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Did you know that 66% of unwanted clothes and textiles wind up in the landfill? Or that less than 15% are recycled and 19% are burned? Mending Our Ways is a program to help reduce clothing waste by teaching community members how to mend and by offering free mending of clothes. Presented by the Southwest Women’s Fiber Arts Collective (SWFAC) in collaboration with The Future Forge Makerspace, this free program will be held 10 a.m.-12 p.m., Saturday, May 10, at The Future Forge Makerspace, 307 East College Ave., Silver City.
Mending clothes is one of the methods we can all do to keep good clothing out of our landfill. During this event, community members can bring one item that needs a simple repair like replacing a button or a tear in a shirt or pants. SWFAC members will be on hand to mend the items, and community members who learn how to mend with the SWFAC members will receive a small sewing kit.
Each mending day brings different items to be mended and the SWFAC menders meet each challenge! On the last mending day, Sandra Cantrell brought in a special jacket her daughter had made for her. It needed a seam repaired and SWFAC member Lisa Banfield creatively made the repair.
In addition to taking part in Mending Our Ways, members of SWFAC make many types of fiber art encompassing the manual manipulation of a variety of fibers by weaving, knitting, crocheting, sewing, quilting, basket making, and paper making, to name a few of the techniques.
SWFAC was founded in 2005 and is a local, all volunteer, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Our mission is to celebrate fiber art and realize its economic potential, nurture and empower both novice and skilled fiber artists, enrich the community by fostering opportunities to experience, learn and earn.
The Future Forge Makerspace is a place for making and learning. Makerspaces are part of what’s called the Maker’s Movement, which emphasizes hands-on discovery in an increasingly automated world. The textiles room has a modular design based on the reconfigurable space of co-working. There is a variety of tables and chairs, sewing machines, computer assisted embroidery, and silk-screening. A large variety of tools, fabrics and resources are available for member use.
For more information about Mending Our Ways, visit SWFAC’s website at FiberArtsCollective.org. To learn more about The Future Forge Makerspace, and to become a member, visit TheFutureForge.org.
