Field Notes No. 02: The Thread Between Us
October 20, 2026 | Field Notes No. 02
The Thread Between Us
A conversation with Colleen Clines, co-founder of Anchal Project
Behind every textile is a set of hands, and in Anchal's case, a signature.
One of the pleasures of building Camino Botanica has been getting to know the people and organizations behind the things we carry. I was first drawn to Anchal Project for its beautiful textiles: rich colors, simple patterns, soft organic cotton, and the hand-stitching that gives each piece its character.
For our second Field Notes, I connected with co-founder Colleen Clines to learn about Anchal's beginnings, the women behind the work, and what it means to build a business around craft, community, and meaningful employment.
How did Anchal begin, and what first brought you to India?
It began with a graduate class trip to India in 2009, when I was studying at the Rhode Island School of Design. My sister Maggie and I founded Anchal in 2010 with just $400 and a partnership with a local organization in Rajasthan. The full story is here: Our Story. Kentucky Alumni Magazine also covered how it started: A Graduate Class Trip to India Produces Good in the World.
We’ve worked with the same community in Ajmer ever since, creating textile careers for women.
What goes into each piece?
Every Anchal piece supports a real woman. Each one is hand-stitched by a single artisan using kantha, a traditional running stitch. When she finishes, she signs her name on the tag.
Look for it. That signature is the most direct connection between her hands and your home.
Many of these women came to Anchal with little experience and few employment opportunities. Some had survived domestic violence or exploitation. Through their work, they’ve become skilled artisans who can provide for themselves and their families. You have the power to create change with what you buy. You can change lives, support art and craft, and stand behind real people.
“That signature is the most direct connection between her hands and your home.”
How has this work changed the lives of the women involved?
Today, about 180 artisans stitch from home, and 24 project assistants work at the workshop. Artisans earn a living wage, verified by the Fair Trade Federation, and are paid monthly by direct deposit.
Every artisan has her own bank account, and they invest their income in their children’s education, their homes and their families’ health. Steady income creates stability, but it also changes who has a voice at home and which children get to stay in school.
Over the years, our artisans and project assistants have earned 46 leadership promotions. Each one represents a woman who saw her own potential and stepped into it.
How do you think about the materials you use?
All the new fabric we source is certified organic cotton, which uses less water and no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. We also upcycle vintage saris, use non-toxic dyes and reuse production scraps.
The fiber is the first step in the same story of care. We’re thinking about the materials, the people who work with them and the life of the finished piece.
What does your network of relationships make possible?
Here in Louisville, we’re a small team of creatives and passionate people trying to do the right thing. We design, sell and ship every piece.
Our retail partners bring the work to their customers and help tell its story. Wholesale relationships are especially important because they allow us to place steady, consistent orders. And consistent orders mean consistent work for the artisans.
Small businesses make a city what it is. They give back to their communities and create the interesting fabric that makes places special. Without them, cities lose some of their character.
We have our own shop in Louisville for that same reason. There’s something important about being able to share the work and its story in person.
How do you think about the relationship between local and global economies, particularly when it comes to supporting independent makers?
I don't see it as either/or. We get asked “Why India?” a lot, and I welcome the question. But because we share who makes each piece and where, we often face more scrutiny than brands that share nothing.
I think we're sometimes asking the wrong people. I wish every product got the same question.
Most of what we buy, even from shops down the street, was made somewhere else by someone we'll never know. And what does “made locally” really mean? A textile sewn in the U.S. may begin with fiber, yarn, fabric, and dyes sourced from around the world.
What matters is knowing who made something, under what conditions, and whether they were paid fairly. A piece with the maker's name on the tag, sold by a shop that knows her story, can be far more traceable than something made closer to home.
What has been most meaningful to you about connecting women across cultures and continents?
When a woman has meaningful work and fair wages, she builds stability for herself. Then she invests it in her children and her community.
The pieces are stitched by women in Ajmer, designed and shared by women in Louisville, and carried into shops and homes by women like you.
Watching women lift each other up across cultures and miles has been the most meaningful part of this work.
It happens one stitch at a time.
Shop: Anchal Project at Camino Botanica here
Anchal Project was founded in 2010 by sisters Colleen and Maggie Clines. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, the organization creates contemporary textiles in partnership with women artisans in Ajmer, India. Explore their work at anchalproject.org.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
