Community Repair Events

	October 2023
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
1	2	3	4 Mending Workshop @ Ginger's Closet (Forks, WA) Mending Workshop @ Ginger's Closet (Forks, WA) October 4, 2023 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm Ginger's Closet & Disaster Relief (Forks Clothing Bank), 181 Bogachiel Way, Forks, WA 98331, USA On the first Wednesday of every month, Ginger's Closet & Disaster Relief holds free workshops focused on repair of clothing and home textiles and upcycling of damaged fabrics. Anyone can bring in a garment to learn how to fix it alongside a volunteer guide. Free tools, including sewing machines, are available for use. 1 pm to 6 pm at Ginger's Closet in Forks, WA To learn more and connect, visit: https://gingersclosetanddisasterrelief.godaddysites.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/gingerscloset360 See more details PNA Fixers @ Greenwood Hardware PNA Fixers @ Greenwood Hardware October 4, 2023 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm Stop by the Phinney Neighborhood Fixers monthly Repair Café to get assistance fixing your small household items! They'll be meeting every 1st Wednesday of the month in the Greenwood True Value parking lot while the weather is nice. When the days grow shorter, cooler, and rainier, they'll move inside the back of the store (times will also adjust to "winter hours" of 4-6). See more details West Seattle Tool Library -Fix-it Workshop West Seattle Tool Library -Fix-it Workshop October 4, 2023 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm 4408 Delridge Way SW, Seattle, WA 98106, USA Hosted by West Seattle Tool Library Blender busted? Computer kaput? Weedeater wrecked? Whatever’s broken, don’t let it keep gathering dust in the corner – bring it down to the workshop, each Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30! Use the tools and facilities of the shop and pick our librarians’ brains to get your damaged equipment back in the action. Availability is first-come-first-served. This workshop is provided free of charge, though donations are appreciated! We ask that all items brought for repair be of reasonable size. We are unable to service pressure vessels, refrigeration equipment, firearms, and high-voltage electrical components. See the following for more details! https://www.wstools.org/events See more details • • •	5 Tacoma Tool Library Fix-it Night Tacoma Tool Library Fix-it Night October 5, 2023 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm Tacoma Tool Library (second floor of TPL Main Branch) – 1100 Court F Tacoma, WA 98402 Fix-it Nights are free, community-based events where community members come together for the fun of taking stuff apart and putting it back together again. Learn more here: https://tacomatoollibrary.org/fix-it-nights/ Questions?: email repair@tacomatoollibrary.org See more details •	6	7
8 NW Free Repair Event (Bellingham) NW Free Repair Event (Bellingham) October 8, 2023 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Bellingham Makerspace, 1Bellis, Fair Parkway #618, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA Bring in any broken or item that you can comfortably carry. If we can, NW Free Repair will fix if for FREE! The Bellingham Makerspace is proud to host the NW Free Repair group on the 2nd and 3rd Sunday of each month! Who we are We are a group of volunteers who are dedicated to conserving the earth’s resources and decreasing the burden on our overtaxed landfill areas by repairing and rehabilitating broken household items that would otherwise be discarded. For more details please visit: https://bellinghammakerspace.org/event/free-northwest-free-repair-event/ See more details •	9	10 NW Free Repairs - Repair Workshop (Bellingham) NW Free Repairs - Repair Workshop (Bellingham) October 10, 2023 4:30 pm - 6:45 pm Bellingham Public Library - Central Branch, 210 Central Ave, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA Bring your broken household items to SkillShare at the Central Library and work with skilled volunteers from NW Free Repairs to learn how to repair them. Volunteers have experience repairing common household items such as toys, small kitchen appliances, electric tools and many other items that would otherwise end up in a landfill. Please note: broken items may not be dropped off to be repaired. Owners may participate in making the repairs with the repair volunteers. For more information about NW Free Repairs, please visit https://nwfreerepairs.wordpress.com/ See more details •	11 West Seattle Tool Library -Fix-it Workshop West Seattle Tool Library -Fix-it Workshop October 11, 2023 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm 4408 Delridge Way SW, Seattle, WA 98106, USA Hosted by West Seattle Tool Library Blender busted? Computer kaput? Weedeater wrecked? Whatever’s broken, don’t let it keep