Sewing Classes Start March 14th!!!

Email irenestickney at hotmail.com to register!
Classes run Sundays 12-3pm for 5 weeks, and cost $220, (includes materials)
Learn to sew like a pro!!!

Leather and Lace...

Making Muslins...

Recently my friend Jessica Gordon asked if I'd be interested in making some clothes for a photoshoot she was styling. I was planning on making a blazer with big shoulders for the Lady Gaga sewing workshop coming up in March anyways so I said yes. I'm pretty excited about the patterns. The cowl sleeve pattern takes the crest of a sleeve block and splits it into two, so whatever you add in between becomes the part that sticks out. These are the directions I found online - there are more good resources if you're interested in pattern drafting sleeves here. I used blackout fabric for the jacket with cowl sleeves - it was cheap! Only $6.99/yard at Designer Fabrics at Bloor and Brock. It's what interior designers use behind drapes to block the light. It was heavy enough to keep its shape but easy to sew up. These are the directions I based my cowl sleeve on. Be careful if you follow them - they don't demonstrate how to create pleats properly. Here's what the final pieces looked like. The shoot will be digitally altered so I can show you these pics before anything goes into print...

Pastie Pandemonium at the Make Den!!!

V & A Museum, Print Collection

Just discovered a great fashion photography/inspiration resource: The Victoria and Albert Museum Online Print Collection.
This is the link to the 50's and 60's fashion photography section.

Vintage from Around the World: Afghanistan

These are traditional dresses from the Pashtun region of Afghanistan, dated between 1930-1970. I think it's interesting that technology and styles changed so little in Afghanistan between 1930 and 1970 that it's difficult to tell when it's from. A 1930s dress from North America would never be confused with a 1970s dress. They're sewn both by hand and machine, and cut mainly on the square. Cutting on the square is common in alot of folk design. I'm not sure why, but I imagine that it was both to conserve fabric and to reduce the complication of the pattern. I still like cutting things on the square, for exactly the same reasons.

Balmain at the Victoria and Albert Museum

The workmanship that went into a vintage Balmain gown is astounding. The lace and appliques would have been sewn on entirely by hand. The bust support with boning and bra as well as the underskirst have actually been made into an entirely separate garment (nowadays that's rare, if not unheard of). This would allow the top layer to lie even flatter over the bust because the boning wasn't even attached to it. It also looks like the underskirt is cut just a few inches longer than the top skirt, so that a few layers would peek out the bottom! Too bad we can't see it on an actual person here...

More Hostess Aprons!

Valentines Day Hostess Aprons!

Valentines Day Special!!!

VALENTINES DAY SPECIAL - MAKE YOUR OWN PASTIES!!!
3pm - 6pm at THE MAKE DEN
February 14th (Duh!)
1207 Bloor St. W
$15~

It's a whirl of twirling girls, a burlesque/boylesque bevy of broads, a craft for laughs with a bias-trimmed finish! From February to Febru-arty, it's time to Craft-Paste your way to your own pair of hand-made Craft-PASTIES!!!

EXTRA EXTRA EXTRAS!!!
***VALENTINES PULP NOVEL READING***
6pm - STAY TUNED FOR DETAILS!!!

PASTIE WORKSHOP IS GIRLS ONLY - NOVEL READING IS FOR EVERYONE!!!
See you there!!!

Brock Village: The Very Latest Nascent Fashion Hive!

Leanne Delap, the former editor of Fashion magazine and current fashion editor at the Globe has named Brock Village (or Brockton Village, depending on how far back you want to go) "The Very Latest Nascent Fashion Hive" in the Globe and Mail recently. The link is here.

When I started working at 69 Buy the Pound in Brockton almost 2 years ago, it definitely wasn't a "Fashion Hive". I was hard pressed to find a decent meal in the neighbourhood - never mind a good cup of coffee. The only places to eat nearby were Ali Baba's and Pizza Pizza. When the empty restaurant next door showed signs of renovations, I might as well have been going to meet Karl Lagerfeld I was so excited. Finding out that it was going to be a Vegan Cafe - and one that grew their own vegetables in the back yard - just about quadrupled my anticipation! My vegetarian friends who worked down on Queen St. and ate nothing but Poutini's were jealous of ME, with a vegetarian restaurant right next door up at Bloor and Brock! Imagine! Calico has not only done well with innovative and amazing vegan meals - they're packed every time I'm in there - but they won the Critics Pick for Best Vegetarian Restaurant 2009 in NOW Magazine last year!

The Holy Oak, a peaceful little coffee shop that features live music almost every night except for Wednesdays (that's board games night) opened just after that. Then came The Captains Treasure and Ping Pong (both vintage furniture stores) which both opened at almost the same time in late 2009. Ping Pong focuses on mid-century furniture while The Captains Treasure is a gold mine of knick knacks and antiques. There is a real sense of community among the people who live and work in the area - and a sense of camaraderie.

I can remember what Queen St. felt like when I was still in high school - there was an independent vibe, lots of vintage, no starbucks, no second cup. There were still secrets to be found. Brockton feels like that right now. Working at 1234, I was lucky enough to talk to alot of people in the community, and I heard one thing over and over in the past two years: This neighbourhood has gotten so much better recently. I also heard lots of stories about the "Old" Brockton- it sounded like a colorful place.

And perhaps there is a Starbucks in little Brockton's future (for the record, I hope not) but for now, it's at that sweet spot where it still has a little grit to it (try Duffy's on a Thursday if you're after grit) but there are more than a few diamonds in the rough. Thanks for the shout-out, Leanne!

PACT Fashion Illustration Workshop with Danielle Meder

The Make Den kicked off the first PACT Prom Project Class with a fashion illustration workshop! PACT is a restorative justice organization which helps at-risk youth in the GTA with almost no government funding. PACT Prom Project is aimed at giving students practical design, sewing and alteration skills, while working towards the ultimate goal of completing a finished prom dress, which will then be presented to three pre-selected high school students from across Toronto who lack the resources to buy a prom dress on their own - a real dream come true!
Our fashion illustration workshop was lead by fashion illustrator Danielle Meder, and the results were spectacular!!! Danielle really knows her stuff - she's worked for The Fashion Incubator, NOW magazine, The National Post, The Globe and Mail, and Worn Journal! Dan's gift is making even complicated stuff seem simple, like these fashion croquis. She breaks things down into easy parts - she always starts an illustration with the head and spine, then she adds hips and shoulders, a torso and finally hands, arms and legs. After the skeleton is in place, she puts a layer of tracing paper over the whole thing and traces the pretty parts, while leaving out the construction lines! But really - isn't fashion just like that, though?
She held the classes attention for more than 3 whole hours, which isn't easy to do - and as you can see, she really gets results!!!

69 Vintage Collective and The Make Den in Toronto Life!!!

Check out the link here.

Blog Love from Interview Magazine's Randi Bergman!!!

Check out Randi's awesome review of the store at her blog The Katie Girls here!

A Telltale Heart