Hand-Sewing Basics with Taryn Hipwell

Join us for a hands-on workshop focused on the art of hand sewing, where you’ll learn to repair and revitalize your clothes with simple, creative techniques including Sashiko, which originated in ancient Japan. From mending holes and seams to adding personalized touches, instructor Taryn Hipwell will teach you everything you need to know to breathe new life into your garments.

We will focus on 5 mending techniques:

1. Running Stitch - hemming pants
2. Blind Hem - hemming skirts
3. Whip Stitch - patching holes
4. Scissor Work - removing sleeves
5. Sashiko - Japanese stitching technique

We’ll provide basic materials (fabric, thread, buttons, pins), and we encourage you to bring your own clothing items. For first time sewers we recommend natural woven fibers (denim/twill, men’s shirting, woven cotton sundresses since polyester, knit, and stretch tends to slip more). Walk away with the confidence to fix and maintain your wardrobe, reduce waste, and make bold, meaningful changes in how you approach fashion!

Taryn Hipwell is a global speaker and passionate healthy fashion consultant who has taught upcycling for over 10 years. She specializes in aligning brands and future designers with best practices in transparency and circularity, and sourcing cleaner fabrics and raw materials. She is the author of How to Shop for Shi(f)t, an instructor at Istituto Marangoni Miami, a Remake co-Community Organizer for Florida, a Wear You Values breakout session speaker at LAFS, the winner of the Sustainable Expert award at the Mana Fashion Awards 2024, and the founder of Beyond the Label, which started as a partnership with TEDxLA to educate locals on the true health, social, and environmental costs of their fashion purchases. Hipwell has spoken about sustainability, transparency, circularity, diversity, and toxins in fabrics to over 10,000 students at 30 top fashion schools and universities around the world, including the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), Parsons, NYU, UCLA, and YOUNGA, a first-of-its-kind global youth takeover of the United Nations.The Things Lab is supported in part by Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners.

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