About Us
Welcome to Viking Textile Maker Hub! We're a vibrant non-profit organization dedicated to empowering local textile sewers, makers, and artists throughout Lane County. Our mission is to cultivate a community where sewing is celebrated not just as a skill but as an art form and a pathway to economic opportunity. At our makerspace, located in the Wildling Collaborative Arts facility, we offer weekly and monthly membership options that provide 24/7 access to a professional industrial sewing studio. At our classroom, located within Viking Sewing, we offer a unique blend of small-batch manufacturing, classes, workshops, and educational programs. Whether you are an experienced sewist (sewer+artist) or just beginning your journey, our spaces are designed to support your creativity and professional growth. Join us in building a thriving textile community that fosters collaboration, learning, and innovation. Discover more about our team, our vision, and how we stand out in the local fabric of our community.
Our Mission
Mission Statement: Viking Textile Maker Hub is a space that provides Industrial sewing machinery & equipment, education and programming to support and build a community of sewists, textile artists, designers, makers and entrepreneurs focused on equity, sustainability and inclusivity.
Our Team
Sierah Edwards | Executive Director
Sierah has been upcycling textiles since she was five years old. She studied Apparel Design at Oregon State University and has participated in local fashion shows since 2009. Her clothing brand, "sierah SEW fresh," offers size-inclusive, sustainable costumes and accessories for festivals and events. When she isn't sewing, Sierah enjoys camping, cooking, reading, thrift shopping, and traveling. She's excited about many amazing upcoming VTMH events and hopes to see you there!
Mitra Gruwell | Board President
Mitra is an upcycle fashion/product designer, educator and consultant with a focus on business and program management, entrepreneurship and creative curriculum development. As the owner of Discard Upcycling, her mission is to make sustainable design using waste materials more accessible and affordable for both businesses and individuals. Mitra is the Board President for nonprofit Viking Textile Maker Hub, offering education and access to industrial sewing skills and equipment, and she teaches workshops on machine operation and sewing, Textile Repair, Upcycling and Design Thinking. She is a Sustainability Commissioner for the City of Eugene, Master Recycler, the Fix-It Fair Coordinator as well as the Community Engagement Coordinator for local nonprofit the Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts, MECCA. Mitra is passionate about the arts and sustainability and the roles creativity and innovation play in creating a healthy and sustainable future for humanity and the planet alike.
Marcia Lent | Board Member
Marcia is an independent fashion designer, entrepreneur, and early upcycling pioneer whose career spans more than four decades of West Coast alternative fashion culture. She began sewing professionally as a teenager on the Pacific Beach boardwalk in San Diego, creating custom bikinis while customers waited. In 1980, she opened her first store, Pineapple Kiss, where she blended surf culture, punk aesthetics, handmade fashion, and reconstructed clothing long before upcycling became mainstream.
During the early 1980s, Marcia launched Piranha Industries, an alternative fashion label specializing in upcycled clothing, punk jewelry, exotic dancewear, and handmade accessories. The line grew into a nationally represented brand carried through multiple showrooms and more than two dozen road reps, reaching iconic punk boutiques, museum gift shops, mail-order catalogs, and major retailers. Her work appeared in stores connected to institutions such as the Smithsonian and Natural History museums, as well as influential fashion shops on Melrose and Rodeo Drive.
In 1982, Marcia collaborated with the founders of Life’s a Beach, helping introduce skull-and-crossbones imagery and punk-inspired graphics into early surfwear culture. As an independent designer, she also created work for surf, skate, and swimwear companies including Quiksilver, Volcom, and Fred Segal-related projects.
After relocating to San Luis Obispo, she opened Native Mix, an upcycled resale and alternative fashion store focused on reconstructed clothing and wearable art. Later, after moving to Eugene, Oregon, she opened several memorable retail spaces including Pineapple Kiss, Zen Dragon, Bohemian Mojo, Tropical Loveland, Paradise City Cafe, and Kitsch-22.
While operating Tropical Loveland, a 9,000-square-foot custom swimwear and fashion store at Valley River Center, Marcia developed another major chapter of her career through the design and production of professional wrestling gear and performance wear under the name “Spandex Body.” Over the years, she produced more than 10,000 custom garments for wrestlers, performers, and entertainers worldwide.
Throughout her career, Marcia has remained deeply connected to maker culture, mentorship, and community reuse programs. She has donated industrial sewing equipment, inventory, and materials to nonprofit and community-based creative initiatives, helping support emerging artists, designers, and entrepreneurs in Eugene’s upcycling and maker communities.
Today, she continues creating handmade work through Eugene Saturday Market and her longtime Etsy shop, carrying forward a lifelong commitment to independent design, creative reinvention, and the handmade spirit.
[CONTACT MARCIA]
Our Partners
