Get a new style and new skills! Celebrate Mend in Public Day by learning to repair your clothes and rejecting fast fashion and textile waste with a clothing swap. After the morning’s facilitated mending workshop, we will host a pay-what-you-can mending circle for folks to gather and mend in community, featuring a short presentation from Vanessa Warne on the history of fabric repairs and repurposing. Whether you come for the whole day or just drop in for an hour, you’ll be sure to polish up your mending skills and do some good for the planet.
Activities Schedule
10am-4pm: Clothing Swap
10am-12pm: Mending Workshop
1pm-4pm: Mending Circle
Prices
Mending Workshop: $35 general, $30 for members
Mending Circle: Pay-What-You-Can, $0-20
The clothing swap is free to participate in.
More Information
-
Do you have a favourite article of clothing missing a button or with an unraveling seam? Learn how to add some extra life to your clothes and reduce your textile waste at the same time! This mending workshop will teach you the basics of mending and give you the tools to make your clothes last longer.
The workshop is beginner friendly; no experience is required. All materials will be provided, but you are welcome to bring clothing requiring minor repairs. Participants should have the fine motor skills and eyesight to thread and use a needle.
-
Practice what you’ve learned at the morning’s mending workshop or join in a community of people who believe in fixing rather than throwing away at the afternoon Mending Circle. As you mend, learn about the history of fabric repairs and repurposing in the Victorian era from Dr. Vanessa Warne.
Some materials, including patches, and tools will be available on-site, but participants are encouraged to bring their own. Please bring your own clothes (or other items) to mend. The Mending Circle will not have formal instruction, but assistance and advice may be available from your fellow menders.
-
Out with the old and in with the new! Have clothes that no longer fit your style? Dig those pieces out of the back of your closet and swap them for something new-to-you.
Guidelines:
Clothes should be clean and freshly washed
Clothes should be in good condition (free from major stains, tears, etc.)
Undergarments, swimwear, etc. will NOT be accepted.
Clothing of all sizes and styles are welcome.
Items can be dropped off in advance during the museum’s open hours or on the day-of.
Please only bring items that have a chance of being taken home by someone; the swap is not a dumping ground. Consider repurposing or recycling any textiles at the end of their life.
All leftover items will be donated.
Accessibility
The workshop, mending circle, and clothing swap all take place in the Visitors’ Centre, which is wheelchair accessible. Anyone attending the workshop should have the eyesight and dexterity required to use a needle and thread.