Queer Tailoring Class with Bex McCharen

The Queer Tailoring Class is a hands-on sewing and alterations class designed for self-identified butches, mascs, trans men, T-boys, and gender non-conforming, masculine-of-center queer individuals. Learn how to tailor masculine garments to fit your body. No prior sewing experience is required.

The course is led by Bex McCharen (artist, fashion designer, and founder of the queer swimwear brand Chromat). The class will focus on shirt cropping, with a quick tutorial on pant hemming and darts as well as sewing machine and hand sewing fundamentals.

Students are expected to bring their own garments to alter (recommended: t shirts, button-down shirts, trousers, or denim). Sewing machines, irons, thread, needles, scissors, and pins will be provided.

The goal of the class is to build practical tailoring skills, foster connection among trans masculine and queer participants, and ensure each student leaves with a garment that fits them well.

About the instructor

Bex McCharen (they/them) was born in Lynchburg, Virginia (1984) and lives and works in Miami, Florida. An interdisciplinary artist, fashion designer, and founder of the inclusive fashion label Chromat, McCharen works across quilting, textile art, printmaking, photography, filmmaking, fashion, and social practice. Through material experimentation and collaborative processes, their practice explores sustainable futures, climate optimism, and queer joy while challenging dominant narratives and reimagining systems of care, embodiment, and belonging. Rooted in collective ritual, mutual dreaming, visual archives, and community engagement, McCharen’s work creates inclusive, living visual archives that foreground connection, resilience, and transformative possibility.

McCharen is the recipient of the Smithsonian National Design Award (2021) and has been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30, named to the OUT 100 for their cultural impact, and profiled by publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Elle, and Hyperallergic. As the founder of the inclusive fashion label Chromat, they have collaborated with Beyoncé, Intel, Disney, Reebok, MAC, and MIT. McCharen has delivered a TED Talk on inclusive design and lectured at SXSW, Harvard, Parsons, MIT, and Tulane. Their work is held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and they curated Queer Joy at MoMA PS1. In 2026, they presented their debut solo exhibition at Dot Fiftyone Gallery. Committed to community-engaged practice, McCharen has facilitated workshops at Pérez Art Museum Miami, Lotus House Women’s Shelter, the Miami Workers Center, and the Alliance for LGBTQ Youth, and is currently an artist-in-residence at Oolite Arts and the Miami Cancer Institute.