For those who like their curtains and furniture to match, or who’ve fallen in love with a particular fabric or have a ripped cushion on their favorite cozy chair, the ability to do simple upholstery is a valuable skill.
Women Repair Zone – a new business offering home repair and auto maintenance workshops for women, taught by women – is hosting a class on simple chair upholstery Wednesday, March 13 from 6-8 p.m. and another on footstool upholstery Saturday, March 23 from 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Registration will remain open until two days prior to each class if any of the eight spots remain. Women Repair Zone’s hands-on classes are limited to eight students to make sure everyone is safe and has an opportunity to participate, said owner Bea Lurie.
As the former CEO of nonprofit organization Girls Inc. of Chattanooga, which has a mission of “inspiring all girls to be strong, smart and bold,” Lurie organized a camp for girls called “Ms. Independent” in which they learned skills such as how to change a tire and wire a lamp. Participants’ mothers and grandmothers often expressed a desire to learn those skills themselves, and the idea for Women Repair Zone has remained in Lurie’s mind ever since.
She launched the business eight months ago, and has since hosted workshops on topics including plumbing, tiling a backsplash, composting, building a box shelf and more. Lurie said about half of the participants in each class are returning students, with some already having taken as many as six classes.