gathering dust in the corner – bring it down to the workshop, each Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30! Use the tools and facilities of the shop and pick our librarians’ brains to get your damaged equipment back in the action. Availability is first-come-first-served. This workshop is provided free of charge, though donations are appreciated! We ask that all items brought for repair be of reasonable size. We are unable to service pressure vessels, refrigeration equipment, firearms, and high-voltage electrical components. See the following for more details! https://www.wstools.org/events See more details •	12 Repair Café Spokane Repair Café Spokane October 12, 2023 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm 924 S Perry St, Spokane, WA 99202, USA RepairCafeSpokane can be found every 2nd Thursday at the Perry Street Farmers Market, between 3pm and 7pm beginning May 11 through October 12. We will have repair experts on-hand to help you fix, mend (clean clothes), tune-up or troubleshoot your broken or damaged household items. https://www.repaircafe.org/en/cafe/spokane-repair-cafe-wa/ See more details Mending @ The Market - Leavenworth Mending @ The Market - Leavenworth October 12, 2023 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm 330 Evans St, Leavenworth, WA 98826, USA Join Waste Loop at the Leavenworth Farmers Market to mend your well loved clothing and keep them in use and out of the landfill! No experience necessary. We will have supplies and support available. Hosted by Waste Loop Questions?: email Amanda - contact@wasteloop.org https://www.wasteloop.org/pages/events See more details Tacoma Tool Library Fix-it Night Tacoma Tool Library Fix-it Night October 12, 2023 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm Tacoma Tool Library (second floor of TPL Main Branch) – 1100 Court F Tacoma, WA 98402 Fix-it Nights are free, community-based events where community members come together for the fun of taking stuff apart and putting it back together again. Learn more here: https://tacomatoollibrary.org/fix-it-nights/ Questions?: email repair@tacomatoollibrary.org See more details • • •	13	14 Rodeo City Repair Café Rodeo City Repair Café October 14, 2023 10:00 am - 2:00 pm IOOF Cemetery, 1900 Brick Rd, Ellensburg, WA 98926, USA Rodeo City Repair Café is a community of volunteers donating their time to help with the repair of household appliances, lamps, tools, furniture, bicycles and clothing, to keep these items in service and reduce landfill waste. Repair staff offer a wide range of repair skills and knowledge and we have a good selection of tools on hand. Our events are held at the IOOF Cemetery Shop on Radio Hill, 1900 N. Brick Rd. in Ellensburg. Our repair services are offered free to community members. We gladly accept donations of money, tools or repair materials. No registration required. Just show up! Learn more at https://www.rcrcellensburg.org/rcrc-home or https://www.facebook.com/RCRCEllensburg/ Questions? Contact Don Shriner at (509) 899-1041, repairplanet1st@gmail.com or Pico Cantieni at (425) 213-3011, pcantieni@gmail.com We are on the lookout for folks who might like to volunteer with our organization. Do you have a knack for troubleshooting and repairing household small appliances, lamps, hand and power tools, furniture, bicycles or clothing and other fabric or leather items? Do you think you might enjoy using your skills to help others solve their fix-it problems? If so, please consider volunteering with us. We don’t ask volunteers to make a long-term time commitment. Participation is on an as-can, as-want basis and we strive for a friendly, relaxed, low-pressure feeling at our events. If you know someone who’s not on our mailing list and might enjoy volunteering with us, please encourage them to come by one of our Second Saturday events and check us out. See more details •
15 Mend-it Café w/Spokane Zero Waste Mend-it Café w/Spokane Zero Waste October 15, 2023 11:00 am - 2:00 pm Spokane Public Library - Shadle Park, 2111 W Wellesley Ave, Spokane, WA 99205, USA Hosted by Spokane Zero Waste What's a Mend-It Cafe you ask? It's a community organized and run event where you can get your clothes and other textile goods repaired or repurposed. It's also a way to grow a repair economy, divert textile waste from landfill and join communities around the globe engaged in reuse and repair over replace. We'll be doing our regular repairs and asking folks to bring in Halloween Costumes for repair and premiering our Scrappy toys, all made from scrap materials by our volunteer menders as a fundraiser for SZW. Here's how these events typically will work: Bring an article of clothing to be repaired Check in and get paired with a mender Watch as your mender brings new life to your garment. Below is a list of the things we can fix. 1. Fallen Hems 2. Broken Zippers 