Saturday, August 8, 10AM – 2PM | Taught by Shannon Roudhán & Jason Bowlsby 🎨
- Single-session class at the Mercer Island Community & Event Center
8236 SE 24th St, Mercer Island - $100 for MIVAL members
- $120 for non-members
- All skill levels welcome
- Ages 18+
Reclaim. Repurpose. Reinvent.
Visible mending is having a moment – but Shannon and Jason take it somewhere else entirely. In this four-hour workshop rooted in their latest book, Mending Handbook, you will explore mending not as a chore but as an artistic practice: one where every worn hem, fraying edge, and well-loved textile becomes an opportunity for intentional creative expression.
If you can hold a needle, you can do this.
Rooted in the Japanese philosophy of Mottainai – the belief that nothing should be wasted and everything has inherent value – this workshop invites you to see worn and fraying textiles not as problems to solve but as surfaces waiting for something new. Working with a curated selection of fabric samples and guided by a few foundational stitches – seed stitch, fern stitch, chain stitch, and running stitch – you will move at your own pace through guided practice and open exploration, building samples that live at the intersection of practical visible mending and textile art. This is not a project class with a prescribed outcome. It is a space to experiment, play, and discover what mending looks like in your hands. If you have a beloved garment you have been meaning to repair or reimagine, bring it along – Shannon and Jason will be on hand to offer guidance whenever you want it.
Shannon and Jason will bring finished works to inspire and ground the work, including pieces that began as repairs and became something else entirely.
The workshop is designed with breathing room built in – this is not a race. All materials are included in a kit provided at the workshop. No prior textile experience is required.
Shannon Roudhán and Jason Bowlsby are Seattle-based multidisciplinary artists, authors, and educators working across reclaimed textiles, sashiko, boro, wearable art, painting, and pen and ink. Authors of more than fifteen books – including Mending Handbook (C&T Publishing, 2026) – and researchers with the Seattle Art Museum and the Amuse Museum in Japan, their practice is rooted in the Japanese philosophy of Mottainai: nothing wasted, everything in conversation.