Intro to Mending with Katrina Rodabaugh

Hudson Valley textile artist, Katrina Rodabaugh, is both a friend and client of ours, and we’re thrilled to host her for a 3-hour Introduction to Embroidery workshop this spring. Katrina teaches rarely these days, so this is a special opportunity to spend time with her learning new skills in our beautiful Catskill shop! 

• Saturday Sept 26, 2-5pm
• Made X Hudson shop, 391 Main St, Catskill NY
• Space is limited to ~15 spots
• Learn the basics of mending from Katrina, and begin a small project
• During a break, meet our cofounder Sergio Guadarrama and take a quick tour of our 2nd-floor garment factory* if you like
• In addition to the items specified below, we will provide light snacks and drinks. Mocktails are also available to purchase at our in-store bar

Class Overview

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. Visible mending is a hand-stitching technique that combines patches, stitches, and design elements. The class will consider the creative opportunity in mending through careful consideration of materials, design, and stitching techniques. All mending will focus on hand-sewing, particularly woven fabrics.

This workshop will lead participants through an overview of basic stitches and patching before turning to a garment that needs mending. Katrina will discuss how best to repair garments considering fabric, thread, utility, beauty, and more. Students will leave the workshop with various resources, a mended garment (in-progress), and a class booklet. Basic sewing and stitching skills are required. Please note: We will focus on woven fabrics like denim, linen, cotton, silk, hemp, etc. We will not cover mending stretchy fabrics like leggings. We will discuss basic darning on knits like sweaters, socks, hats, etc. though most of the class will focus on mending woven fabrics like denim.

Materials to Bring to Class

• Textile to mend—Garments made of denim, linen, or cotton are great choices. Household textiles like quilts, tea towels, and tablecloths are good too.
• Patches of the same fiber and weight as the textile to be mended—midweight denim is best patched with a midweight denim patch; light linen is best patched with light linen patches; and quilts with quilting cotton, etc.
• Note on darning: We will cover basic darning stitches on knit garments like sweaters and hats though most of our time will focus on wovens. If you want to bring a knitted garment please bring similar weight yarn and a tapestry needle.

Materials Provided

• 100% cotton thread, metal needles, rulers, and class handout.
• Tools to share in class: Fabric scissors, fabric pencils, straight pins, safety pins, thimbles, and pinking shears. (Students can bring personal tools to use in class or use the shared tools provided.)

Teacher Bio

Katrina Rodabaugh is an artist, writer, and teacher working across disciplines to explore environmental and social issues through craft techniques. Mostly, she rethinks the relationship between fiber art, sustainability, and fashion. She’s the author of three books including Make Thrift Mend (2021) and Mending Matters (2018). Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Martha Stewart Living, Selvedge Magazine, Sunset magazine, Taproot magazine, and more. She earned a BA in Environmental Studies and an MFA in Creative Writing though her fiber arts training started in childhood. She teaches, writes, and designs products for her online shop. She lives with her husband, two sons, chickens, cats, honeybees, and many dye plants in the Hudson Valley of NY. 

About Made X Hudson

We are a sustainability-driven company with a small-batch garment factory and two slow-fashion boutiques in New York’s Hudson Valley — in Catskill and Hudson. We sell our own clothing line, made in our Catskill factory, along with dozens of tiny brands from the area plus a few sustainable brands from elsewhere. We also do custom and made-to-order clothing. This workshop will be held in our Catskill store, on the ground floor.

Cancellation Policy

Should you need to cancel, you may do so up to 1 week (7 days) before the class date. You will receive Made X Hudson store credit for the amount of your registration fee, good toward any merchandise, classes or custom factory services. 

* Please note our factory is accessible only by stairs. Our apologies for any inconvenience!