3. Torn Garments 4. Simple Alterations 5. Sock Darning Questions and more, visit https://spokanezerowaste.org/#mendit See more details NW Free Repair Event (Bellingham) NW Free Repair Event (Bellingham) October 15, 2023 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Bellingham Makerspace, 1Bellis, Fair Parkway #618, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA Bring in any broken or item that you can comfortably carry. If we can, NW Free Repair will fix if for FREE! The Bellingham Makerspace is proud to host the NW Free Repair group on the 2nd and 3rd Sunday of each month! Who we are We are a group of volunteers who are dedicated to conserving the earth’s resources and decreasing the burden on our overtaxed landfill areas by repairing and rehabilitating broken household items that would otherwise be discarded. For more details please visit: https://bellinghammakerspace.org/event/free-northwest-free-repair-event/ See more details Mending and Repair Circle @ Capitol Hill Tool Library Mending and Repair Circle @ Capitol Hill Tool Library October 15, 2023 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm 1552 Crawford Pl, Seattle, WA 98122, USA FREE - Hosted by Sustainable Capitol Hill Tool Library Want to take in that skirt? Pair of pants you’ve been meaning to hem? Need to add a patch to your favorite jacket? Come to the Mending and Repair circle! Repair your clothes with the tools from our library with the assistance of the community. https://sustainablecapitolhill.org/event/mending-and-repair-circle-2-2/?instance_id=1040 See more details • • •	16 Mending Monday w/ Tacoma Remakery Mending Monday w/ Tacoma Remakery October 16, 2023 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm Bryant Neighborhood Center in Trinity Presbyterian Church, 1615 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA 98405, USA Brought to you by The Tacoma Remakery! Come and dedicate a little time to mending, fixing and repairing your clothing. Extend the life of your beloved item, stitch up an unwanted hole, or just make something more funky. Featuring Visible Mending! Mending Mondays are free and all supplies and materials are provided. Bring an item you want to mend or practice on our scraps. We use all post-consumer textiles. https://www.remakerytacoma.org/events-1/visible-mending-mending-monday See more details •	17 NW Free Repairs - Repair Workshop (Bellingham) NW Free Repairs - Repair Workshop (Bellingham) October 17, 2023 4:30 pm - 6:45 pm Bellingham Public Library - Central Branch, 210 Central Ave, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA Bring your broken household items to SkillShare at the Central Library and work with skilled volunteers from NW Free Repairs to learn how to repair them. Volunteers have experience repairing common household items such as toys, small kitchen appliances, electric tools and many other items that would otherwise end up in a landfill. Please note: broken items may not be dropped off to be repaired. Owners may participate in making the repairs with the repair volunteers. For more information about NW Free Repairs, please visit https://nwfreerepairs.wordpress.com/ See more details •	18 West Seattle Tool Library -Fix-it Workshop West Seattle Tool Library -Fix-it Workshop October 18, 2023 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm 4408 Delridge Way SW, Seattle, WA 98106, USA Hosted by West Seattle Tool Library Blender busted? Computer kaput? Weedeater wrecked? Whatever’s broken, don’t let it keep gathering dust in the corner – bring it down to the workshop, each Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30! Use the tools and facilities of the shop and pick our librarians’ brains to get your damaged equipment back in the action. Availability is first-come-first-served. This workshop is provided free of charge, though donations are appreciated! We ask that all items brought for repair be of reasonable size. We are unable to service pressure vessels, refrigeration equipment, firearms, and high-voltage electrical components. See the following for more details! https://www.wstools.org/events See more details •	19 PNA Fixers @ Crown Hill Tweedy & Popp PNA Fixers @ Crown Hill Tweedy & Popp October 19, 2023 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm Tweedy and Popp Hardware Ace Hardware at Crown Hill, 9000 Holman Rd NW, Seattle, WA 98117, USA Stop by the Phinney Neighborhood Fixers monthly Fix-it Repair Café to get assistance fixing your small household items! They'll be meeting every 3rd Thursday of the month in the parking lot of Tweedy & Popp in Crown Hill while the weather is nice. See more details Tacoma Tool Library Fix-it Night Tacoma Tool Library Fix-it Night October 19, 2023 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm Tacoma Tool Library (second floor of TPL Main Branch) – 1100 Court F Tacoma, WA 98402 