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!

Upcoming dates and times:

Mending Circle with Story House Ithaca @Sew Green Classrooms

Thursday, January 23,
4pm – 6pm

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 is 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.

Where:
Sew Green
112 W Green St, #2 (Press Bay Court)
Ithaca, NY 14850

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Make Mends Meet at Ben Altman’s exhibit I Own This Stolen Land and Poetry Reading by Kenzie Allen Up through Feb. 3

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).

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Make Mends Meet X Leftover Sewing

Sunday, 2/2/2025
11am – 5pm

Make Mends Meet and Leftover Sewing invite to come for an afternoon with mending, tea, a clothing swap, sewing machines and hot glue. Bring clothes that need mending, alterations, a creative update with some stitches and embroidery, socks, sweaters and other woolen items that had an encounter with moths and everything else that needs some TLC in your wardrobe.

Everyone is invited, no prior knowledge needed!

Where:
The Soil Factory
142 Ithaca Beer Dr
Ithaca, NY 14850