Mending Workshop with Mary Heath

In this workshop you could darn worn socks, repair holes in knits or wovens, fix a hem, sew on buttons or mend and reinforce your jeans with bold, visible running stitches.

Mary brings a lifetime of mending experiences to share with us, and this all happens to fit quite nicely within her commitment to sustainable textile practices.

No previous sewing skills are required because Mary will introduce you to multiple hand - mending strategies and skills.

Please bring along your own garment/s and anything that you might like to use to mend it with, such as a piece of favourite fabric to use as a patch or some just-right thread, or the button you saved to sew back on!

At the end of this session you will leave with the confidence to continue on your mending journey and new skills to apply to it.

About the facilitator

Mary has been mending since her mum taught her to darn a sock in primary school. She is usually wearing more than one mended garment. Together with friends, Mary has hosted #stitchitdontditchit and World Mend in Public Day in Adelaide. She is a regular host of the mending corner at South Australian Grassroots Ecosystem. She is a climate activist who believes that mending can be beautiful as well as practical; whimsical as well as functional. And that it has a role to play in mending relationships broken by fast fashion: with our own clothing; with earth’s ecosystems and with human rights.

What you need to know

• You will have access to our stash, fabric and threads to choose from, and an ironing station.

• Please bring along your mending project.

  Also, anything you think will be needed for your mending project, such as matching thread or yarn.  Even though we are providing a range of materials, please bring some of your own if you think your project has specific requirements.

• Suitable for beginners 16 years and older

• If your circumstances change and you can no longer attend this workshop, please email rstrohmayer@ahc.sa.gov.au before 5pm, Thursday 4 September 2025. We cannot issue refunds after this time and date.

• Tea and coffee provided.

Images (apart from banner image and the one below) supplied by the workshop facilitator.