No, you do not need any prior mending experience. This course is designed to guide beginners through step-by-step tutorials for hand-stitching, inspire intermediate menders to go deeper with creative prompts and design tips, and provide experienced menders with an intimate look at my personal viewpoints and techniques for repair.

You'll need a textile to mend in class--ideally you'd have two or three for the five weeks we're together. Woven textiles like denim, cotton, linen, or silk are great choices. Quilts, tea towels, or other cotton or linen household textiles are good too. We will not be using sewing machines, we'll be hand-stitching. I do not focus on stretch cotton like t-shirts or leggings but some stretch in your denim is fine.

You'll definitely need:

• woven textile/s to mend
• thread
• needles
• scissors
• patches
• a ruler

(Ideally, you'll match the weight of the textile you're mending with the weight of your thread and patch--midweight denim jeans mended with a midweight denim patch and cotton thread; or a silk handkerchief mended with silk patches and silk thread, etc.)

You might want these optional tools:

• thimble
• fabric pencil
• iron
• notebook
• knit textile for darning
• darning yarn
• darning needle
• darning egg

We'll also have a section on darning in addition to mending woven garments like jeans. For this session, you'll want to bring a knit garment like a sweater, hat, or socks and similar weight yarn and yarn needle. A darning egg is optional but can be helpful. If you have questions about materials, please email Katrina. Most items are common household items or can be easily sourced from craft stores.

The course runs for five weeks from Monday, January 27- Friday, February 28, 2025 with weekly recorded videos, written lessons, creative prompts, featured menders, and an optional weekly live studio session (also recorded). You will have access to the course recordings for four months from Jan 27- May 27, 2025.

You can also use the techniques to embellish on existing textiles--add a patch to a jacket or tote bag or add some stitches on your jeans. And you can repair household textiles in addition to garments. Quilts, pillowcases, throw blankets, tea towels, curtains and tablecloths are great choices too. You can also mend tote bags, pouches, vintage garments you find at the thrift store, factory-torn jeans, etc. I once had a student mend a vintage baby doll--it was complicated but she did it!

For garments, I'd suggest woven non-stretchy fabrics like denim, cotton, linen, silk or woven wool. I do not focus on stretchy cotton like t-shirts or leggings. For darning, I'd suggest mid-weight knits like sweaters, hats, gloves, socks, etc. You can also repair household textiles like quilts, pillowcases, tea towels, curtains, tablecloths, etc. Remember, the bigger the hole, the more time to mend.