how to care


This is my rmit uiversity fashion and textiles (sustainable innovation) capstone project, responding to the research question:

exploring how participatory darning workshops can foster the development of empathy among participants through the lens of joan tronto’s ethics of  care.
this project explores how participatory darning workshops can foster the development of empathy among participants, guided by joan tronto’s five phase ethics of  care framework. through collaborative repair practices, participants from fashion and textiles (sustainable innovation) and stem fields engaged in structured, hands-on workshops, designed to reveal how relational care might cultivate interpersonal understanding. empathy emerged not as a concept taught, but as a felt experience, evident in shared language, collaborative action, and emotional attentiveness. the workshops demonstrated how mending can become a vehicle  for connection, revealing care as both a material  and relational practice. the project culminated in a ‘how to care’ guide, distilling collective insights into a personal provocation. ultimately this project argues that repair can do more than extend the lives of garments, it  can built bridges between people, challenge dominant paradigms of disposability, and  make space for slower, more meaningful ways of being together.

my graduation showcase hero image displaying the garments
worked on in the darning workshops, and the inside of my
how to care guide.



darning workshops

over the course  of  a month i conducted four darning workshops with four male rmit university stem students, and four female rmit fashion and textiles (sustainable innovation) students. i introduced each group to the tehcnique in separate workshops and then brought them together to take part in activities, guided by joan tronto’s five phases of care, and observed how they interacted with one another.

it was an incredible experience  and i am so gratfeul for all the participants, for their time, their enthusiasm and their care.

my full findings report can be found here
the darning workshop participants.
back: mali, konstantin, lachie, darah, michael
front: lucy, yvette, lilli


the making of my how to care guide


through a collaboration with commoners press, a letter press printing studio based in north coburg, melbourne, i printed this guide on paper i hand made from my first year university notes.

it was an incredibly arduous project, but one that i am deeply proud of.