MAKE DO AND MEND
THE STAR OF THE REPAIR SHOP LAUNCHES A HANDY NEW SERIES…
Having impressed the nation with his team of highly skilled fixers on The Repair Shop, handyman Jay Blades is bringing us back to basics with a show to take the drama out of doing it yourself…
Hi, Jay! What have you got in store for us with Home Fix? But can we really do it ourselves?
It’s a grown-up Blue Peter meets Saturday Kitchen! We’ll be showing people how to make things with entry-level DIY skills, rather than buying them. And we’ve got loads of BBC archive films from experts such as Tommy Walsh and Monty Don, showing us stuff we can do in the garden or the garage. Everything you can go into a shop and buy, you can make – it’s as simple as that. I made my own furniture polish the other day! We’ll show you the basic skills to make things that will give you a real sense of achievement. As long as you have a good teacher, you’ll be laughing!
And now is the ideal time to learn a few new skills…
Yes, but hopefully people will want to carry on learning after lockdown. We’re going back to that ‘make do and mend’ culture we had after WWII.
What inspired you to learn to be a furniture restorer and eco-designer?
My biggest inspiration was the community. When I started my charity, Out Of The Dark, I knew nothing about restoration. So I asked local groups such as the WI if anyone would volunteer to teach me and some young people. We were inundated! A 92-year-old taught us how to cane a chair.
has captured everyone’s hearts, hasn’t it?
Yes! It’s the community we create in the workshop; the love we have for the item we’re repairing, and the person who brings it in and shares their story. Giving it back in one piece brings so much joy.