Where the Needle Meets the University

What if Baltimore’s garment history holds the blueprint for a new kind of economy? Where the Needle Meets the University traces the hidden connections between Baltimore’s sewing history, its universities, and the people and institutions that shaped its economic and social fabric. From that history emerges a new framework—Sewing Economies as Ecosystems—and a vision to map, connect, and strengthen them, beginning with the launch of the Maryland Sewing Economies Ecosystem Map. Inspired by Baltimore’s legacy of entrepreneurship and ecosystem building, the article looks backward to understand what came before and forward to imagine what we can stitch together next.