Social Fabric is a relational art project exploring care, repair, and the stories embedded within our textiles. I invited members of the Montreal community to entrust me with garments and textile objects in need of mending. This installation presents 20 of over 40 repaired items, cared for and documented over the winter of 2022.

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Each object carries traces of the life lived within it. Holes, stains, burns, moth damage, and worn fabric become records of movement, habit, and memory - a second skin shaped by its wearer. Many garments also contained earlier repairs made by mothers and friends. I felt, stitching alongside these previous mends, a collaboration across time - extending both the life of the object and the care already invested in it.

 

Using mending techniques informed by diverse repair traditions, I worked exclusively with materials already available in my studio, repurposing threads and textile samplers made while learning processes such as weaving, dyeing, and felting. These samplers are evidence of my own learning of fibre techniques, passed on as patches - in hopes that others will be inspired to learn a craft skill.

 

The installation unfolds across two walls. One displays life-sized scans of each repaired textile: an archive of the project. Opposite, the original mended garments hang on salvaged hooks, inviting participants to retrieve their belongings. As the garments leave the wall, the installation changes over time, becoming a living record of participation, presence, and absence.