Fix-it Nights are free, community-based events where community members come together for the fun of taking stuff apart and putting it back together again. Learn more here: https://tacomatoollibrary.org/fix-it-nights/ Questions?: email repair@tacomatoollibrary.org See more details • •	20	21 Twisp Repair Café (Methow Recyles) Twisp Repair Café (Methow Recyles) October 21, 2023 10:00 am - 12:00 pm The Cove - Food Distribution Center, 128 S Glover St, Twisp, WA 98856, USA Methow Recycles is partnering with The Cove to provide free repair services for your belongings! The repair cafe is a FREE event! Our team of talented fixers offer electrical, mechanical, and wood fixes, tool sharpening, and sewing and darning. Limit of 2 items per person. Free + open to the public, no registration necessary. If you have questions, feel free to email the event organizer sarahjo@methowrecycles.org or call 509.997.0520 For more details: https://www.methowrecycles.org/programs/repair-cafes See more details •
22	23	24	25 West Seattle Tool Library -Fix-it Workshop West Seattle Tool Library -Fix-it Workshop October 25, 2023 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm 4408 Delridge Way SW, Seattle, WA 98106, USA Hosted by West Seattle Tool Library Blender busted? Computer kaput? Weedeater wrecked? Whatever’s broken, don’t let it keep gathering dust in the corner – bring it down to the workshop, each Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30! Use the tools and facilities of the shop and pick our librarians’ brains to get your damaged equipment back in the action. Availability is first-come-first-served. This workshop is provided free of charge, though donations are appreciated! We ask that all items brought for repair be of reasonable size. We are unable to service pressure vessels, refrigeration equipment, firearms, and high-voltage electrical components. See the following for more details! https://www.wstools.org/events See more details •	26 Tacoma Tool Library Fix-it Night Tacoma Tool Library Fix-it Night October 26, 2023 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm Tacoma Tool Library (second floor of TPL Main Branch) – 1100 Court F Tacoma, WA 98402 Fix-it Nights are free, community-based events where community members come together for the fun of taking stuff apart and putting it back together again. Learn more here: https://tacomatoollibrary.org/fix-it-nights/ Questions?: email repair@tacomatoollibrary.org See more details •	27	28 JeffCo Repair Event - Tri Area JeffCo Repair Event - Tri Area October 28, 2023 10:00 am - 1:00 pm Tri-Area Community Center, 10 W Valley Rd, Chimacum, WA 98325, USA Repair Events are free community gatherings in which people with repair skills share their time and talents to help fix their neighbors’ belongings. For this event, we will have volunteers offering their time to help repair small appliances and electronics, textiles/clothes, bicycles, tool sharpening, and other household items. Limit of 2 items per person. If you know the specific part needed to repair your item, we ask that you bring it along. For more event details visit JeffCoRepair.com. Questions? Contact Mandi at mjohnson@ptmsc.org. See more details So. King Tool Library Repair Café So. King Tool Library Repair Café October 28, 2023 10:00 am - 2:00 pm 1700 S 340th Pl, Federal Way, WA 98003, USA Don't throw it out - get it fixed for free! Our amazing fixers can repair electronics, furniture, clothing, appliances, toys and so much more. No guarantees, but our success rate hovers at 90%. You'll also get detailed notes about what broke, parts needed, and how they fixed it, or how you can do it yourself. Head to SKTL's website for more details on how to participate! southkingtools.org For questions, email info@southkingtools.org or call 253-237-2290. See more details Mending Workshop @ Ginger's Closet (Forks, WA) Mending Workshop @ Ginger's Closet (Forks, WA) October 28, 2023 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm Ginger's Closet & Disaster Relief (Forks Clothing Bank), 170 Sol Duc Way, Forks, WA 98331, USA On the first Wednesday and last Saturday of every month, Ginger's Closet & Disaster Relief holds free workshops focused on repair of clothing and home textiles and upcycling of damaged fabrics. Anyone can bring in a garment to learn how to fix it alongside a volunteer guide. Free tools, including sewing machines, are available for use. 1 pm to 6 pm at Ginger's Closet in Forks, WA To learn more and connect, visit: https://gingersclosetanddisasterrelief.godaddysites.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/gingerscloset360?mibextid=LQQJ4d For questions, email Teresa at upcycledbeachglass@gmail.com See more details • • •
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Have an upcoming Repair, Share, or Maker Event you’d like to get on this calendar? Share it with us!

