In collaboration with House of the Faun in downtown Port Townsend~

Together we will hand-sew a symbolic patch for the back of your coat using textile scraps I’ve collected and dyed over the years. An image of your beloved dog, a particular medicinal plant that makes you feel powerful, “ice out”, or an abstraction that plays with shape and color- you choose your message. We’ll explore how garment patches have been used in subcultures, in protest, in artful play, and as talismans of our belonging or membership throughout history. 

Bring a beloved coat, sweatshirt, sweater, or vest that you want to adorn. Please bring your own scissors, snips, and needles that you like working with. Bring any special textile scraps, ribbons, buttons, threads or other bits that you wish to incorporate- however there will be supplies available to use up.

This class is best suited for folks that already have some basic stitching experience.

Space is limited, pre-registration is required.

Through creative improvisation, we’ll utilize basic mending techniques to artfully return our once-broken garments to new life. 

We’ll learn about mending tools, materials, and the value of keeping something alive and in use- but we’ll also explore the emotional connections we make with our garments and the stories they connect us to. We’ll delve into the meditative aspects of handwork, the metaphors for relational repair to self and others, and the opportunities for personal expression. Together, we’ll bring these many threads together into something imperfect, yet whole.

Please bring 2-4 beloved garments in need of repair. If you have them, please bring your own scissors, snips, and needles that you like working with, and any special textile scraps, buttons, or threads that you wish to incorporate- however there will be supplies available to use up.

Some ideas of mends that would be a good fit for this class: jeans with holes in the knees, a knit sweater with a moth hole, wool socks with holes in the heels, a tee shirt with a rip, or a jacket with a torn pocket.

This class is open for sewers of all experience and levels. Beginners welcome!

Space is limited, pre-registration is required.

Alexa Anderson + Slowdown Studio

Seattle, Washington

Sunday April 26 ~ 12:00- 3:00pm

$115

REGISTER: https://www.slow-down-studio.com/classes/p/mending

Slow Down Studio is a pottery studio and creative makers space offering workshops of all kinds! They are located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. Visit their website to sign up for my class and learn more about their offerings.

In this mending workshop we learn to darn and patch our knitwear- sweaters, socks, and delicate wool base layers by hand. Through creative improvisation, we’ll utilize basic mending techniques to artfully return our once-broken garments to new life. 

We’ll talk favorite tools, materials, and the value of keeping something alive and in use- but we’ll also explore the emotional connections we make with our garments and the stories they connect us to.

We all come to this work with our individual motivations: the meditative and somatic aspects of handwork, the metaphors for relational repair to self and others, and the reality that repair work in some communities and cultures is a result of socioeconomic status, remote living, or simply wanting to opt out of the consumerist cycle.

Students should bring current mending projects such as knit socks, sweaters, and wool base layers with runs or holes. Please bring any project-specific threads, needles, and scissors that you like to work with if you have them, however all levels are welcome and class fee includes some specialty materials and tools you will take home.

Join me at Northwind Arts in Port Townsend, Washington and learn to repair your cold-weather knitwear by hand. Together we'll darn our sweaters, socks, and delicate wool base layers. We’ll be focusing on hand-sewing and visible mending techniques.

Students should bring current mending projects such as knit socks and sweaters with holes, wool base layers with runs or holes, or T-shirts and blouses in need of mending. Please bring any project-specific threads, patch fabric, buttons, needles, and scissors that you like to work with. 

More details and registration at Northwindart.org

Join us for the closing reception of Soft Offering, at Second Child in Port Townsend, Washington on Saturday 1/10 from 11am-2pm. All are welcome.

Solo exhibition Soft Offering opens at Second Child in Port Townsend, Washington. Join us for the reception on Saturday December 6, 2026 at 5pm.

Join me at Northwind Arts in Port Townsend, Washington for a fall mending circle and learn to repair your cold-weather knitwear by hand. Together we'll darn our sweaters, socks, and delicate wool base layers. We’ll be focusing on hand-sewing and visible mending techniques.

Students should bring current mending projects such as knit socks and sweaters with holes, jeans with minor repairs, wool base layers with runs or holes, or T-shirts and blouses in need of mending. Please bring any project-specific threads, patch fabric, buttons, needles and scissors that you like to work with. 

More information and registration at northwindart.org