Chaos Tote Bag

The tote was designed by student Dylan Heil ’25 to use surplus yarn. The weaving studio often ends up with remnant material when we retire an old product, leading to valuable space tied up by yarn with nowhere to go. We brainstormed ways to address this issue and further align the program with Berea’s 7th Great Commitment to mindfulness and sustainability by designing a new product. Dylan, whose passion was debating the merits of both structure and disorder, blended these concepts by creating a framework for students to use our surplus yarn in this tote. We think it has a surprising amount of visual consistency even though each is woven with different combinations of colors. Student weavers choose their colors and how often they repeat as they are weaving, creating colorful, vibrant tartan patterns that are as unique as each weaver.