Textile repair and maintenance is a relatively little-known craft in the United States, but essential for building community resilience and reducing the purchase and disposal of clothing, shoes, and other fabric and leather goods. Seeking to teach these skills in rural Tompkins County, local textile artist Zoë Van Nostrand received a Neighborhood Mini-Grant from Sustainable Finger Lakes in October 2024 to buy materials for use in leading a series of free community workshops.
Held in February and March 2025 at the Ulysses Philomathic Library in Trumansburg, the Textile Repair & Care workshop series began with Community Clothing Swap and continued with sessions on felting for sweater repair, minor mends with hand sewing, and leather care, each with separate registrations. Every workshop featured demonstrations on items bought from Ithaca ReUse or left over from the Clothing Swap, covered multiple repair approaches, and focused on methods that more people could affordably keep using without a need for “fancy” sewing equipment
Most of the participants had no previous experience with the tasks featured in the workshop(s) they attended, and each of them repaired more than one item per session. Word spread around Trumansburg and across Tompkins County, reaching Tompkins Cortland Community College photography student Constance Thomas, who attended twice and took photographs for a project documenting machine-less textile “handwork” (see photo above). Many participants expressed eagerness to have more such workshops held at the library or other local spaces.
Testaments to the project’s success:
“Zoë’s workshop was so good. She was very informative and I love her passion and stance about reducing textile waste. She had lots of tools and tricks for different kinds of mending. She recommended a product for darning socks, and I went right out and got some so I could darn my own!”- Felting Workshop participant
“Zoë was fabulous to work with. She’s a great communicator and created eye-catching flyers for each of the workshops in the series. The clothing swap was well attended and easy to navigate, and Zoë made everyone feel welcome. In the workshops, she provided clear and informative introductions to each topic, and one-on-one instruction along the way. We would 100% love to work with her again!” – Laura Mielhausen, director of the Ulysses Philomathic Library
“At our library we are always looking for ways to incorporate the topics of sustainability into our programming. Zoë’s dedication to sustainability in her presentation of these workshops and how she thinks about textiles and fabrics was very inspiring to our patrons.” – Laura Mielhausen, director of the Ulysses Philomathic Library
Zoë taught a second set of Textile Repair & Care workshops at the Feel Goods Ithaca boutique later in 2025 and continues seeking to lead them in community spaces. Other venues in Tompkins County have also offered textile repair education this year, signaling a growing public interest in learning how to preserve clothing and other needed possessions for longer use, gaining skills to grow more self-sufficient while saving money and reducing waste.
The Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program provides seed money to diverse initiatives to build environmental, economic, and social resilience and well-being in Tompkins County, and has just begun a pilot Keuka and Seneca Watersheds chapter. The program is supported by Craig Riecke, the Park Foundation, Applied Energy Services (AES), Visions Federal Credit Union, and local donors. The next deadlines to apply for a Mini-Grant are October 1, 2025 for Tompkins County and October 17, 2025 in Schuyler, Seneca, and Yates Counties. To request an application or learn more, email sasha@sustainablefingerlakes.org.
