By Mary Anne Savage
The Mending Initiative, a new collaboration at Appalachian State University, aims to build an awareness on campus and in the community about the importance of maintaining and taking care of clothing. Rather than throwing away clothing with rips or tears, the Mending Initiative teaches students and community members to repair clothing so it doesn’t end up in landfills. The group will hold its first mending workshop of the spring semester on February 24 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at HOW Space (182 Howard Street). Students, faculty and community members are invited to bring clothing in need of repair to this free event, and students will be available to help fix.
Instructor Mary Ray and Associate Professor Nancy Oliver in the Department of Applied Design’s apparel design and merchandising program, along with Senior Lecturer Susan Poorman in the Department of Communication, have been working in collaboration to bring the Mending Initiative to life.
Cameron Hoyt, a senior apparel design and merchandising major, has been with the Mending Initiative since its formation in fall 2017. She describes it as “a group of apparel design students that teach other students and people in the community how to mend their clothes with a goal of becoming a community space where people can hang out and mend together.”
According to Gabrielle Haddox, another senior apparel design and merchandising major involved with the initiative, the core group of three professors and five students met every other week during the fall semester to build the foundation of the initiative.
“It’s a way to inform not just apparel students but people across campus and in the community how to repair and upcycle their clothing,” she shared. “It lets you take something you have and turn it into something cool, to repurpose it in some way.”
The Mending Initiative launched in November by partnering with the Art Department’s graphic design program to host “SEAM,” an exhibition of altered, donated clothing intended to confront consumption and waste in the fashion industry.
The group helped a number of students, faculty and community members repair and fix different articles of clothing using two sewing machines. Hoyt specifically remembered sewing a patch on someone’s jean jacket during the event.
“It’s a really cool thing that we as a society are moving out of the fast fashion of using stuff and then just throwing it away. I love sewing, so sharing that with other people and seeing them when they put a patch on or sew a seam up -- they are so excited and it makes me happy, because I love it so much.”
In addition to the upcoming workshop on Feb. 24, the initiative will host more workshops throughout the spring semester. For more information, contact Mary Ray at rayml@appstate.edu.
About the Department of Applied Design
One of seven departments housed in the College of Fine and Applied Arts, the Department Applied Design at Appalachian State University fosters excellence in design education, design research and professional placement. The department balances theoretical and pragmatic approaches while exploring an awareness of impact through design decisions on the global community. Faculty focus on a holistic approach to creative problem-solving by integrating sustainability and ethical responsibility in teaching and practice. The department offers bachelor’s degrees in apparel design and merchandising, industrial design and interior design.
About the Department of Communication
One of seven departments housed in the College of Fine and Applied Arts, the Department of Communication at Appalachian State University focuses on preparing students to succeed in the varied fields within the communication industry. The department offers five majors – advertising, communication studies, electronic media/broadcasting, journalism and public relations – and a minor in communication studies. Graduates work in a wide range of positions in media, corporate, agency, government and nonprofit organizations.
About Appalachian State University
Appalachian State University, in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The transformational Appalachian experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and embrace diversity and difference. As one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina system, Appalachian enrolls about 19,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.
SEAM
Participants use the sewing machine at the Mending Initiative's first event, "SEAM," in November 2017 at HOW Space. Photo submitted