About this Event
Join us for the 6th Annual BIG MAKE, a free community event celebrating creativity, sustainability, and hands-on making.
Held during Earth Month, BIG MAKE invites you to explore how everyday materials can be transformed into something meaningful. Learn simple, practical ways to reduce textile waste, try something new, and leave with something you’ve made yourself.
Enjoy free, hands-on workshops where you can weave, stitch, and create using reclaimed materials—no experience needed. Connect with local fiber artists, explore a unique marketplace, and experience inspiring displays of upcycled textile work.
Registered workshop participants will receive a complimentary boxed lunch (limited to the first 200 registrants)—so be sure to reserve your spot early!
This event is hosted by the San Diego College of Continuing Education (SDCCE) Clothing & Textile Arts (CLTX) Department, offering a glimpse into the innovative, sustainability-focused programs available to the community.
✔ Free admission
✔ Free parking at West City Campus (day of event)
✔ Ages 16+ welcome
✔ No experience needed – come make with us
⚠️ Workshop space is limited—early registration strongly encouraged.
Save your spot now and be part of the BIG MAKE community.
Agenda
🕑: 10:00 AM - 02:30 PM
The BIG MAKE Student and Alumni Marketplace
Info: Support SDCCE CLTX student and alumni creators while shopping upcycled textiles, sustainable goods, and one-of-a-kind handmade items—each with its own story.
🕑: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Warp & Wonder: Weaving Lab (Morning Session Workshop)
Info: Step into a playful, hands-on weaving experience where color, texture, and creativity come together. Using a variety of yarns and cords, you’ll explore the rhythm of a loom while you create your own small woven piece on a wooden notched loom (yours to keep when participating in the workshop)—no experience needed and all supplies included.
🕑: 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Patchwork Revival: Stitch, Repair, Reimagine (Morning Session Workshop)
Info: Step into a hands-on stitching experience where creativity and repair come together. Working with repurposed denim and mixed textiles, you’ll create an expressive patch using simple embroidery techniques—yours to keep. No experience needed and all supplies included.
🕑: 10:00 AM - 02:30 PM
The Commons Loom: Weaving Our Shared Story
Info: Step up to our large-scale loom and become part of a living textile installation. Using t-shirt materials leftover from the student installation led by Michelle Montjoy, you’ll contribute your own woven section to a collective artwork.
T-shirts are one of the most commonly discarded garments, with millions ending up in landfills each year despite their potential for reuse. By transforming these materials into yarn, this project gives new life to what would otherwise become waste.
Add your thread to the story—help build a shared work that reflects creativity, sustainability, and community connection.
🕑: 10:00 AM - 02:30 PM
Woven Voices: Community Showcase & Exhibits
Info: Explore a dynamic showcase of artists, organizations, and student voices coming together through textiles, creativity, and sustainability.
The San Diego Creative Weavers Guild will present an informative exhibit highlighting the art, history, and contemporary practice of weaving.
Presented in partnership with Visions Textile Museum, local fiber artist Marty Ornish (Marty-O) will share innovative work that explores material, form, and creative reuse.
You’ll also connect with the Associated Students Organization, representing student leadership and engagement—offering ways to get involved, build community, and support student-driven initiatives.
Together, these voices reflect the power of textiles to connect people, ideas, and sustainable futures.
Meet the makers, ask questions, and discover how you can get involved.
🕑: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Keynote General Session: A Community Keynote, CLTX Reflections & Shared Gathe
Info: Join us at noon for a special BIG MAKE general session featuring a keynote by visiting artist Michelle Montjoy, alongside voices from the SDCCE Clothing & Textile Arts (CLTX) community, with acknowledgements of the people who make BIG MAKE possible.
Michelle Montjoy will offer a thought-provoking keynote drawn from her multidisciplinary practice, exploring how making becomes a way of noticing—of responding to a changing world through textiles, process, and material exploration. She will also share insights from the collaborative student installation created during BIG MAKE week.
Complimentary box lunch (for the first 200 registered participants) will be available for pick-up at 11:45 AM for this session. Please arrive early for lunch pick-up.
This session invites you to pause, reflect, and consider how creativity, sustainability, and community come together—and how small acts of making can carry powerful meaning.
🕑: 01:00 PM - 02:30 PM
Warp & Wonder: Weaving Lab (Afternoon Session Workshop)
Info: Step into a playful, hands-on weaving experience where color, texture, and creativity come together. Using a variety of yarns and cords, you’ll explore the rhythm of a loom while you create your own small woven piece on a wooden notched loom (yours to keep when participating in the workshop)—no experience needed and all supplies included.
🕑: 01:00 PM - 02:30 PM
Patchwork Revival: Stitch, Repair, Reimagine (Afternoon Session Workshop)
Info: Step into a hands-on stitching experience where creativity and repair come together. Working with repurposed denim and mixed textiles, you’ll create an expressive patch using simple embroidery techniques—yours to keep. No experience needed and all supplies included.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
San Diego College of Continuing Education - West City Campus, 3249 Fordham Street, San Diego, United States
USD 0.00
