GLOBAL GARDENS MAKING & MENDING CLUB

By Cat Lewis

November 2022

The Making and Mending group has grown out of the workshop sessions on making natural colours and establishing asmall

dye garden at the Global Gardens,We make lovely useful thingsand mend treasured items we already have.

We are increasing our understanding of the provenance and real cost of things, whilst saving money and the use ofrawmaterials.The workshop sessions have allowed a collective response to the siteand its users,as well as us utilising local plant ingredients, kitchen waste and other recycled materials in varied ways.

I started the group three years ago and there’s now over 20 people on our Whatsapp chat and sharing group, aswell as having good

in person participation at the regular sessions held in the garden and its beautiful outdoor classroom. The group is diverse in age,

experience of textile and making processesand gender.

This year 2022 we:

❖Planted, harvested and processed flax at St Fagans National Museum of History

❖Continued to finish and spin the lineng rown at Global Gardens in 2021

❖Botanical dye workshops

❖Wild weaving

❖Hand stitching and sashiko mending

❖Printing with botanical inks

❖Ecoprints

❖Solar and compost dyeing

❖Paper crafts

❖Needle felting

❖Christmas decorations for the Bute Park Secret Garden Café

I facilitate the club,using my ownexperience and knowledge of fibre processes and the making community; also providing tools

and materials,examples ,and contacts. But the group welcomes sharing by other members with additional skills and experience.

Huge thanks to the National Community Lottery Fund in Wales for supporting the Making and Mending project.

The focus of the group moving forwardis to skill share moreways and means of living sustainably,reducing our collective impact

on the planet. The aim is also to provide a safe and welcomingsharedspacethat improves mental wellbeing and reduces anxiety

and isolation.

Next year we hope to have other participants leading sessions, to give a more diverse range of skills andteachers. This will also

give experienceof facilitating/teachingto other makers and menders, in a relaxed environment with mentoring available. We also hope to develop our partnerships with St.Fagans, The Birth Partner Project and the SAFE Foundation Ethical Boutique.