Nina Nightingale's Charm School: Visible Mending - Atlas Obscura Experiences

Nina Nightingale's Charm School: Visible Mending

1 hour
$15 per device
See Dates
$15 per device
$15 per person
See Dates
What We’ll Do

Nina Nightingale's Charm School is in session.

From silhouette portraits and hair reliquaries to postage stamp flirtation and suffragette tea parties, join curiosity artist and host Nina Nightingale in exploring history's most fascinating disciplines and their hidden origins! During each hour-long virtual live show, Nina will guide you through the basics of a specific craft, tell you about its often surprising importance in the cultural landscape, and take any questions that might come up along the way. Part Home Ec, part AP History, Nina Nightingale’s Charm School won't teach you how to be more genteel, but you’ll learn why crafting was never that polite anyway.

Before the rise of fast fashion, clothes were carefully cared for and tended to for years. Regardless of gender, everyone was taught a handful of darning methods and stitches to make their clothing last as long as possible. Recent years have shown a resurgence in a refusal to treat objects as disposable and we’ve seen sharing and swapping economies flourish; community repair parties and skill shares have popped up; and visible mending, a technique that turns imperfections into wearable art, has become a hot trend in DIY fashion. In this episode of Charm School, we’ll dive into some home economic skills you can use to keep your wardrobe sustainable and discuss the many fascinating cultures of repair throughout history.

Class Supplies (if you wish to work along)

- an article of clothing with a small hole or tear or scrap fabric to practice on

- embroidery floss (you may choose to complement or contrast your fabric!)

- scissors

- a needle

Optional Supplies

- an embroidery hoop

- straight sewing pins (or safety pins)

- additional fabric for patches

Where We’ll Be

Zoom!

About Your Host
Nina Nightingale
Nina Nightingale

Hello! My name is Nina Nightingale and I am a professional fine artist practicing the very rare art of SILHOUETTE PORTRAITURE, in which I cut your likeness from paper with no writing instruments—simply freehand drawing with scissors. This art of "shadow cutting" was popular before photography was made affordable. Silhouette portraiture is one part history and one part how-does-she-do-it?

What Else You Should Know

Once registered, you can access the Zoom room for this experience through your confirmation email or Eventbrite account. Atlas Obscura online experiences are recommended for attendees age 13+.

This online experience will be recorded. A temporary link to the recording will be provided in a follow-up email to all ticket holders within 72 hours after the event. Access to this recording will be available for seven days.

This event is one of Atlas Obscura’s Online Experiences. At Atlas Obscura, our mission has always been to inspire wonder and curiosity about the incredible world we all share. Now, more than ever, there’s a need to stay connected—not only to our sense of wonder, but to each other.

We encourage you to follow and share the hashtag #AOExperiences for more incredible online experiences and our newest addition of Online Courses with Atlas Obscura and our friends. And check out AtlasObscura.com, the definitive guide to the world’s hidden wonders, to keep virtually exploring the world through the website’s atlas of amazing places, unique stories, and videos.

Dates and Availability

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