suited for the eco-conscious crafter.
Our Staff
YUKAKO SATONE
Founder / SAORI certified instructor
Yukako studied visual design and worked as a graphic designer in Japan. At the age of 25, Yukako moved to NYC to work as an assistant art director for an advertising agency. After devoting her time to raising her daughter, she encountered Misao Jo in Japan, the founder of SAORI. Her meeting occurred one month before her traumatic experience from the tragedy of 9/11. Yukako practiced SAORI weaving as a form of healing herself and understood very early in her relationship with SAORI that this was something she would share.
Yukako hosted her first SAORI workshop near Ground Zero for friends and children in grief post-9/11. With a portable loom, she traveled to many places to demonstrate SAORI as a public art activity, and realized that SAORI is therapeutic not only for healing, but also for discovering the joy of living.
In 2005, Yukako became a certified SAORI instructor, and opened a SAORI weaving studio called Loop of the Loom. As a pioneer of SAORI in the US, she has been coaching its method in the local and global community. She received grants from Peace Stone Foundation as a teaching artist in Senegal and The Laura Lenzner Adasko Artist in Residence program at Bank Street School for Children in 2011.
One of Loop of the Loom’s missions, the “Weaving-in-Action” project is to introduce community weaving and to build an inclusive community for people with or without disabilities for self-discovery and independence using the SAORI method. There have been many SAORI workshops to create woven sculptures with children using NYC recycling materials as well as hands-on weaving instruction. These workshops have not only happened in the studio but also at the following events as public art with many organizations.
You will find the true nature of humans on your piece which was woven without being forced by anyone or any technique. It facilitates mindful meditation and lets us awaken to a fundamental human wholeness - this is something I would like to share with you and all communities in the world.
Yukako
NOBUKO TSURUTA
SAORI certified instructor / Fiber artist
Visit her website at Nobuko Tsuruta/Fiber Artist.
ANNA-MAIE SOUTHERN
Instructor
Anna-Maie (she/her) studied BA Textile Design at Central St Martins, London, where she specialized in TC2 Digital Jacquard weaving. She first discovered SAORI weaving at Loop of the Loom in 2018, during a three month intensive internship program at the UES Studio.
Since then she has been a convert to the SAORI weaving method. She works from home on a SAORI loom, developing her own artistic practise. Anna-Maie moved full time to New York in 2019, she began working as the studio manager of the new DUMBO studio shortly after. She is currently working towards her SAORI Leadership Certification, which she hopes to complete early 2022.
Anna-Maie enjoys building community, teaching kids classes, and untangling yarns.
Interns / Bartering shifts
Loop of the Loom needs your work for various out of the studio workshops as well as studio works. You will receive the opportunities to visit schools, colleges, and various events, where SAORI weaving therapy is welcomed. For details, please ask Yukako.
Past Events
2016
FIT Summer Institute: Sustainability in Fashion and Textiles - Systems Disruption
The Parsons New School of Design Block Party
World Maker Faire (Queens, NYC)
NYS Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinebeck, NY)
Renegade Craft Fair (Brooklyn, NYC)
2015
Loop of the loom 10th anniversary Show " We've been weavin' together ! (Tenri Gallery, NYC)
NEWS- New England Weavers Seminar (Smith College, MA)
Pelham Arts Center (Pelham, NY)
Japan Block Fair (NYC)
World Maker Faire (Hall of Science, Queens, NYC)
NYS Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinebeck, NY)
Brooklyn Waldorf School (NYC)
2014
Loop of the Loom "Japan Textile Tour" (Japan)
Handweavers guild of Connecticut (CT)
World Maker Faire (Hall of Science, Queens, NYC)
NYS Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinebeck, NY)
New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, NY)
Pelham Arts Center (Pelham, NY)
2013
Loop of the Loom Exhibition (Tenri Gallery, NYC)
New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, NY)
NYS Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinebeck, NY)
The New York Guild of Handweavers (NYC)
World Maker Faire (Hall of Science, Queens, NY)
2012
American Museum of Natural History "Weave SAKURA for Japan!" For more infomation>>
New York Botanical Garden (Bronx, NY)
NYS Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinebeck, NY)
Brooklyn Waldorf School (NYC)
The Steiner School (NYC)
