Every sewer seems to have their own arsenal of stitches and tricks—collected over a lifetime of both practice and study. Over the course of her career in fashion and textile art (as well as her own personal mending projects), Joy Mao has identified a selection of hand-sewing stitches that have proved most useful for common cases of mending: patching up holes, taking up hems, replacing or reinforcing threadbare areas. This class aims to provide a foundational overview of hand-sewing techniques that will inspire and empower students to tackle all their mending projects to come.
Date
Sunday, October 4th, 2026
Time
11:00-1:30 pm ET
Location
Zoom, a link will be sent to participants the day before class
Cost
$75
Recording
All Mending Series sessions will be recorded. A link to each recording will be emailed to all registrants following the live session. Each link is live for three months after the live session.
Class Materials
- One scrap of plain medium-weight woven fabric, approximately 10 x 10 inches
- Hand sewing needle
- Thread or embroidery floss that fits your needle
- Snips
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Optional: Wax for wicking thread & thimble if using thick fabric
About the Mending Series
This series explores mending as both a practical skill and a thoughtful act of care, encouraging creative expression, environmental consciousness, and gratitude for the garments that hold meaning in our lives. Students will learn technical approaches to repairing a wide range of textiles from practicing artists and teachers, while exploring increasingly specialized mending techniques. Stitchers of all experience levels are welcome to join for part or all of the series.
Scholarships
We have one scholarship seat available for this workshop. To be considered for a scholarship, please fill out this scholarship application form.
Our Teacher
Joy Mao is a Chinese American fashion designer and textile artist based in Brooklyn, New York—using clothing as a medium for illuminating the bonds between self and society. How do our clothes shape the way we understand ourselves, our relationships with others, and the ways we move through our worlds? How can fashion support and sustain life, rather than exploit it?
Her work recognizes and celebrates human effort—the kind of labor that people engage in, both individually and in community with others, to create with care. Though this kind of effort derives from a deep and transformative place of love, it is often overlooked and undervalued. Joy designs and constructs intimate spaces—from clothing to gathering places—to support those who work to build a more just and beautiful world.
Joy holds a BA Fundamentals from the University of Chicago and an AAS Fashion Design from Parsons School of Design. From 2021-2024, she was a Creatives Rebuild New York Teaching Artist at The W.O.W. Project in Manhattan Chinatown. In 2025, she founded an artisan collective called Chores (@choresworld), which tells intimate community stories through annual collections of small batch clothing, accessories, home goods, and artwork.
Learn more about Joy’s process on Instagram (@byjoymao) and Substack (joymao.substack.com).