A skirt hem that needed fixing, some shirt cuffs coming apart, a pillow that busted a seam, the perennial holey sock, and a quilt with a patch or two wearing away. Those are some of the items that got some needed TLC at the last instalment of Sackville’s Mending Cafe, a monthly open-invitation get-together where folks can bring their mending and spend some time on it together.
On Tuesday from 7pm to 9pm at the Sackville Visitor Information Centre, people will gather to do it again. Organizers will have a sewing machine, an iron, and some iced tea on hand, and the rest is up to whoever shows up, whatever the skill level.
“People bring anything that needs mending,” says co-organizer Patricia Kelly Spurles. “They can mend it themselves, or they can get some instruction or advice or help from other people who are there.”
“You don’t have to be good at mending,” says Kelly Spurles. “In fact, you don’t even need to have mending, you can just come and hang out while other people mend.”
The idea behind the cafe is two-fold. On the one hand, taking care of lost buttons and small tears can be a kind of self-care, doubly so when its done in a social setting. On the other, it’s care for the planet, in terms of keeping clothes from prematurely hitting the landfill, and reducing demand for new items. Repairing something that’s been bothering you, to make it fit better or last longer, has immediate practical benefits, and can also scratch the same itch that is sometimes relieved with shopping.
“A lot of people’s consumption is related to wanting to fill a little bit of a void, or wanting to reward yourself for something, or wanting to improve your life in some difficult to pin down way,” says Kelly Spurles. “I think that mending clothing in a social setting allows us to do those special things—engage with our creativity and address some of our material needs—but without requiring additional consumption, without using more of the earth’s precious resources.”
Kelly Spurles says Sackville’s Mending Cafes are open to all, and are designed to provide a friendly, low-commitment, no-cost social space. “This is a free event that is open to absolutely everybody,” says Spurles. “You don’t have to commit to come every time. You don’t have to be a member of a group or anything like that.”
The next Mending Cafe is Tuesday, August 22, 2023, 7pm to 9pm at the Sackville Visitor Information Centre on Mallard Drive.
