About/Commissions

 

 

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by wrenbirdarts! I'm Erin Eggenburg, sometimes called "wrenbird", hence the name of my business. I have always been "crafty" and in 2011, I dabbled my way over to hand embroidery, and fell deeply in love with it. I decided to add a few hankies to what was then my fabric wallet shop on Etsy, and the wallets soon became a thing of the past. For the next few years, I would go on to hand embroider more than 15,000 hankies! 

Then in 2018, while working at a local creative reuse non-profit, I found a way to blend embroidery and upcycling/reuse, called visible mending. I was able to salvage my favorite pair of jeans with a few patches and some embroidery. 

As I shared my projects locally and on social media, there was an enormous positive response. I began teaching mending workshops and created my own mending and embroidery patterns. 

When COVID hit, I took my workshops online, and started Mending Club for fellow stitchers looking to connect during a very stressful and scary time.

Mending Club has taken a different form, but still meets online once a month, and continues to grow in membership today. 

Wrenbirdarts, like many handmade businesses started out on Etsy, and though wrenbirdarts.com has so many more resources, I continue to maintain a shop on Etsy for mending and embroidery patterns and my book. If you'd like to read the reviews from my customers, please click here.

Every month, I donate to various local and national non-profits in support of social justice, civil and human rights. I am an ardent supporter of reproductive rights, BIPOC and LGBTQI rights for equality. 

My book, The Mending Directory, was released in November of 2021. It's a book of 52 mending patterns that includes detailed instructions, and some mending transfer designs too! Order a copy here or from your local bookstore! 

I've lived in lots of different places in the United States over the years. About 10 years ago, I moved to the Pacific Northwest, and it felt like home.  I currently live in Portland, Oregon with my adorable cats, and sweet partner. 

When I'm not teaching workshops, or working on a mending project, you'll find me attending local events, gardening, thrift shopping or playing pinball. 

Commissions:

Perhaps you love everything about visible mending, except the "doing" part. I do accept commissions. There isn't a menu of repairs and associated cost, because each mending project is different. Commissions are also dependent on how much time I currently have to take on extra projects, and how much time your particular project might take, and your timeline for the repair. If you are interested in requesting a repair, please send me an email and include a description of the repair, how you envision the end result, and a variety of photos so I can get a clear idea of what needs to be mended, and what the garment looks like. I'll email you back with a few questions, and an idea of the cost to repair. 

Contact:

If you have any questions, email: wrenbirdarts@gmail.com