Craft Industry Alliance is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Golden Scissors Awards, recognizing excellence in the crafts industry. The awards ceremony took place live on stage at h+h Americas at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, today. Five outstanding craft professionals were recognized in front of an audience of several hundred of their peers for their contributions to the industry.
The craft industry includes world-class corporations and thousands of visionary small business owners whose never-ending creativity continually lifts the entire sector to new heights. The Golden Scissors Awards are an opportunity for the industry to acknowledge those who have offered outstanding leadership and innovation and made important contributions to the industry as a whole.
Nominations for the awards opened in January of this year and were open for a month. In March, each nominee was considered individually and confidentially by a panel of seven judges nominated by the Craft Industry Alliance Board of Advisors. Judges for this year’s awards were Anne Merrow, co-founder of Long Thread Media; Lisa Woolfork, founder of Black Women Stitch and the Stitch Please Podcast; Vivika Hansen DeNegre, former content director for Golden Peak Media; Melanie Falick, author of Making a Life; and Liana Allday, general manager of Creativebug.
“What an honor it has been to serve as a judge for the Golden Scissors Awards,” said Vivika Hansen DeNegre. “The pool of nominees was inspirational not only for the passion of their craft but also for their dedication to excellence. Kudos to all involved -the competition was steep and I am so proud of everything you have accomplished!”
Craft Industry Alliance would like to thank the sponsors of this year’s Golden Scissors Awards program. Their sponsorship is a demonstration of their support of our industry and of the importance of recognizing talent. Thank you to knitCompanion, Fox Chapel Publishing, Universal Yarn, Jimmy Beans Wool, Bernina, Fire Mountain Gems and Beads, Fabric Merchants, and Famore. Each award winner received a beautifully engraved, personalized pair of golden scissors made for them by Famore to honor their achievement.
There were five categories of awards given this year: Emerging Leader, Innovation, Sustainability, Social Impact, and Lifetime Achievement.
Thank you to our awards sponsors:
The winners:
For Emerging Leader, the award goes to someone who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in sustainable fashion and textiles. She’s committed to facilitating conversations on racial and environmental justice, ensuring that Black-led initiatives have visibility and support within the broader industry. Her namesake fashion brand, MAHDIYYAH, focuses on upcycling discarded textiles. She also serves in a leadership role at the Black Fiber & Textile Network. This year’s winner is Mahdiyyah Muhammad.
For Innovation, the award winner is the creator of Pattern Projector, a free, open-source web-based app that allows users to project any digital sewing pattern quickly and easily. Described by users as “the software of our dreams,” Pattern Projector has exploded the adoption of projector sewing, making it accessible to all users regardless of income or location. Volunteers have now translated the software into nine languages in just its first year on the market. The winner is Courtney Pattison.
For Sustainability, the award goes to the founder of Scraplanta, a non-profit creative reuse center in Atlanta, Georgia. Scraplanta has collected and redistributed over 150,000 pounds of art and craft supplies to hundreds of teachers, students, artists, and makers across metro Atlanta. Not only is Scraplanta keeping art from the landfill, they’re also helping crafters achieve financial stability by offering affordable materials. The winner is Jonelle Dawkins.
For Social Impact, the award goes to the founder of Quilts For Survivors, an organization that honors the survivors of the trauma suffered by indigenous children sent to residential schools. This organization honors each survivor with a quilted hug. So far, Quilts for Survivors volunteers have made and donated over 6,300 quilts. A member of the Missanabie Cree First Nation who is affectionately known as “the quilter with a heart of gold,” the award goes to Vanessa Genier.
Our Lifetime Achievement award winner is someone who started his career in the crafts industry in 1981, winding yarn in his wife’s yarn shop. After becoming a sales rep for yarn companies, he purchased inventory from one and started his own distribution company, Bryson Distributing. He traveled as a rep for 20 years while building Bryson into a leading accessory and yarn distributor catering to independent retailers. Described as a champion of the underdog and someone who relishes the opportunity to serve as a mentor and help those in need, the Lifetime Achievement award goes to Jim Bryson.
