By Caitlin Keller
Medill Reports

A modest storefront in Irving Park with textile projects strewn across the room, Inclement Craft is a cozy, art-lover’s paradise radiating “a genuine joy for the craft and celebrating each other’s creations,” as customer Eric Guy puts it. Visitors can sometimes find the two co-owners, Aaron Storm and Nathaniel Millard, sitting at large wooden spindles, each with a blue-stained hand from a recent indigo-dyeing workshop.

In many craft stores, yarn seems to explode from the shelves. But Storm and Millard take a more intentional approach, stocking only a few well-researched vendors. 

“Their focus (is) on all-natural fibers (and) dyeing their materials from things they find in their garden,” said Damaris Crocker De Ruiter, a regular customer. “They want to make high-quality goods that make people happy and also support the planet, while also being as accessible as possible.”

Storm and Millard describe Inclement Craft as “an indigo-stained love letter to the Luddites.” They use their knowledge and expertise to curate a selection of wool, silk and cotton from small artisans and vendors that use sustainable practices. “There were things we want(ed) that didn’t exist and so we have to make them ourselves,” Storm said. “We have to get the wool, dye the wool, find the silk, make the silk, blend it together and spin it to have the dream yarn.” 

They use the storefront as a community space, connecting with Chicago residents through monthly spinning and indigo dyeing workshops. “Their studio is like a light to me,” De Ruiter said. “I’m so happy to be there when it feels like so much of the world is on fire.”

Storm and Millard want to do more than just source the best yarn and wool. They want to own and operate their own fiber mill. The textile production industry left Chicago in the early 20th century, as manufacturers began using goods that were cheaper to produce abroad. “Manufacturing has been really mystified for people,” Millard said. They believe that demystifying the yarn making process, getting the understanding back into people’s hands is as important as pushing a button on a machine.

Storm became interested in fiber arts as a tween, repairing his grandparents’ 1820s spinning wheel, and begging his parents for rides to fiber festivals all over the Midwest. “I was gay and autistic in the middle of nowhere, and I was like, well, yarn comes from somewhere,” Storm said. “I was doing a ton of research, and I made my first drop spindle as a kid out of a pencil and a CD with some rubber bands.”

Millard grew up with a homesteading background; his family grew their own food and regularly spun yarn to make clothes. Millard inherited his craftsmanship knowledge from his immediate family, including his father, who ran sawmills, and his mother, who sewed and knit. For Millard, spinning yarn was more of a hobby focused on subsistence than it was an art form. “It wasn’t something I invested a whole lot in until I met Aaron,” Millard explained. 

Storm began selling limited batches of handspun yarn five years ago. Millard began insisting that he and Storm think about opening a storefront. “(Millard) was like, ‘You’ve run this like a successful art project, but not like a business. If you ever want to run this like a business, come find me,” Storm said. The pair continues to operate in tandem years later, with Storm’s imaginative art school sensibilities tempered by Millard’s practicality. 

Their influences weave together like the fibers they spin. “They are two of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met,” De Ruiter said. “They create such a warm and welcoming atmosphere that allows everyone to feel comfortable regardless of their [skill] level.”

Millard and Storm ran a Kickstarter in late 2025 to gauge interest in a Chicago mill. It raised $20,355 from 178 backers. “I wish I had several hundred dollars, even thousands of dollars, to contribute to this Kickstarter,” Guy said. 

Their next steps include finding a space large enough for the mill and securing the capital needed to purchase equipment. Peggy Allen, co-owner of Vermont’s Junction Fiber Mill, said a mill needs around 1,500 to 2,000 square feet to house the mill’s equipment and around 800 square feet to wash and dye yarn. Storm and Millard are already making plans to acquire equipment and space, and Millard explains they have “product lines developed and ready to go the minute we have the equipment,” so Chicago could see a working mill in as early as six months. They remain in contact with numerous vendors looking to sell milling equipment. “I think that it’ll be the first yarn mill in Chicago in 100 years, which is huge,” De Ruiter said. 

Storm and Millard’s quest to open Chicago’s only fiber mill is about preserving practices steeped in history, sustainability and the cultivation of community. “Practicing fiber arts is almost an invocation of ghosts,” Storm said. “You’re moving your body in the same ways other people have moved their bodies for thousands of years to create an object.”  

Caitlin Keller is a magazine specialization graduate student at Medill.