Join us for a drop-in, community textile repair clinic with Boulder Library Makerspace staff on the Main Libraries second floor! We’ll have stations setup for patching, stitching, and darning together. Staff will share the basics of mending woven fabrics like denim jeans, knit fabrics like socks, and home textiles like pillow covers. These techniques can be applied to a wide range of clothing items and home textiles. We’ll cover useful knots, stitches, and basic design elements to make thoughtful repairs with hand-stitching. Please bring one clean textile to mend that’s made from woven fabric like denim, cotton, linen, flannel, or canvas; or knit fabrics like most sweaters, socks, hats, scarves, blankets, etc. We will have a limited selection of fabrics for patches and threads and yarns for stitching and darning experiments. (If you’d like to match your textile to a certain patch or yarn, please consider bringing patches or yarns of similar fiber content, weight, and color to your textile.)

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This Maker-In-Residence program is made possible with funding from the Boulder Library Foundation. The Foundation organizes local philanthropic support for innovation, capital improvements, creativity, and expanded outreach and literacy for Boulder's Libraries. 

Join award-winning artist and best-selling author, Katrina Rodabaugh, for in-person mending workshops with the Boulder Public Library. Katrina is the author of Mending Matters (Abrams, 2018) and Make Thrift Mend (Abrams, 2021)—joyful and practical guides to mending and slow fashion. Visible mending is a series of hand-sewing techniques that combine patches, stitches, weavings, and design elements to make beautiful, long-lasting repairs. The classes will consider the creative opportunity in mending woven and knit fabrics through careful consideration of materials, design, and stitching techniques. All mending will focus on hand-sewing woven fabrics like denim, linen, cotton, and silk or knit fabrics like sweaters, socks, gloves, hats, etc. Mending is a wonderful way to practice hand-stitching and sustainability by extending the life of our textiles. Simple stitches transform torn or distressed garments and homewares through thoughtful repairs.