Horacemann School (NYC)
World Maker Faire (Queens, NY)
BUST Craftacular (NYC)
Bank Street School Fall Fair (NYC)
2011
Japan Society (NYC)
Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York / Columbia University Medical Center (NYC)
Hand in Hand Remembering 911- Manhattan Youth Downtown Community (NYC)
New York Botanical Garden, Family Picnic (Bronx, NY)
Bank Street School Artist Presentation (NYC)
Sister Pats' Camp of NY Presbiterian Hospital (NY)
VSA Arts New Jersey, Art Festival (New Brunswick, NJ)
World Maker Faire (Queens, NY)
Re-Birth exhibition by Nobuko Tsuruta (NYC)
BUST Craftacular (NYC)
Bank Street School Fall Fair (NYC)
New York State Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinebeck, NY)
2010
Parsons The New School for Design (NYC)
Horace Mann School Nusery (NYC)
Third Avenue Street Festival (NYC)
MARTE at P.S.163 (NYC)
92 Y Street Festival (NYC)
New York Botanical Garden, Family Picnic (Bronx, NY)
Camp Sister Pats / Columbia University Medical Center (NY)
NYU Medical Center Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation (NYC)
New York State Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinebeck, NY)
2009
SAORI 40th Anniverssary International Symposium (Osaka, Japan)
The New York Botanical Garden; Kiku Exhibition(Bronx, NY)
The Hospitality Committee for United Nations Delegations (NYC)
Bank Street School Fall Fair (NYC)
New York State Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinebeck, NY)
Eco Fair at The Anderson School PS 334 (NYC)
Third Avenue Street Festival (NYC)
NYU Medical Center Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation (NYC)
Kaplan JCC on the Palisades; Camp Dream Street (Tenafly, NJ)
Camp Sister Pats / Columbia University Medical Center (NY)
The New York Botanical Garden; Family Picnic (Bronx, NY)
Englewood Public Library (Englewood, NJ)
Eastchester Green Day Celebration and Summit (Eastchester, NY)
Japan Day 2009 at Central Park(NYC)
14 Street Y / Japanese Parenting & Family Center (NYC)
2008
Organic Cotton Exhibit at SAORI Gallery (Osaka, Japan)
The New York Botanical Garden; Holiday Train Show Open House (Bronx, NY)
Columbia University Medical Center (NYC)
The New York Botanical Garden; Kiku Exhibition (Bronx, NY)
New York Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinebeck, NY)
Nippon Club; Needle Felting Class (NYC)
Bank Street School Fall Fair (NYC)
Convergence 2008 - Handweavers Guild of America (Tampa, FL)
Camp Sister Pats / Columbia University Medical Center (NY)
JCC-Bergen Y; Art Workshop for Special Needs (Township of Washington, NJ)
The New York Botanical Garden; Family Picnic (Bronx, NY)
The Parrish Art Museum (Southampton, NY)
E.H. Bryan School; Weaving Project for the 100th Anniversary (Cresskill, NJ)
Knitter's Guild of Bergen County (Oradel, NJ)
JCC on the Palisades; Senior Art Class (Tenafly, NJ)
SWAN Day (Support for Women's Art Now!) at CRS (NYC)
2007
SAORI International Arts Show & Art Therapy Conference (Soho, NY)*
The New York Botanical Garden; Kiku Exhibition, Holiday, Family Picnic (Bronx, NY)
New York State Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinbeck, NY)
Nippon Club; Spinning Class (NYC)
Tomorrow's Children Institute / Hackensack Medical Center (Hackensack, NJ)
Camp Sister Pats (NY)
Columbia University Medical Center (NYC)
JCC on the Palisades; Dream Street Camp (Tenafly, NJ)
Green Meadow Waldorf School; Craft Festival (Chestnut Ridge, NY)
Jewish Home in Rockleigh (Rockleigh, NJ)
Hoboken Arts & Crafts Fair (Hoboken, NJ)
JCC-Bergen Y; Art Workshop for Special Needs (Township of Washington, NJ)
New Jersey Japanese School (Oakland, NJ)
Tenafly Japanese Association Bazzar (Tenafly, NJ)
Kids-in-Motion (Bronx, NY)
2006
MoMA / PS 1 Arts Center; Summer Family Event (NYC)
The New York Botanical Garden; Holiday, Family Picnic (Bronx, NY)
New York State Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinbeck, NY)
Nippon Club; Weaving Class (NYC)
JCC on the Palisades; Dream Street Camp (Tenafly, NJ)
Green Meadow Waldorf School; Craft Festival (Chestnut Ridge, NY)
Ridgewood Fall Crafts & Art Street Festival (Ridgewood, NJ)
Amsterdam Avenue Festival (Upper West, NYC)
Dwight Englewood School; International Day (Englewood, NJ)
Trinity Lutheran Church; Spring Craft Fair (Tenafly, NJ)
Elisabeth Morrow School; International Day (Englewood, NJ)
New Jersey Japanese School (Oakland, NJ)
Tenafly Japanese Association Bazzar (Tenafly, NJ)
2005
The New York Botanical Garden; Momijigari, Holiday, Family Picnic (Bronx, NY)
Bank Street School Fall Fair (Upper West, NYC)
Arts and Craft Holiday Show (Englewood, NJ)
Tenafly Japanese Association Bazzar (Tenafly, NJ)
Bryan School (Cresskill, NJ)
Meritt School (Cresskill, NJ)
Palisades Center Mall; Japanese Fair (NY)