Coming soon to the new Asheville Tool Library location

WNC Repair Cafe will host a repair event on the evening of Tuesday October 11 at the NEW Asheville Tool Library location at Smith Mill works in Asheville.  This is an especially exciting collaboration that we hope to nurture for many future events - Suffice to say we are very grateful we have made this connection!

WNC Repair Cafe co-founder and experienced toaster-oven repairman Christian Nolan is also a longtime volunteer with the Asheville Tool Library

"The Asheville Tool Library is a volunteer-powered, membership-based nonprofit that shares its tools and resources and offers educational opportunities to the Community of Western North Carolina."

 The Asheville Tool Library has been operating for several years in the south slope area of downtown Asheville.  Here, they've prospered with many dedicated volunteers and a thriving community of members.  They've also outgrown their space.  At the end of September, ATL is moving to Smith Mill works, an sustainable agribusiness entrepreneurship hub in west-west Asheville, located at 80 Cowan Cove Rd.  With the move comes a larger space to house tools, along with ample parking and a dedicated workshop area - all of the amenities necessary to support a thriving repair cafe. 

We're very excited to join ATL here in this new space on October 11, 2022, from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.  Check out the Events page for updates and please, read the House Rules.

Sewing Repairs at the Library

 

For three years WNC Repair Cafe has been hosted by our friends at Living Web Farms where our repair events typically cover a very broad range of all types of household repairs. Given the farm setting, our prior events naturally tended towards more farm and garden type jobs - think long-handled tool replacements, small engine tune-up, sharpening - those kind of rough jobs well-suited for calloused hands. Our workshop space was not particularly well-suited for the delicate work of sewing jobs, so it's no surprise that sewing jobs were few and far between. That's a big part of why we're so excited to be offering a special event that focuses exclusively on sewing jobs.

 

WNC Repair Cafe is teaming up with the West Asheville Public Library on the evening of September 20  to offer free sewing repairs.  The public is invited to bring in their worn out and damaged fabric items and work together with volunteers who specialize in all things fabric - from stitching, to mending, attaching buttons, fixing zippers and more. 

Thinking about attending?  You are encouraged to bring in clothing, but also consider other fabric repairs - worn-out favorite purse, stuffed animal, torn backpack strap, old work gloves, etc.  Have questions about your unique repair? Send us an email WNCRepairCafe@gmail.com before arriving. 

We'll also be collecting winter clothes for donation via AMCHC community clothing drive. I've been told that larger sizes are especially helpful. 

 

What is a Repair Cafe?

A Repair Cafe is a place where you’ll find volunteers with tools and supplies, available to fix broken objects while offering instruction in the form of hands on help.   This is a free program where you are encouraged to bring in your broken appliance, stuck zipper, rusty tools, old bicycle, dull pruning shears – whatever you can imagine – and work with our volunteers to make the necessary repairs to keep it running.

Repair Cafes across the world have helped build resilient communities by offering access to hands on experience in the art of repair.  At WNC Repair Cafe we’ll gather volunteers from the area for an evening of:

• Helping a neighbor:  Restore valuable material items at no cost of labor.
• Learning by doing:  Gain experience in practical hands-on skills.
• Sharing ideas:  Gain insight and appreciation of how things made, repaired, and disposed of.
• Diverting valuable resources from the landfill:  Engage in practical action on waste reduction.
• Building resilient communities:  Empower our local community with the resources to prosper in a sustainable economy

 

 Repair Cafe in Practice

Repair Cafe Origins:

The first Repair Café was held in October 2009 in Amsterdam, and was so successful that founder Martine Postma continued organizing several Repair Café meetings at different locations in Amsterdam.  These caught the attention of more and more people and the media all over the country.  By 2010 she had founded the Repair Café Foundation.

Repair Café Foundation aims to a) reintroducing the art of repairing to the modern, local communities; b) retaining and spreading repair knowledge and skills; c) to promote social cohesion by bringing together neighbors from very different backgrounds and motives in a setting of inspiring and accessible meetings.

Fast forward to 2020, where globally there are now over two thousand repair cafes on six continents, notwithstanding similar models operating under different names or as standalone events.  At Repair Cafes around the world people are reminded that there is an alternative to a throwaway culture.