Behind the Scenes: Crafting a final package with mending circle community event

There were a plethora of mending materials to pick from at the event/Source: Syd Pierre

For my fourth and final package for Ithaca Week, I focused on another community event in Ithaca, a mending circle being hosted by Buffalo Street Books. I had heard about the event through the Buffalo Street Books’ website and became more intrigued once I reached out to learn more about it, because I found out it was a collaboration between Story House Ithaca and the store. I learned that Story House Ithaca was very much aligned with the community aspect of my beat, as they work to bring members of the community together through different forms of storytelling and art.

I also had never been to Buffalo Street Books or the Dewitt Mall (I know! I’ve been here for three and half years and really need to get off campus more), so it was cool to see their space. The mending circle itself was also very interesting to be a part of it. Personally, I was having a pretty stressful week and the event was right in the middle of a hectic day for me, so I was internally bemoaning having to run off campus and get downtown. But, like every other package I’ve covered this fall, seemingly all of my stress and external frustrations melted away once I got into reporting and interviews.

The event saw a sizable attendance/Source: Syd Pierre

It was great to interview Kathrin Achenbach, the organizer of Make Mends Meet, and hear about her journey into mending, as well as her thoughts on gender and sewing. I had some great quotes from her about how the two are interwoven and I wish that I could have fit them into the final article.

Achenbach talked about how “repair” is seen as a more masculine term, while mending is associated with femininity and softness.

“Mending itself and needlework is usually already gendered in the women's realm in the Western world,” Achenbach said. “...But my hope is that it's just looked upon as community is not a gender thing, right? And repairing clothing shouldn't be gendered, saying that women do it, but men throw something away… So I do think that hopefully, the younger generation just looks at that as something to be done.”

Overall, it was really interesting to see the event come to life and watching the community-building happen in real time, as more people showed up with things to mend and stories to tell. It also inspired me to pick up my knitting project, so who knows, maybe my mom will finally get the scarf I’ve been working on for over a year!