Repair Cafe Perth

This morning our volunteers are setting up at North Perth Town Hall, 26 View Street for our Repair Café Perth event. Doors open at 9:30am until 11:30am. Please bring your broken items that you would like to have repaired.

Last month our visitor Amy brought in a pair of jeans with some loose stitching on the back pocket.

Our textile volunteer Sharon used a double needle in her sewing machine and matching orange/yellow thread to sew the jeans' pocket.

Amy was interested in the fix and watched the whole process. Our repairs' culture aims to teach our visitors about the ways we can make our things last longer by not throwing them away when there are solutions.

Sharon did a wonderful job and the stitching looked just like the original.

One of our visitors, Zoe, brought in a disco light. She had come in with her mother who had a textile repair that she was watching while Zoe handed her light to our 'glue, string and tape' volunteer, Lucy.

Zoe explained that a small part of the covering dome shaft had a broken plastic piece. This had been stored in a cupboard, not working, for years. And she had had it from when she was little.

Lucy carefully explained her intentions to Zoe and selected a suitable glue to use. Certain glues will not work on some plastics.

Luckily this time the piece seemed to bond. Lucy held it with patience until it set. Then she carefully taped it together and held it with a clamp. When Zoe's mother had sorted her sewing repair Lucy took off the clamp and advised leaving it to set for as long as possible before removing the tape. At least a few hours.

The disco light now had a functional cover again and we had a happy visitor.

What repair would you have stored in a cupboard waiting for an opportunity to shine again? Bring it along to our next event Saturday 16th May at North Perth Town Hall, 26 View Street from 9:30 to 11:30am.