Sustainability skills swapshop: Learn to mend and prolong your clothes' lifecycle!
We would like to invite you to a workshop on visible mending and repair. We will also explore cotton waxing.
The Department of Culture, Communications and Media at the IOE have been organizing "Sustainability Skills Swapshops". These are open sessions led by staff or students on a voluntary basis that involve a demonstration of and/or hands-on participation in a sustainability skill.
This session will be on visible mending, repair, and cotton waxing. It will be run by members of the Crafting Sustainabilities Collective.
- Where: room 938, 20 Bedford WayLondon, England
- When: Thursday, Feb 19 from 1 pm to 5 pm GMT. The session is scheduled for four hours, but you don't have to stay for the whole time.
- To attend you must reserve a spot through Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/learn-to-mend-and-prolong-your-clothes-lifecycle-tickets-1981092692573?aff=oddtdtcreator
In the session we can support you to learn how to repair:
- Socks: Bring a sock that is thinning or has a manageable hole, and is thus worth saving. We will learn how to repair it together drawing from inspirational examples including our own!
- Holes, e.g., elbow, jeans, children's trainers: There are different patching techniques we can explore together. We will also use a sewing machine, if more suitable.
- Wool sweaters: Using Swiss darning we can bolster thinning material or repair a hole.
- Waxing cotton cloth: There will also be an opportunity to learn about waxing cotton cloth, a traditional and sustainable method of waterproofing, windproofing and toughening outdoor clothing. Demonstrations for waxing will happen at the hour so make sure you are on time if you want to learn this technique e.g. 1pm, 2pm etc.
Explore our video collection to explore the techniques we know and can support you with.
If you don't have something to mend you are still welcome to attend. There will be opportunities to practice different techniques.
What To Bring
- We will supply darning needles and mending wool. At the end of the session, you will be welcome to buy these, if you wish, at their market price.
- If you want to make a patch, we will supply some material, but you are welcome to bring your own.
- For wool repairs, you are welcome to send us an email at craftingsustainabilities@ucl.ac.uk with a picture of your sweater so we can match the wool weight/colour. Alternatively, bring your own wool (ideally this should match the weight of the original material)
Watch this video if you want to explore why repair matters!