Repair Economy Trainings & Events

See below for upcoming workshops and gatherings designed to educate and support the entire ecosystem of repair and reuse across Washington including our community repair groups, tool libraries, remakeries, professional repair shops, and other reuse-focused businesses.

Upcoming Events

Save the Date!: 2023 Repair Economy Summit – Dec. 5th & 6th, 3-6pm – more details to come…

Monthly Repair Economy Organizers Virtual Shop Talks

Open to all those involved (or interested) in hosting repair events, organizing libraries of things, and running remakeries. Join your repair economy peers the 3rd Thursday of every month at 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern.

Previous Events

Small Repair & Reuse Business workshop series

Supporting our small repair and reuse businesses through 3 fantastic workshops! Learn more and check out the recorded sessions here

Repair Economy Summit 2022: Repair. Reuse, Resilience

December 12th & 13th

Day 1 – The Big Picture: How repair, reuse, and remaking is building community resilience and combatting climate change.

Day 2 – Shop Talk: Practical matters and peer problem solving.

Repair Economy Summit 2021: Connecting for Inspiration

December 4th, 2021

Gathering repair, tool library, and maker peers from across the Pacific NW for a day of sharing successes, solving challenges, and crafting audacious plans!

Topics covered:

> Silver Linings – Highlighting surprising wins from the past year
> Reflecting and Engaging Our Communities – Getting community and volunteer engagement right
> Practical Matters – Troubleshooting common challenges in repair events, tool libraries, and makerspaces
> Just Getting Started? – Q&A for emerging initiatives with opportunities for peer-mentorship
> Repair Economy Roadmap: What Is and What Could Be?- Exploring creative collaborations and aligning our efforts for greater impact
> Policy Updates & Organizing – What’s happening with Right-to-Repair and how to get involved
> Program Highlight: The ReMakery on Lopez Island

Attendees included: Fixers, makers, tool librarians, and staff or volunteers with those groups; as well as policymakers, workforce education advocates, and those just getting started with repair, share, or maker projects.

Please feel free to email us if you’d like to know more about the event!

