Save your favorite knitted garment! In this workshop, you will learn how to use a needle, thread and a darning mushroom to repair a hole or reinforce a thin spot. Bring your worn out sock or sweater and get started. Materials and guidance are provided. You will go home with a repaired garment and a new skill.

Embroidery is an ancient craft technique in which you use a needle and thread to add beautiful patterns, texts or images onto fabric. It is a creative and personal way to decorate textiles, from clothing to interior items. MerkWaardig is the embroidery association of the Netherlands, where more than a thousand members share their love for hand embroidery. Whether it is traditional merklappen or modern forms such as visible mending, embroidery is alive. During the festival, the association shows how techniques such as basting, darning and mending, once practical skills for repairing sheets and socks, can now give your garment a new life. Where holes once had to disappear without trace, repairs are now decorative, colorful and unique. This way, old textiles are given a second life, with a nod to the past and a look towards the future.

Willeke te Biesebeek is a passionate embroiderer and knitter. In 2025 she contributed to the collection of fashion designer Duran Lantink, which appeared on the runway of Paris Fashion Week and won the prestigious Woolmark Prize. Especially for the Ambacht in Beeld Festival, she explored the art of visible mending and shows how repairing is not only sustainable but also stylish.