Upcycling Textiles

Upcycling Textiles

Textile artist and technician with 15+ years of hands-on experience in sewing, fiber arts, machine repair, and sustainable material development. Deeply engaged in circular fashion, community-based fabrication, and educational programming. Passionate about innovation, fiber sovereignty, and collaborative problem-solving.

Since 2017 I've facilitated free sewing workshops in various community spaces.

Noisebridge, San Francisco

Omni Commons, Oakland

PLACE Community, Berkeley

Omni Commons, Media Lab

Decolonizing fast fashion

  • Learn to sew

  • Explore textile industry history

  • Understand decolonizing fashion

  • Embrace care & repair

  • Utilize upcycled materials

  • Cultivate a shared space in a collective building

  • Practice mindfulness, reciprocity, & accountability

I spearheaded an innovative eight-week sliding scale price sewing cohort, culminating in a collective fashion art show. Responding to diverse needs, I introduced 4-week cohorts for participants with limited time commitments. The sessions emphasized a decolonized approach to fashion, encompassing skills in sewing, knowledge of textile industry history, and insights into decolonizing fashion practices. Participants were provided with upcycled materials in a shared common space within the Omni Commons building. The focus extended beyond mere skill acquisition, fostering mindfulness, reciprocity, and accountability while promoting a sense of community. Taught over 300 students.

Sacred Makers Arts Collective

I co-created Sacred Maker Arts Collective, managing educational initiatives focused on sustainability and decolonization in fiber arts. Our teaching philosophy is rooted in trauma-informed pedagogy and anti-settler-colonial principles, enriched with techniques like dynamic mindfulness and restorative justice. Our goal is to foster an inclusive, understanding, and responsive learning environment that empowers students to explore issues relevant to them and their communities.

Our vision included establishing a screen printing shop where community members could print their own work and contribute to solidarity printing for movement organizations and events.

Why Restorative Justice / Transformative Justice?

Art is a powerful tool for healing, for individuals and for communities. Building shared values will help us have a healthy shop culture.  We want our shop to be welcoming to all kinds of people, especially people who have experienced harm and are healing from it.

We also believe that conflict is a normal, inevitable, and healthy part of human life.  So many community projects get bogged down in destructive conflict.  RJ/TJ values can help ensure our conflicts are generative instead of destructive, and that our organizing is energetically sustainable.