Meet the Makers

The Swarey Family

A father and six sons weaving together five days a week from their 20-acre farm

Phineas & Mary Swarey

Phineas and Mary Swarey have been married for over eighteen years, building a life that revolves around family, farm, and the steady rhythm of the loom. Mary grew up in Wisconsin. Phineas came from Ontario, Canada. Two different countries, two different upbringings, but a shared faith and a shared love for handwork brought them together.

Their story is one of quiet devotion: to each other, to their sons, and to the craft that fills their days with purpose. There is no rush in the Swarey household, just the steady accumulation of beautiful work done well.

Together they have built a workshop and a home where the sound of weaving is as natural as the morning birdsong.

A Family Tradition

Phineas and Mary are raising six sons: John, Levi, Willie, Joe, Harley, and David. In a house full of boys, the energy is high and the help is plentiful. The workshop operates five days a week, and the whole family weaves together. Father and sons work side by side, each learning from the other.

It is the kind of apprenticeship that cannot be replicated in a classroom. The boys learn by doing, by watching their father’s hands move, by feeling when the tension is right and when a weave needs adjusting. These are skills that will stay with them for life.

Life on the Farm

The Swarey farm covers twenty acres, with horses for fieldwork and goats that keep the boys entertained and the pastures trimmed. The family garden is a point of pride. Sweet corn and potatoes, onions and muskmelons, tomatoes and peppers line the rows in neat order.

Spring is the family’s favorite season, when the garden comes back to life, the goats have their kids, and the long days return. There is a sense of renewal on the farm each year, and it carries over into the workshop, where new designs take shape alongside the trusted classics.