Hosted by Zero Waste Washington with generous funding from the WA Department of Ecology’s Public Participation Grant.

Repair Economy Mid-Year Meet-Up

The mid-year gathering was a mini-conference featuring opportunities for community networking. We covered COVID-conscious event models (e.g. – outdoor and drive-through) as well as big picture movement topics like policy, just transition, and workforce development. Kyle Wiens, founder of iFixit, joined us to talk about the latest developments on the Right to Repair front!

Event date: Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Workshop: "Tangled: Why Your Hair Matters to Society"

UW’s very own Dr. Anu Taranath provided a riveting presentation about diversity, equity and inclusion; exploring the complex issues of bias and belonging through something we can all identify with: our hair.

Event date: Sunday, March 28, 2021

Thanks to the support of the Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau, we are able to provide this training for free for the RE community.

Repair Economy Summit 2020

Early on Sunday morning, November 8th, an eager bunch of over 60 fixers, tool librarians, and makers met (virtually) for the statewide Repair Economy Conference. The conference brought together the leaders, staff, and volunteers of groups working to increase access to repair in Washington State and adjacent cities. The event goals were to connect these awesome community members and to address common challenges collaboratively.

With robust participation from groups in the Seattle and Tacoma area, we were also happy to have representation from Methow, Port Townsend, our neighbors to the north in Vancouver, B.C., from down south in Portland, even a few folks from California and the east coast! A big thank you goes to Ecology for funding this event through a PPG grant.

A growing repair movement

With ever greater awareness around overconsumption, planned obsolescence, resource depletion and the negative impacts of these issues to both environmental and social health, people are seriously rethinking their relationships with their “stuff.” The growing repair, share, maker movement has the potential to help us reclaim our collective right to get more life out of our possessions and change the cradle-to-grave “buy, consume, discard” status quo. This is as much about our mindset as it is about the skills and availability of tools.

Robust day of activities

The event featured meet-n-greets, three plenary sessions, a lively lunch discussion of policy solutions, and a series of breakouts designed to address practical issues.

Topics covered in the breakouts included COVID adaptations and resilience, Strategic and Business planning, Volunteer recruitment and management, Marketing strategies, and more.

Our plenary speakers were:

- Sabrina Chakori – Founder at Brisbane Tool Library, Brisbane, Australia
- Gene Homicki – Co-founder and CEO at myTurn tool tracking and sharing software
- Derek Gaw – CEO at MakerLab, BC Vancouver

Check out their presentations below!

Feedback:

“It’s really nice to know that there are so many people doing this work just in this region and it’s energizing to feel how impassioned everyone is.”
“I loved connecting with folks from all over who share similar values and are working to grow the repair world/economy”
“Great job! Kudos to the planning committee. The speakers were great, and you did an amazing job doing this all online. It flowed great and I got lots out of it.”
“I really enjoyed this event and got much more out of it than I can put into words. Y’all did an amazing job, especially with how many people were there!…. I didn’t know how much I wanted to connect with all of you until now and these are a few ideas about how to do more. Thank you for introducing me to all these awesome people and all of the awesome work we are doing!!”

A BIG Thank You to the planning committee!

We couldn’t have brought this event together without the help of a terrific planning committee, including representatives from the following groups: Repair Clark County, Fab Lab Tacoma, SE Seattle Tool Library, Repair Cafe Port Townsend, NE Seattle Tool Library, Phinney Fixer Collective, West Seattle Tool Library, South King Tool Library, Zero Waste Vashon, Vashon Fix-It Café, and Share Reuse Repair Initiative – Vancouver, BC.

Event date: Sunday, November 8, 2020

Want to connect with other fixers, tool libraries, and makers around Washington?
Join the Repair Economy community hub on Hylo and jumpstart a conversation or even a project!

Repair Economy WA is made possible with generous funding from the WA Department of Ecology’s Public Participation Grant