UPL Repair Cafe - Leather Conditioning - 5/16/26
Mend Your Closet - Leather Care & Conditioning
Join us at the Ulysses Philomathic Library in Trumansburg on Saturday May 16th for the spring Repair Cafe! This program is FREE and requires no pre-registration.
I'll be there with leather conditioning materials, and welcome folks to bring their own items. You'll need at least an hour and a half to process your item fully, so plan accordingly.
Participants will be introduced to the basic materials needed for leather care (saddle soap, horsehair brush, leather conditioner, wax thread). When cared for correctly, leather items can last decades. The items needed for leather care are affordable, and the process easy to do at home. Please note that this workshop does include use of water and soap, dress accordingly.
Please bring 1-2 clothing items from your own closet for repair. This workshop is specifically for “glove tanned leather” (the shiny leather) regularly used for handbags, belts, bracelets, sandals, and boots, we will not be covering how to care for fur or suede in this program. This is ONLY for 100% leather, the processes used to preserve leather cannot be used on “pleather” or other plastic-based substitutes. If you aren’t sure if your item would work for this program, please contact zvannostrand@gmail.com beforehand and share pictures of your item.
ABOUT THE REPAIR CAFE
Toss it? No way! Bring your broken belongings or ripped clothing and get paired with an expert who will coach you on how to repair your item. Tools and equipment provided!
What can you bring? Clothing, stuffed animals, or small electronics (ex: lamps, toasters, radios) that need repair. We’ll let you know if the job is bigger than what we can handle, and refer to you a local business for repair.
This event will feature a leather care table with local artist/educator Zoë Van Nostrand. Bring your leather goods that need conditioning!
Some types of items not accepted (ex: phones, laptops, dirty or dangerous items). To ask questions, email Laura at director@trumansburglibrary.org.
No registration this time - walk-ins only. All are welcome!
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Accessibility Notes: Open to ages 14-114. Presented in English. ADA accessible room. Requires manual dexterity, and ability to sit for 1 1/2 hours.
Workshops led by Zoë Van Nostrand a.k.a. @sustainablespinster (Instagram). Zoë is an amateur, somewhat self taught, hand sewer and textile artivist from Mecklenburg NY.She has been mending her clothes (and her loved ones) for over 20 years. She considers mending a radical act against fast fashion and the global impacts of the textile industry, and a message of respect and reciprocity to the textile workers around the globe who make our clothes.
