Mend with me?
Upcoming Events:
Mending Mondays
at Cloth Collaborative, Hyde Park
October 14th, 21st, 28th Monday evenings, 630-830.
As we move closer into the colder seasons, we are called to slow down, get our hands moving and our clothes mended. In this weekly evening drop-in session, bring an item to repair by hand, and join us as we sit and mend together. Maggie will be available for guidance and support, and mending supplies will be provided. Warm herbal tea will be on offer- bring a snack to share if you’d like.
*note: this is not a structured workshop, but a time to work on a project in community. Maggie is happy to help you get started and troubleshoot any hiccups along the way.
Turning Inward w/ tannins and gold: A Fall Natural dye workshop
November 9, 1-4pm at Cloth Collaborative, Hyde Park
Join us for this 3 hour workshop where we will dive into the magic of seasonal natural dye! We will be working with two beloved New England autumn plant allies, marigolds and black walnuts, as we feel into this season and coax color onto cloth. In this gentle and fun class, we will cover the basics of how to build a dye bath, demystify the mordanting process, learn about connecting with the seasons, and get to try eco-printing. Beginners and folks with some experience are warmly welcome.
Coaxing Summer onto Cloth
4 sessions at Patchwork Community CraftNorfolk, MA *just off the commuter rail!Sundays 1-4pm (7/21, 8/18, 9/15, 10/20)Join our four-session workshop, "Coaxing Summer onto Cloth," where a cohort of textile enthusiasts and textile curious folks will explore various methods of capturing the beauty of summer and early fall on fabric. Throughout the workshop, you'll learn how to create stunning prints of flora, culminating in the creation of a unique quilt or wall hanging featuring prints from throughout the season. We'll visit a local farm, make a mini flower press, capture plant silhouettes using the sun, coax the color from plants by pounding and steaming, and combine all the results into a beautiful piece of textile art that captures the essence of this joyful season in New England.
Foot Bath and Cyanotype Printing Pop-Up!
at Wild Heart Herb House
New Bedford, MA
Saturday June 6th, 10-3
Join us for a sweet day at Wild Heart Herb House in New Bedford! I will be there all day with herbal supplies for personal footbaths, as well as offering instruction in cyanotype printing. The shop is a beautiful new edition to the south coast scene, located at Haskell gardens with seasonal plants abounding. I may also have a special guest offering personal portrait photography and somatic sessions….. keep your eyes peeled and join us!
Visible Mending Series
Harvard Art Museums
Join us for a monthly mending workshop at the materials lab of Harvard Art Museums! Each class, we will gather to learn basic visual mending techniques, and have a discussion around related topics, and then participants will have a chance to work on an item they brought to repair.
Dates:
12/3, 1/27, 2/17
(The focus of the first class will be mending denim and woven fabric, and the discussion will be about sustainability)
Visual Mending Series
at the Eliot School, JP
Join us for 4 Friday evenings this winter to learn the basics of visual mending in a gentle, fun, and community oriented space! Each class will have a slightly different topic and there will be instruction, followed by time to work on whatever garment you brought to repair.
Dates: 1/12, 1/19, 1/26, 2/2
(sign up for 1, 2, 3, or all 4 classes)
Natural Dye & Eco-Printing Class (7/22)
Norfolk, MA
In this gentle and fun 3 hr workshop, participants will learn the basics of natural dye and ecoprinting. We will ground into the current summer season with an herbal infusion, and then get our hands into the dye pots. We will learn about seasonal harvesting, the mordanting process, and natural dye as a seasonal ritual practice, as well as the nuts and bolts of coaxing color onto cloth. We are delighted to be using locally grown flowers sourced from dear Norfolk growers Muddy River Herbals. Join us for an afternoon exploring natural color in community!
Past Events
All Fun No Frills Community Clothing Swap (4/2)
Cambridge, MA
Come bring your closet cleanout to this clothing swap and go home with some fresh new pieces for spring! I’ll be there alongside Jessamy Kilcollins doing on site repairs and taking mending commissions.
Mending with Maggie Ruth (4/8)
Portsmouth Historical Society (Portsmouth, NH)
Join us for this family friendly day centered around sustainability and repair! I’ll be leading 2 adult mending circles, and one for kids as we celebrate the 400th birthday of Portsmouth. Free with registration!
Restorative Yoga and Foot soak- 4/16
JP Crossfit
Join us for an afternoon of deep rest and self tending. Over the course of this 2 hour workshop, we will weave together restorative yoga practice, reflexology, chair massage, and an herbal foot soak- layers of care for the tender parts of ourselves, a soft space to unfurl in community. (Currently open only to members of JP Crossfit, but more coming soon)
Spring Into Color: The Wild and the Cultivated
w/ Emily Auchincloss!
Cloth Collaborative, Hyde Park
Celebrate the transition into Spring with a one day natural dye workshop focusing on cultivated daffodils and wild nettles. This is a great way to use spent daffodils, which will just be ending their flowering season, by transforming them into a dye that yields vibrant yellow shades. Nettles, that hardy, common urban plant gives bright yellow to olive green shades. in this workshop, we will share and experiment with harvesting dye plants, preparing a dye bath, the mordanting process, and dyeing as a way to connect more deeply with the land around us. All materials, including cotton bandanas for dyeing, are included, but you are invited to bring in one natural fiber (i.e. cotton, linen, silk, wool) piece of clothing for dyeing.
Intro to Natural Dye! (6/10)
Eliot School, JP
Intro to Natural Dye! (7/9)
Eliot School, JP
Natural Dye and Mending parties!
How it works: Gather a group of friends or family or folks you want to get to know better for a birthday, seasonal gathering or ritual, or just because and I'll come to you with 2 dye baths and various fabric for each of you to dye with seasonal color.
For in home mending workshops, we will learn some basic stitches together and then everyone will have time and space to work on repairing a garment they brought with them to mend, with my support. Slow stitching in community is a balm and a sweet way to spend an evening or afternoon with pals.
If you have specific desires or requests, we can work together to create the event you're wanting. I always bring herbal teas to my classes, and for an additional charge, I can bake a sweet treat to bring along, add on an herbal medicine making component, or bring supplies for a community footbath- each person soaking their feet in a warm basin of herbs as they stitch. Mend your clothes, mend yourselves. Do it together.
Get in touch below!
“I wanted to improve my mending skills but most important for me was the consistency of meeting every week and being in community with others. Maggie is an excellent educator! She teaches and she allows herself to be taught. She is extremely warm and works hard to create a sense of togetherness and that we are all learning from each other. I have only taken a couple of other courses at Eliot, but among them this has been my favorite and I have signed up for the next series of 4 circles!”
-A.C., Eliot School attendee