Make Mends Meet
Make Mends Meet is a social art practice where people meet to mend, share stories and rescue textiles from the landfill.
Mending is an act of defiance in a world, where we throw out what we don’t love or need any longer instead of sharing, repairing or reinventing what we already own.
We repair the social fabric while mending clothes, shoes, pillows and everything else that’s soft and subject to wear and tear.
Mending skills are easily acquired and are the foundation for endless possibilities to be creative. It’s empowering to make something better with your own hands and control this process from start to finish.
We have always known (and recent studies confirm) that doing textile work with our hand is directly connected with our mental and emotional health and wellbeing.
At Make Mends Meet we believe that nothing is beyond mending and repair, including yourself. That’s why we meet, mend, make, care and repair, upcycle and reinvent.
It’s free and everyone is welcome!
Monthly Mending Circle with Story House Ithaca @Sew Green Classrooms
Note that due to my recent move to Spain, the mending circle is now hosted by Margaret Ball-Lumumba.
Check here for upcoming events from Story House Ithaca.
In collaboration with Story House Ithaca:
From the Story House Ithaca website:
Bring an item of clothing or anything that needs some TLC and be ready to stitch, patch, darn, and swap stories. Kathrin Achenbach from “Make Mends Meet” and WEAVE Community will provide tips, ideas, and help, along with some basic supplies including needles, thread, and fabric scraps.
Mending is good for the planet – and for the soul! No prior knowledge needed, and everyone is welcome.
This program was made possible in part with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant program from the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and NYS Legislature, administered by the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.
Craft Studio with Make Mends Meet
Make Mends Meet // MENDING CIRCLE
Established by Kathrin Achenbach, our mending circle is a continuation of her Make Mends Meet model. We invite folks to slow down and sit with us in the living room at the Soil Factory to learn hand stitches, and mend garments to give them new life. Kathrin instilled in us the spirit that mending is a radical act, focusing on slow crafting as community building, and giving new life to clothes that would otherwise go into landfills.
Hosted by the community
Everyone is invited, no prior knowledge needed!
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PAST EVENTS
Make Mends Meet at Ben Altman’s exhibit I Own This Stolen Land and Poetry Reading by Kenzie Allen Up through Feb. 3
Sunday, 1/26/2025
12:30am – 1:45pm
From CAP website:
en Altman’s I Own This Stolen Land explores the artist’s ownership of 38 acres of rural land in Tompkins County, NY. He asks: “My title to this land originates in settler-colonial genocide – what are my responsibilities? What threatens the land? What are the possibilities for repair?” The full project includes text-sculptures, photographs, video, and performance. It also provides collaborative access to the land for Gayogohó:nǫˀ (Cayuga) people, the displaced Indigenous inhabitants, for traditional and arts activities and for an enriched relationship to their homelands. The exhibit features huge beautifully framed photographs and links to project performances. Learn more at benaltman.net
On Sunday, January 26, at 2:00 p.m. poet Kenzie Allen (Oneida) will give a reading at Ben Altman’s exhibit, co-sponsored by Buffalo Street Books and Story House Ithaca. Kenzie is a wonderful poet – some of you may have heard her read in 2023 during Spring Writes or at Ben’s open-air reading in Danby. She’ll be signing copies of her new book, Cloud Missives (Tin House, 2024).
Before Kenzie’s reading, Kathrin Achenbach from Make Mends Meet will hold a session of mending and conversation starting at 12:30. Bring clothes that need repair, socks with holes, or new sewing projects, and discuss repairs to the world – or anything else – while you work. Some patching materials, needles, thread, etc. will be available, and/or bring your own.
CAP ArtSpace
110 N Tioga St,
Ithaca, NY 14850
