From a portable prototype built for the busy life of a parent to a full line of looms and accessories, Mirrix has grown alongside the vibrant tapestry and bead weaving community it serves.
As crafters, we are typically not happy if our hands are idle. We bring our project bags (or “analog bags” in modern parlance) with us everywhere – doctor’s appointments, school pick-up lines, long car rides, even short car rides. And nowhere is a project bag more crucial than at our kids’ sporting events which can stretch on for hours. Yet for Claudia Chase, a professional tapestry weaver, she could never just pack up her tapestry loom and head to her daughter’s gymnastics meets or her son’s soccer games. Claudia’s tools of the trade included a large floor loom and dozens of butterflies of yarn. If necessity is the mother of invention, then Claudia’s idle hands were what spurred her to create a portable tapestry loom – later to become the prototype for the first Mirrix loom.
Claudia Chase, founder and CEO of Mirrix, a woman-owned loom manufacturer serving weavers worldwide.
Built From Scratch
In the early 90’s, when she was pregnant with her daughter Elena, Claudia took a tapestry weaving class on a whim and was hooked immediately. She decided to purchase a rigid heddle loom and then attempted to teach herself how to use it. Unfortunately, there were few tapestry resources at the time and she says she felt like she was “inventing” every tapestry technique. It was slow going, but she loved it and eventually invested in a proper floor loom. Over time she mastered the techniques, then moved on to selling her work and participating in gallery shows.
In 1996, Claudia was then a stay-at-home mom with two small children. She worked on her tapestries whenever she could spare a few minutes. As her children got older and became involved in activities like soccer and gymnastics, her time away from home, and her loom, were growing longer and more frequent. She searched for a loom that was small, light and portable but nothing on the market fit the bill.
She consulted with a friend who was mechanically knowledgeable to see if he could help her design and build a portable loom. With his technical know-how and her weaving expertise, they created Claudia’s very first portable loom – a 10” loom that fit nicely in her tote bag. It didn’t have everything on her wish list but it sure was close.
A Reluctant Business Owner
Claudia admittedly was not interested in marketing her new loom – she was satisfied to finally have the portable loom she’d longed for. Being an entrepreneur was definitely not on her bingo card. Yet after being encouraged by friends and family to give it go, she reluctantly agreed to try selling a handful of looms at a friend’s booth at the Convergence weaving conference in 1996. Much to Claudia’s surprise, the looms sold out and she immediately started fielding calls for more. She came up with the name Mirrix – a made-up word she coined by combining Italian and Greek words to loosely mean “to mirror”– and thus began her unlikely leap into manufacturing portable looms.
Over time she improved and perfected the loom design to have a shed mechanism, variable setts and perfect tension. No easy task by any means, but crucial to ensuring a quality piece of tapestry. Fast forward to 2026 and Claudia and her team have built a successful manufacturing company offering nearly a dozen looms ranging in size from 5” to 48”, as well as accessories, kits and supplies.
The Mirrix manufacturing facility is based in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, about 2 hours north of Milwaukee. A women-owned and operated business, Mirrix is a four-person team that includes Claudia, the founder and CEO; her daughter Elena Kawachi, the vice president and marketing manager; along with Sandy, the operations manager and Holly, the floor and customer service manager.
Right Place at the Right Time
Early on, Mirrix had clearly found a sweet spot in the market for tapestry weaving enthusiasts. However, business really boomed serendipitously in the early-2000’s. Claudia heard from a fellow weaver who thought the Mirrix looms were fabulous for bead weaving.
According to Elena, “My mother had never woven with beads before but once she tried it, she realized that the Mirrix loom really was a great bead loom.” At the time, the bead market was heating up and, Elena adds, “That was when Mirrix became really successful.”
Not long after the beading craze, another huge craft trend was on the horizon – tapestry weaving.
Elena Kawachi leads marketing at Mirrix, expanding the brand’s reach through education, partnerships, and community-focused strategy.
“The tapestry market changed a lot; it became a crafter’s market rather than a craft only for serious tapestry weavers,” explains Elena. Mirrix rode that trend too, developing different size looms, distributing products in fabric and craft stores and gaining a following of enthusiastic makers new to tapestry.
Yet another turning point was when Claudia published a video on the fledgling Craftsy site — a tutorial for making a cuff bracelet by weaving together fiber and beads. The video was a smash hit says Elena, “It was incredibly successful and was another one of those things that really opened up the market for us.”
Customers and Community
The good fortune that Mirrix experienced because of trends in mass market crafts was clearly not the only reason for their success. From the start, they have focused on delivering quality products and listening to their customers’ feedback. In fact, many of the looms are named after family, friends and customers who requested particular sizes and types of looms.
Mirrix actively cultivates a community with weaving at its core by offering frequent weave-alongs, free tutorials, webinars and other special events. Because of this customer focus, Mirrix enjoys a remarkably high rate of return customers. A consultant they worked with recently called Mirrix’s return customer rate “unheard of.”
Natasha Khiev, a self-taught weaving artist and instructor, began weaving seven years ago. Her very first loom was a Mirrix. She has become a devoted customer and now owns nine Mirrix looms. Natasha says, “What I value most is the exceptional quality and sturdiness of their looms, a great range of sizes, along with the remarkable level of adjustability they offer: from height, shed width and weaving sett adjustments to achieving precise warp tension. I also deeply appreciate the ability to transform a Mirrix frame loom into a four-shaft loom with the addition of an extra shedding device, which is a rare and powerful option.”
Mirrix Tapestry & Bead Looms are designed for precision and portability, offering adjustable setts, consistent tension, and sizes suited to both professional weavers and dedicated hobbyists.
Another artisan with a deep connection to Mirrix is Joni Parker-Roach, co-owner of the NOA Gallery in Groton, MA. “My experiences with Mirrix Tapestry & Bead Looms began 29 years ago when I was looking for a tapestry weaving teacher. I found Claudia Chase, and a very young Elena Kawachi, on top of their mountain in New Hampshire. I was fortunate enough to spend a day every week there, learning to weave. I have purchased 11 Mirrix looms, 3 loom stands and many grand accessories. The quality of the products and the incredible support community, instruction and products that Claudia and Elena have co-created are unparalleled.”
Marketing Mirrix Looms
By all accounts, Mirrix Looms are filling a specific niche in the craft market. There are dozens of low-cost competitors with looms that are nowhere near the quality of Mirrix looms and are often knock-offs of the Mirrix products. They have to be constantly vigilant about these copycat looms.
Elena explains, “We often find very clear copies of our looms being made overseas for cheaper.” Other competitors include floor loom manufacturers who make quality portable looms but don’t focus solely on them the way Mirrix does.
While Mirrix does some targeted ad buys, what works best for them is an inbound marketing strategy – creating content that people will seek out. Elena explains that they typically bring people to the Mirrix brand via their rich website. “The site is filled with weaving resources from tutorials and free projects to years’ worth of blog posts answering questions about our looms but also about techniques, ideas and philosophies.”
They market the looms in the United States directly through their website as well as through authorized retailers. They’ve also partnered with a Belgium company to be their EU authorized dealer and a company in England as their UK seller.
Mirrix Looms at 30
From the start, Claudia wanted to do things right with Mirrix and not cut corners. It was important to her to build the company on producing quality products, being a good employer and ensuring customer satisfaction. Although Claudia was reluctant to embrace the roll of loom producer, there are multitudes of makers who are sure glad she took the leap. As they approach their 30th year in business, the Mirrix team plans to continue doing what they do best: making looms, listening to their customers and providing lots of inspiration for creating woven pieces of art.
Paula Wilson
contributor
