When a crafter dies mid-project, or is no longer able to do handwork due to disability or illness, they will likely have unfinished items they were making for friends and family. These tangible, handmade expressions of love could get lost, donated away, or thrown out. We match unfinished projects to volunteer finishers who complete and return the garments, blankets, & accessories, to their loved ones. Since we started less than a year ago, we have recruited 12,000+ volunteer “finishers” from around the globe ready to share their skills with strangers. More than 1,000 projects have been connected to local volunteers for completion.

Loose Ends aims to ease grief, create community, and inspire generosity that transcends social and political boundaries by connecting strangers bound by a shared experience in handwork.

Handworkers are passionate about making, with most creations being a gift for a loved one. An object can take hundreds of hours.

When a maker starts a project, they rarely plan on how it would get completed if they were unable to finish it. No one wants to envision that scenario, yet it is common. For the intended recipient, who is often not skilled in the craft, and in the midst of mourning, they are left with the challenge of what to do. It is too sentimental to discard but they don’t know where to turn. This is not a service for hire, it is a labor of love.

Loose Ends addresses this need.

It benefits both the bereaved and the finisher. There is a shared sense of completion, an act of goodwill for the giver and the receiver. It is often an emotional, in-person exchange of the completed project, in a public place, creating a larger sense of community.