Beginning Kinusaiga (PM session)

Kinusaiga involves creating intricate fabric collages by pressing fabric scraps into pre-cut grooves on a foam board, resulting in textured, layered artworks without the need for sewing. Rather than stitching pieces together, students tuck the raw edges of each fabric scrap into slits cut around a shape, so the material's own fray and texture become part of the composition. Fabric is chosen deliberately for its color, texture, and pattern, functioning less like a craft scrap and more like paint. The result sits somewhere between quilting and stained glass: a mosaic-like image built entirely from cloth, with each piece's edges disappearing cleanly into the next.

Instructor Hannah Austin, a self-taught fabric collage, embroidery, and Kinusaiga artist based in Eugene, OR, teaches the history of the art form, how to use its distinctive tools and materials, and gives students plenty of practice time before they build a 9" by 9" finished piece.

Hannah walks students through her own approach to the technique, adapted for materials available in the U.S. The first hour covers tools, materials, and practice cutting and tucking fabric into slits on an insulation foam board. In the second hour, students choose a template (or design their own), discuss fabric types and how they behave in the technique, and learn two approaches to building a finished piece. The final hour is independent work time, with one-on-one guidance from Hannah as needed.