Creative Darning (Oct. 20, 12-3 p.m.)

Sunday Oct. 20, 2024, 12-3 p.m. @ Anthology Studio, 77 Suffolk St. W., Guelph

Learn the basics of creative darning for knitwear and stretch fabrics in this 3-hour afternoon class - supplies included!

Meet me at the intersection of creative expression and sustainability as we learn and practice the basics of mending knits by hand including traditional and creative darning, as well as Swiss darning. In addition to the fundamentals, we'll discuss which techniques to use when, the best tools and supplies to use (and where to source them), common issues and challenges, and inspiration to begin or grow your own visible mending practice.

What to bring:

Bring your own knit garments or textiles that need mending, or practice on the sample fabrics provided. These techniques are perfect for mending or embellishing knit sweaters, socks, mittens, as well as knit (or stretchy) garments such as sweaters, t-shirts, leggings, sweatshirts, etc. A separate Visible Mending Basics class (Nov. 3) will focus on visible mending for woven garments (such as denim).

Supplies provided for use during the workshop include: 

• a darning kit to take home with you, including:
  • a multicoloured selection of wool yarn
  • darning needles
  • needle threader
    
• scissors/snips
• fabric marking tools
• rulers
  
• scrap knitted fabric for practicing techniques
  

Maximum 8 participants

Instructor: Becky Swainson (@gather.and.make)

Becky is a sought-after instructor who is known for her warm and inclusive approach to teaching fibre arts, with a focus on sustainable sewing and slow fashion. In addition to her own ongoing creative mending practice, she has trained with acclaimed fibre artist and mending pioneer Katrina Rodabaugh. She is a founder of the Stitch Together Community Mending Project and has taught sewing and mending at Triangle Sewing Centre, Make 1, the Guelph Tool Library, the City of Waterloo, the University of Guelph, and privately through her own business, gather + make.