Mending: Creative and Historical Workshop

About

Does mending feel more like healing, disguising damage, or celebrating it? What role does beauty play in repair, and when does function take precedence? What does repair add to the story of an object or to a person?

This workshop explores mending as both a practical skill and an expressive act. Through close engagement with repaired and reworked objects from The Quilters’ Guild collection, you will be invited to consider what mending reveals about care, identity and the meanings we attach to damage and repair.

You will view objects that have been sewn together or visibly repaired, examining a range of mending techniques, from functional herringbone stitch to carefully executed invisible mends. These material encounters will open up discussion about how repairs were made, why particular methods were chosen and what they might tell us about the maker’s intentions, emotions and circumstances. Drawing parallels between different forms of handwork, including sewing and surgery, you will reflect on shared challenges of bringing two surfaces together and on what counts as ‘successful’ mending.

You will also have the chance to make part of a large textile sculpture with artist Ruth Singer. Selecting fabrics that reflect the workshop themes and discussion, participants will use hand stitches and stuffing to create three dimensional pieces that will inform a touring artwork to be displayed in 2027 at The Festival of Quilts.

This workshop takes place at The Quilters’ Guild, York, and is funded the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

This workshop is free and open to those interested in quilting and other forms of handwork. All participants must be aged 18+.

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Schedule

· Welcome: about The Victorian Hand (13.00-13.20)

· Reflective activity on our hands and what they do (13.20-13.40)

· Collections visit (13.40-14.20)

. Coffee/tea break (14.20-14.30)

· Discussion of collections (14.30-14.45)

· Hands-on textile activity (14.45-15.45)

· Reflections, photographing our hands and next steps (15.45-16.00)

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Additional information

Teas and coffees will be provided for attendees.

The workshop will be audio recorded for research purposes.

The workshop space has step free access via an elevator. If you have any additional access requirements, please contact [email protected]

This workshop is part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded Victorian Hand: Emotions, Embodiment and Identity project based at The University of the Arts London and Lancaster University and has been approved by the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, College Research Committee.

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