AMST 11
Remnants: The Social Life of Sewing Winter 2025

Weaver Ann Hamilton calls fabric our “second skin.” As a baby, you may have been wrapped in a blanket that was stitched by a loved one. More likely, that piece was mass-produced in a distant place, by strangers who labor in conditions you may never know. What does it mean to surround ourselves with objects about which we have no knowledge and to which we have no organic connection? In this course, we will become makers as well as students of the crafts we are practicing: quilting, knitting, crocheting, embroidery, cross-stitch, and sewing. We may discuss slow fashion and farm-to-closet sustainability, reuse and upcycling, #blackmakersmatter and the intersection of social justice and ecological integrity. We may trade images by artist-activists, such as quilter Bisa Butler and textile artist Victoria Villasana. We may video conference with makers such as quilter Zak Foster, knitters Denise Bayron and Brandi Cheyenne Harper, recycled-denim artist Eliu Hernandez, and embroiderer Han Cao. Above all, we will sew together, stitch by stitch. Note: All levels welcome, including beginners. Professor will offer instruction and guidance on all techniques. This class will be a safe space for students of all gender identities and expressions. Reading may include: This Long Thread: Women of Color on Craft, Community and Connection; Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists and Makers; Worn: A People’s History of Clothing; Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye of A Needle; All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake; Vanishing Fleece; and Knitting for Radical Self Care.