This workshop followed a similar structure as ‘Notions of The Notebook’ in that there was documentation and attempted to follow the three part meet, learn, share and exchange workshop structure.
Method of the Workshop:
Front of document given to participants:
In documentation you may notice that this event is listed as 2/3 and not 3/4, and this is because the first mending workshop was considered a pilot study and doesn’t follow the structure of the three workshops that follow.
Meet: Students were given a document and asked to introduce the article of clothing they brought, as well as their emotional attachment to the item.
Learn: Amelié Chanfreau, who was the instructor for the first mending workshop, teaches students three stich techniques:
1. The Running Stich
2. The Back Stitch
3. The Chain Stitch
Pinned up in the classroom were over 10 items with various repairs done to them. Participants were encouraged to go up to the items, learn about the technique and draw inspiration.
Share & Exchange: Students are given an opportunity to mend with their peers. Unfortunately participants were not confident in their ability to teach others, so Amelie was the main instructor.
Findings & Observations:
The Meet survey asked students about their attachment levels to the item they brought. 0 being no attachment at all to 5, or extremely emotionally attached to the item. The survey revealed of the 12 participants of the workshop:
5 reported 5/5 attachment level
2 reported 4.5/5 attachment level
2 reported 4/5 attachment level
1 reported a 3/5 attachment level
2 reported a 1/5 attachment level
Avg: 3.5 attachment level to the item brought to repair.
Conclusions:
One major observation of this workshop is how difficult and time consuming clothing mending can be. Learning mending techniques besides the running stich can be extremely time consuming and can take days to complete.
Reading the responses of participants highlighted that the quality of the mend was inconsequential when compared to the collective and meditative act of mending. In reflections, participants made 21 notes on emotional attachment while there was only 7 notes on skill enhancement.
Responses included:
“The process also helped me appreciate the article of clothing more than I did when coming in to the workshop. A repair act out of necessity made the value increase.”
“I’m learning to mend something I care about, not allow it to fade with time, but defy its lifespan at my choosing. I hope this is one day worn by my son, now with my own loving repair added to it.”
Responses from Participants: