Why Rural Shoe Repair Matters – Bringing Cobblers back to Whitehorse
In May 2023, an exciting partnership formed between a Vancouver shoe repair shop, Awl Together Leather INC, and Zero Waste Yukon hosted at Raven Recycling, with the goal to bring shoe repair back to Whitehorse. The two cobblers held four days of free drop-in shoe repair services that made local news headlines, revitalized over 85 items, led a free leather care workshop, dropped into a local repair cafe (at Yukonstruct) and even visited Takhini Elementary School to sign a song about cobblers with kindergarteners. In addition, the cobblers brought back to their 1,800 sq ft Vancouver shoe repair studio 24 pairs of shoes to be mailed back after larger jobs were completed.
This overwhelming response proved one thing: shoe repair matters in small or rural communities. We’ve heard the story many times – the local cobbler retires or passes, and nobody has the skills to take over the operation. Whitehorse had been without a cobbler since 2019, when Terry Coventry passed due to the lack of local hemodialysis treatment. While most major cities struggle with recycling or redistributing textile waste and particularly footwear (the combination of materials make them very difficult to separate and process), rural communities often have even fewer options leaving more items destined for the landfill. Traditionally, cobblers should be able to repair more than just shoes – servicing bags, jackets, sporting goods and much more. When cobblers disappear, or hyper-specialize, communities lose access to keeping everyday items in rotation.
Awl Together Leather sees this trip has a proof-of-concept around a mobile cobbler that brings shoe repair to rural communities. If you or your organization is seeking rural shoe repair services or your government or city has a zero-waste initiative that could fund trips like this one, please reach out to us via email at info@awltogetherleather.ca.
Drop-in Services Offered:
We have a long list of items we can help you repair, including shoes, boots, hikers, jackets, outdoor gear, and bags; materials such as leather, denim, canvas, wool, etc. We are bringing up a small industrial sewing machine with us, as well as all sorts of tools, setters, and hardware. We may not have a perfect match for every scenario, but will probably have something to help!
- Replacing missing or broken hardware including rivets, snaps, chicago screws, button studs, zipper sliders etc
- Simple re-stitching on bags, jackets, boots and shoes, sports equipment, and heavy fabrics (denim, canvas, etc.)
- Small re-gluing jobs on leather and rubber
- Hole patching on torn or cracked leather
- Conditionings and cleanings
- DIY advice! We’ve fixed thousands of items, so feel free to come pick our brains.
Return Mail Services:
For items we cannot repair in Whitehorse, we will be bringing them back to Vancouver to be repaired in our shop. All items will be charged return shipping with a 4-6 week timeline. This includes:
Full Cobbling services:
- New Heels, Halfsoles and Fullsoles
- Redyeing, polishes, cleaning, and conditioning
- Sewing of all types (seams, velcro, elastics, zippers, etc)
- Stretching
- Blundstones to Birkenstocks, we do it all
Leather Alterations and Repairs:
- Re-lining jackets and bags
- Sleeve shortenings, tapering, expansions, hemming (anything a regular clothing tailor can do – but for leather/heavyweight!)
- Motorcycle Gear (patches, repairs, etc)
- Full zipper replacements
The Sold-Out DIY Leather Care Workshop:
Welcome to the world of DIY leather and shoe repair! Learn a little about the history of leather as a textile and its sustainability, upkeep, and repair. Awl Together Leather will be teaching the basic tools and tricks that can be used in DIY leatherwork including the basics of leather care, simple sewing, patching, hardware issues and more. We’re very excited that the tools explained will be permanently available at the Whitehorse Tool Library. In this workshop, participants are encouraged to bring their items and questions for individualized attention in the last half an hour.
Ariss Grutter and Tess Gobeil are professional leatherworkers and cobblers with fifteen combined years of experience and mostly work with commercially tanned leathers. Ariss, who is white of German and Dutch descent, is a newer home tanner and has some knowledge about creating and caring for veg-tanned and smoke-tanned leathers including buckskin. This workshop will not explicitly teach tanning nor traditional styles of leatherwork. Awl Together Leather operates on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, aka Vancouver, BC.
About Zero Waste Yukon:
Operating on the traditional territories of the Kwanlin Dun First Nation and Ta’an Kwachan Council, Zero Waste Yukon is a collaborative effort created to increase awareness and action in Yukon communities around the consumption and disposal of resources. Zero Waste Yukon’s vision is to transition the Yukon from a linear ‘take-make-waste’ model to a closed-loop circular economy which designs out waste and pollution, keeps products and materials in use, and regenerates natural systems.
