Men’s Monthly Mending
Community Studio Sessions: Men’s Monthly Mending
About Community Studio Sessions
Making is often easier in community.
At Breuwen, we believe traditional craft knowledge becomes most meaningful when it is shared, practiced, and passed between people.
Community Studio Sessions are an invitation to gather at the studio and participate in the living traditions of making. These affordable, recurring studio gatherings offer dedicated time to explore techniques such as natural dyeing, shibori, sashiko, mending, weaving, and other textile arts while working alongside a community of fellow makers.
Unlike a formal workshop, these sessions are designed as ongoing creative practice. Bring your own materials, work at your own pace, learn through observation and conversation, and become part of a growing circle of people interested in slowing down, creating by hand, and deepening their relationship with craft.
Whether you join once or return month after month, our goal is simple: to create a welcoming space where skills are shared, creativity is nurtured, and community is built through making.
Come make, learn, experiment, and be part of a growing community of slow makers.
Kicking off the first Men’s Monthly Mending with a sewing project that has been sitting in my UFO bin for a while.
Today’s inaugural meeting was attended by my amazing studio assistant, Buyiri (or Boots as we call him). Boots has taken an interest in being in the textile studio while I’ve been on the loom, and has become very valuable with locating lost yarn spools. Granted, he is a dog- but we won’t hold that against him, especially since I know more good dogs than good people.
Since Boots is here, I thought we should work on a project together that has been on my UFO (Unfinished Object) pile for some time; a dog ‘barka’ jacket.
I purchased this Merchant & Mills pattern during a visit to A Verb for Keeping Warm in Berkeley. I am constantly disappointed with dog jacket options and fits, so this gives me an opportunity to make something tailored or both Buyiri and his sister Koyara.
Our first step is determining what size works for the dogs. Looking at the measurements in the instructions, they are somewhere between an X small and a small. This has been the case when I’ve purchased clothing for them. Before I get too far into the project, I’m going to cut my piece size for the XS body and see how it looks on the dogs.
Since this pattern is printed with all sizes on the same sheet, I drew the pattern onto tracing paper to then transfer to my muslin fabric. I’ll make this entire first jacket in muslin to make sure I’m happy with the fit before committing to my final textile- which will be a handwoven pattern on the front with a naturally dyed cotton interior with a shibori pattern. Using my own studio made textiles will really make these pieces very personal and fun.
Once I had the back piece cut into muslin, I checked the size against Koyara and decided to keep moving forward with the XS size.
My studio partners cleared out at this point to inspect a noise outside the front window, so I continued by cutting the 2 collar pieces, and then a 2nd body piece (since I’ll be lining the final piece).
Once my pieces were cut, I pressed them and followed the instructions to sew the collar together and attach it to the back. At that point, I hit the 2 hour mark for today’s session. Enough of the test jacket is made for my to finalize the fit and make pattern adjustments before working on a final jacket.
