Throw it away? No way! Fix it at the Repair Café!

From clothing to small appliances, keep household items out of the landfill with the help of a Repair Café.

These FREE, events aim to reduce landfill waste by fixing items, teaching new skills, and providing an opportunity to enjoy coffee and snacks while meeting your neighbours.

Practical information:

• Drop in (no registration required). If you would like to receive a reminder email before the event, please sign up here

• Please only bring ONE item to be fixed, as time and space are limited. If your item is missing a piece or needs a replacement part, please bring that as well. We ask that if you bring in textiles that they are clean.

• Children under the age of 14 need to be accompanied by an adult when getting an item fixed.

• There is free parking at the site.

• Everyone is welcome at this free event; there will be coffee and snacks and lots of people to meet and chat with!

• The venue is wheelchair accessible. The washrooms are on the same floor as the event and are also wheelchair accessible. Participants may be required to wait in line; some chairs will be provided. There will be vapours in use from glue and other solvents.

• Special for this event: we will offer interpretation services for people speaking Arabic

About Our Café

Repair Cafés are an international concept that has come to the National Capital Region with the goal of reducing landfill waste, teaching new skills, and building community!

Repair Cafés in Ottawa are run by the Ottawa Tool Library, who have been very successful with volunteers fixing dozens of items and sharing their knowledge around everything from darning socks to re-wiring kettles.

With thanks

This event is made possible due to the support of the City of Ottawa and Councillor Marty Carr. Onsite electronic recycling for irreparable items is being provided by the Electronic Products Recycling Association.

Come learn from our volunteer Mending Mentors, who will show you how to repair or hem your favorite garments, give advice on simple sewing projects, and help with sewing machines. All skill levels are welcome.

What to bring:

• Item to work on such as a garment, cushion, curtain, blanket - see below for details on the types of projects with which we can assist you.

• (Optionally) Sewing supplies such as needles, thread, or cloth for patching. If you do not have your own supplies, you can use ours!

• (Optionally) Your sewing machine. If you do not have a sewing machine, you can learn hand mending or use one of our machines.

• A willingness to learn.

What we offer: We can coach you on making simple repairs (e.g. seams, small tears, buttons, darning of socks, opened seams, patching), visible mending, repair of knitted or crocheted garments, hemming, and answer basic questions about using sewing machines. If you have something to patch, please either bring some cloth for the patch or contact us in advance with the colour and material type required.

While we are here to help, some projects may be outside our abilities. In particular, we are not able to help with leather or zippers, significant clothing alterations/big sewing projects/clothing re-designs or broken sewing machines. If you are unsure, please contact us with the details in advance (pictures encouraged!).