Published 20 May 2022

Mending up a storm at RepairED: Just Sew sessions

We’re running ‘Just Sew Session’ RepairED workshops at our place on the first Saturday of every month. We’ve had two sessions so far, where lots of lovely people came to finally mend those things that have been building up in their wardrobe / cupboard.

So what is RepairED?

RepairED is our repair education programme that we are running with support of Wellington City Council. We are running our Just Sew sewing workshop sessions,  Repair Cafes with Hopper Refill and later in the year we’ll be running electronics workshops with Make Room and Consumer NZ.

Repair Cafés and workshops like our Just Sew Sessions are an opportunity to gather, mend, connect and engage in the circular economy. Repairing things is a great way to reduce the amount of waste produced and avoiding the need to buy something new; both ways to reduce carbon emissions. By repairing when we can, we’re saving money and the planet at the same time. It’s one of the easiest ways you can take action on climate change. Plus, it’s a great way to upskill.

How do Just Sew Sessions work?

The workshop is split into three sessions, with each attendee being either matched up with a volunteer to help them, or using the DIY table if they are a more confident sewer. We have a big variety of machines in terms of age (one confirmed to be from 1974) that have been a bit of an adventure to figure out – thank you to Upper Hutt Repair Café, a few of our own staff, and some great Trademe finds.

Our wonderful volunteers have taken participants through repairs from hemming pants and patching elbows to giving a dress a whole new neckline. As a member of the international Repair Café network, we record what is fixed every time. Over our first two sessions, we had 47 items come through the doors and successfully repaired 44 of those – we think those are pretty good stats!

A highlight for many participants were our wonderful volunteers – one attendee said they were “excited by all of the people willing to share their skills” while others mentioned how good it was to have “dedicated time to mend” and the chance to learn new sewing skills themselves. We’re happy to say that all proceeds from bookings and koha go back to these volunteers. 

It was lovely to hear the motivations of our attendees, from “repairing for me is a matter of cutting down waste” and “instead of buying a new jumper I thought I’d mend this one” to simply “I hate shopping”! It’s encouraging to see people making the links between repair and the issue of overconsumption. Fixing things is also a chance to give old, loved items a new lease of life.

How can I get involved with repairing?

We’ve now had two Just Sew RepairEd workshops – these sessions will continue on the first Saturday of every month. Lots of us have items lying around at home that we never quite get around to fixing – why not bring yours along to the next Just Sew?

We are also a member of Repair Café International (find us on the map) and will be running a series of Repair Café’s that will also include other items such as woodwork and electronics in collaboration with Hopper Refill. A big thank you to Wellington City Council – this work is made possible with their funding.