Our Story
My name is Sara Morton, I am the owner and founder of Bright + Sonder Textile Merchants.
I am also a mother, a weaver, a hiker and an occasional sewist, and live with my partner and 3 children in Melbourne's leafy outer North.
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I've had a lifelong passion for textiles, pattern and colour. There is something about the combination of tactility, practicality and beauty of textiles that I have always found very grounding and comforting.
I studied Textile Design at university (later switching to Environmental Science, although my soul still wanted to create), and spent a lot of my adolescence travelling overseas combing markets for textile treasures.
Five years ago I found my way back to creating, and began weaving using a frame loom. Over the past five years I have sold my woven art and jewellery, and enjoyed connecting with other creatives in the fibre art community on social media. It was through these connections and relationships that the idea for this shop started to develop.
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Bright + Sonder Textile Merchants was created because I want to celebrate and share the beauty and diversity that exists within the realm of textiles.
My hope is to create a space where customers can find beautiful, artisan-made pieces for their home and body, unique textile gifts for their loved ones, and quality yarn, tools and books to inspire their own creative practice.
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Thank you for visiting, feel free to say hello here.
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Sara Morton, Owner and Founder.
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What is the story behind the name Bright + Sonder?
Bright and Sonder was previously name 'Wabi Sabi Textile Merchants', however after reflection, learning and feedback, I made the decision to rename the business.
As beautiful as the phrase 'wabi sabi' is, using it as a business name, when I don't have cultural connection to Japan, is textbook cultural appropriation.
I believe as humans, we all make mistakes, but what is most important is to listen, never stop learning and most importantly act in a way that is inclusive, anti-racist and open minded.
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Bright and Sonder is a name that holds a lot of meaning for me personally.
'Bright' is the name of a town in Alpine Victoria, that is my favourite place in the whole world, and where half my heart stays every time I leave. I hope to one day make a home there with my family, and grow this business into a bricks and mortar store.
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'Sonder', is one of the most beautiful words in the English language. It describes 'the profound feeling of realising that that each random passer by is living a life as vivid and complex as your own'. I think it is amazing that there is a word for that.
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For myself, the contrast of Bright/ Sonder, evokes a sense of happy/melancholy which reflects my life as a woman living with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD).
The inevitable monthly shift from happy and stable, to sadness and rumination that marks the lives of those of us living with PMDD is one of the reasons that I started weaving, and huge factor in deciding to work for myself.
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Thank you reading about, and being a part of the journey of Bright + Sonder Textile Merchants, you are welcome here.
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