Mending as Surface Design with Jody Alexander

This class is part of the six-part virtual Mending Series II. Classes may be purchased à la carte at $75 or as a six-part package for a discounted price of $400. 

Mending techniques are used to repair and strengthen garments and other textile items. But, when left visible the repairs are also decorative, and add texture, line, shape, and color. In this workshop students will look at Japanese and French mended textiles from Jody’s collection as well as how she has worked these techniques into her artwork as surface design. Jody will demonstrate her favorite mending techniques that will include: the back patch, the joining stitch, and a French mend that Jody has named “the French squiggle”! Students will practice these mending techniques on a small sampler.

Date + Time

Friday, September 12, 2025, 12 - 2:30 pm ET

Location

Zoom, a link will be emailed to participants the day before class.

Cost

$75 for the individual class
$400 for the series

Suggested Class Materials

• One piece of cotton or linen cloth for sampler measuring at least 10 x 10 inches

• Small pieces of cloth for patches

• Thread

• Needles to fit your thread

• Scissors

• Thread snips (if you have them)

• Pins

Scholarships 

We have two scholarships available for this experience. To be considered for a scholarship please fill out the scholarship application form.

Our Teacher

Jody Alexander is a mixed media artist who lives and works in Santa Cruz and Penn Valley, California. She combines textiles, paper, found items and imagery to create books, objects, wall pieces, garments, and installations. Her current work is inspired by the art of repair, reuse, and imagery and stories encountered in her travels and everyday.

Her work appears in a number of publications including Masters: Book Arts: Major Works by Leading Artist, 500 Handmade Books, and 1000 Artists’ Books: Exploring the Book as Art. Jody was an artist in residence at the Santa Cruz Resource Recovery Facility in 2019, and is the 2015 recipient of the Rydell Visual Arts Fellowship. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from
U.C.L.A., and a Master’s degree in Library Science from Simmons College, Boston, MA.

Jody teaches and exhibits nationally and internationally.

www.jodyalexander.com

*All classes in this series will be recorded. A link to the recording will be emailed to all students following the live session. You may purchase the series as a whole even after the classes have begun. You will be emailed the recordings upon sign-up.