The Who and the Why…

I can not believe that it’s been almost 2 months since the shop has officially opened! I’ve had this dream of opening up a fabric store for Canadian sewists for SO long! And I’ve been trying to figure out how to put into words (or a blog post) everything I’ve been wanting to talk about. But I’m going to let you in on a little secret now before things get too far… I can actually be pretty horrible at writing!

And so, putting words on ‘paper’ can be such a hard thing to do!

But I wanted to delve into the story of me and the shop a bit with you all.

I’ve always been a creative person. I started out in wanting to go into architecture or design when I was in my teens. I had learned the basics of sewing from my grand-maman when I was still really little, but I was definitely more drawn to the construction sites of my dad and the amount of architectural drawings that he would bring home to quote. Every time he would bring new drawings home (especially the ones that weren’t from a subdivision developer), I would pour over them and look at the details, the flow between rooms, the elevation layouts, the amount of space given to certain things over others. It always intrigued me. To this day, I’m honestly not too sure why I didn’t go that route post high school.

Another route that really intrigued me, was interior design! This brought my love of texture, architectural elements and colours together. I’ve always been drawn to colour, details and designs (be it graphic, textile, architectural, book covers, textures from natural elements, etc) and this seemed to culminate together all my loves. At this point in my life, we had already had 3 kids, and I was planning a return to college (I had done 1 year of university before our first was born and then stopped).

I’m going to be straight up, it was HARD! So many elements I found easy, the in-class work, the design programs (like autoCAD), the art classes (although I was not the best artist, I loved the thought process and the exercises). But I found it a LOT harder then I anticipated. It created a lot more stress in my personal life then I was ready for or had even anticipated. And I dropped out.

At this point in my life, I had already started sewing (for real) this time.

I’m primarily a self taught sewist, I had to relearn everything my grand-maman had taught me, which was really just how to do a straight line and a quick backstitch to end that, and I’ve been sewing for MANY years now. At my best guess, I’d say around 8-10 years. I know compared to others this may not sound like a lot, but for me it’s always been this great outlet to get my creative juices flowing. The funny thing is, when I got my first sewing machine, it wasn’t even with the intentions to sew clothing! I wanted it for creating sewing details on scrapbook pages!! Right around that same time though, I found sewing blogs. And oh man, what a world that opened up!

At first, I read blogs that consisted mostly of sewing kid’s clothing. And I started by dabbling in that. After all, there was so much to learn, and kid’s clothes typically require less materials, so for me, it was a great starting point.

I went through a lot of trial and error. I always pushed myself to learn something. I used to tackle projects with the mindset that, I don’t know this skill and I want to learn it, and THAT’S why I’m making this project. I’ve wound up sewing a lot of things over the years and trying a lot of different things. And I’ll be the first to tell you that I’ll forever be learning. If you feel like you are done learning, you’ve reached a plateau.

While I was learning all these skills though, I came to the conclusion that it was hard to find certain materials, or certain things locally. And it wasn’t any easier to do it online (although it has gotten easier over the years with more online shops popping up), and a lot of my things came from the states. Which I have zero problem with, but I almost wanted to try to support Canadian when I could. I am a firm believer in supporting local (even if it’s a online shop, there’s always someone behind that screen!).

And there the seed of creating an online shop was planted.

The seed and therefore the goal has always been pretty simple, creating a space for sewists and makers to find what they need for their projects.

This online community has given me so much over the years, and I want to give back. The hope is to create a space where makers can come to for resources, for supplies, for conversation. A space that is safe for all and open to everyone. Where hopefully you’ll be able to find what you need! And if not now, hopefully in the future.

I have hopes that this platform can be both for daily thoughts and journalistic purposes, but educational ones as well.

And I hope that you’ll tag along on our journey with us!

Happy Sewing,

Julie