August Repair Cafe News

Livingston Manor Repair Cafe debuted in July with fly fishing equipment repair and Yorktown Repair Cafe returned

July Repair Cafe Round Up


Summer has meant a more leisurely schedule of cafes, but RCHV still held 9 cafes across the region in July. Livingston Manor (Sullivan County) opened a new cafe which was a joint venture between the Livingston Manor Free Library and the Roscoe Free Library. It took place at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum and included fixers who could repair fly fishing equipment, a first for our network. Yorktown (Westchester County) returned with a busy cafe and some complex fixes that had our coaches putting their heads together to problem solve (see photo above).

We're starting a new feature in our newsletter to introduce you to a different RCHV Repair Coach every month. We are so fortunate to have such an incredible network of skilled and dedicated fixers in our region and we are delighted to tell you more about them here.


Welcome to Repair Coach Corner!

Michelle Elise, Zipper Repair Coach


Cafes: Esopus, Kingston, New Paltz, Poughkeepsie, Rhinebeck, Schenectady, Woodstock


We thought we'd start this new feature out by introducing Michelle Elise--our ONLY official Zipper Repair Coach. While many a textile or mechanical fixer has waxed open a stubborn zipper or replaced a broken pull tab, Michelle comes with a supply kit that looks more like it belongs in the jewelry arena than textiles. It turns out that most malfunctioning zippers can be fixed not by replacing the teeth throughout the whole garment but simply by replacing the actual slider body, or the small 'box' that is the part of the zipper that is actually responsible for, well, doing the zipping! She's armed with the right (vintage!) tools to pop off the top and bottom stop, allowing her to rethread a brand new, matching slider body from her well-stocked zipper parts kit onto the teeth, saving the whole item with one simple piece. I saw her save an entire tent at the Kingston Repair Cafe just by replacing the slider body--to keep such a huge item from going into the waste stream with something smaller than a quarter was honestly a little awe-inspiring (see photo above).


Michelle loves to attend cafes in a broad area when she's not working as a costume designer, costumer, tailor or wardrobe stylist for film or TV. She has worked on many projects filmed in the Hudson Valley including The Gilded Age (Troy) and The Whale (Newburgh), for which her team was nominated for an Oscar for their work on Brandon Fraser's prosthetics. Due to the historic double writers and actors strikes currently underway, Michelle may be at more cafes these next few months than usual so please don't hesitate to reach out to us to find out which cafes she'll be at next.

We're excited to announce a new cafe opening in Hyde Park (Dutchess Co.) on August 19th, and Gardiner Locust Lawn (Ulster Co.) returns on August 27th with demonstrations and exhibits of traditional repairs alongside their repair cafe.

August 2023 Repair Cafe Calendar

For more information, visit our online calendar.

Help us keep Repair Cafe Hudson Valley going strong! Please consider donating at the link below. Donations go to our fiscal sponsor, the 501(c)3 Sustainable Hudson Valley, but will be earmarked for RCHV if you make a note saying it is for Repair Cafes. Thank you!

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RCHV in the News


RCHV (Suzie Fromer) and Livingston Manor (Peggy McGuire) on Radio Chatskill (segment at 32 minutes), WJFF 90.5FM, July 28, 2023.


What is the Repair Cafe Trend in the Hudson Valley?, 94.3 Lite FM’s Website, July 11, 2023.


Repair Cafe Movement Rolls on at Library (Rivertowns Repair Cafe, Westchester County), Rivertowns Enterprise, June 30, 2023.


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