VISIBLE MENDING: PATCHING + DARNING 
Cal Patch | Thursday, April 6, 6-8pm | $45
 
Mending is an essential part of maintaining your handmade or Slow-Fashion wardrobe, and patching and darning are your key techniques. Cal will show you 2 different ways to patch a hole in woven garments: Overlay and Reverse Appliqué, various stitches that work for each method, and when to use them. Then we will mend a hole in a knitted garment with traditional darning. Whether you try to do it invisibly or artfully, you’ll extend the life of your favorite woolies by knowing how to darn them. Traditional darning works well for smaller holes or areas that are worn thin. You might have so much fun, you'll actually be happy to see a new hole in your most-loved and worn garments!
No prerequisite skills.
 
About Cal
Cal Patch has been making, designing and teaching all things textile-related in New York City since 1991. She sews, crochets, embroiders, spins, prints, knits, dyes, and more. She designed clothing for Urban Outfitters, Free People, Gap, and Old Navy before developing her own line of one-off pieces called “hodge podge”, which she currently sells at craft fairs and in her Etsy shop. After owning a boutique for four years which showcased her own and other local indie designers’ work, she opened one of the nation’s first craft schools in 2002. She contributes to books and magazines such as Stitch N’ Bitch: The Happy Hooker, Mend It Better, Applique Your Way, Made by Hand, Crochet Today and Sew Stylish. In 2009 Cal relocated to upstate New York where she is learning to be a crafty farmer. She offers classes in the Hudson Valley, and travels to teach at retreats and events like Squam Art Workshops, the Makerie, and Lucky Star Art Camp. Her first book, Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified, was published by Potter Craft.
 
Supplies
2 items (woven or T-shirt) with holes to be patched, or fabric to make a “mending sampler”
Scraps of woven and knit fabric for patches
Hand-sewing needles in a few sizes
All-purpose or top-stitching thread
Embroidery floss (I suggest size 8 Perle Cotton)
Pins
Scissors
A sock, sweater or other knit item with a small* hole to be darned (can be hand or machine knit)
Small amount of comparable-sized yarn to what the original is knit from (probably between fingering and worsted), can be matching or contrast
Tapestry needles in a few smaller sizes (or any needles with a large enough eye for yarn)
*about 1.5” or les