People

 

Karyn Valino

Owner

My degree is actually from Ryerson’s Media Arts program, where I majored in photography. My first creative loves were paper, bookbinding, photography and collage. Along the way, I also took woodworking, stained glass and neon signmaking classes. It wasn’t until I was working in New York City that I discovered sewing and immediately fell in love with making my own clothes.

When I’m not at the workroom, I’m hopefully sewing, gardening or going on adventures with Maisy. At any given time, I can have up to ten quilts in various stages of progress. Not to mention all the clothing projects that are in queue! I really do love to make things and the thrill of completing a project or learning a new skill never gets old to me.

In my wildest dreams, I hoped that the workroom would become more than just a shop, but would also be a vibrant and inspiring place where friendships would form over pretty fabric and cups of tea. I’m definitely most proud that this dream came true and that I am witness to it every day.

I think my dream project is to make a quilt entirely from Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabric. I’ve been collecting different bits of Liberty for years now. Hopefully, I’ll be ready to start it soon!

Classes:
Serger Essentials
Sewing Machine Essentials
Rope Bowl
Snap Coin Purse

Blog: makesomething.ca
IG: @make_something

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Maisy

Our dearest shop dog who saw us through the workroom’s first nine years. We could not have built such a welcoming space without her sweet guidance and company. We miss her sweet face every day.

#rememberingmaisy

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AndrewCloutier

Andrew Cloutier

Graphic Designer

I am an internationally recognized Canadian Graphic Designer with 25 years of experience and more than 90 awards. I do a lot of branding—creating, refreshing, and evolving visual identities. I work in many media, in both 2 and 3 dimensions. Digital, social, print, packaging, clothing, product, signage, fleet, environmental—any and all brand touch points. After building multiple successful retail websites on the Shopify platform, I am an accredited Shopify Partner. When I’m not designing, I spend my time hiking, biking, skiing, and exploring beautiful British Columbia.

andrewcloutier.ca

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Alexis Da Silva Powell

My earliest making memory is obsessively weaving construction paper.  So obsessively, in fact, that I quickly ran out of construction paper and took to shredding any paper I could get my tiny hands on.  Always one to encourage my creative pursuits, my mom allowed me to paint wall-sized murals in the kitchen and on the windows looking out into our backyard - worms were my speciality.  Around the same time, I started creative movement classes and my love of making was joined by my new love of moving. Growing up, I continued to dance and make (knitting, glass blowing, macrame, gardening - you name it, I was going to try it!) and eventually graduated from York University with a BFA in Dance.

Let's be honest, I try to be at The Workroom as often as I can! I love everything about it: The fabric, the community, the projects, the creativity, the learning - all of it.  It is such an inspiring space and I love the conversations that I have every time I am there. 

The magic of making never stops affecting me and I am always proudest of whatever project I have just finished.  No matter how simple or complicated, no matter if I have made it a hundred times or only once, making with my hands is pure (insert sparkle emoji).

If I could make my making dreams come true, I wouldn't pick a specific dream project. My dream would be to have more time to do ALL the projects I have ever dreamed of. I would love to travel and learn from artists in their studios in a variety of different mediums.  Harvest bullrushes and learn to weave them?  Incredible!  Go to Shetland Wool week?  Of course!  For now, I have the amazing opportunity of learning from the extremely talented teachers at The Workroom.

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Carolanne Graham

Instructor

My education is in English Literature and Librarianship and sewing obsessions started early for me. I suffered devastation in Grade 7 Home Economics when my teacher gave me an A- on a very complicated hot dog pillow. I made 9 more cushions before I got the A grade I thought I deserved (and before the teacher refused to mark any more pillows!).

When I started working full-time, fate was generous enough to give me a quilter with whom to share my cubicle. After that I took quilting lessons every week for 16 years and carried my sewing tin with me everywhere. Teaching at the workroom fuels both creativity and joy. I especially love to see people combine skills from multiple classes into a quilt or garment that is totally their own.

If I am not at the workroom I am caring for my daughter Faye. When she falls asleep, you can usually find me quilting, knitting, baking, fussing over my indigo plants or watching Sherlock with my husband, Darcy.

I have great affection for my Shibori Star quilt which happened very much by accident. The cloth was dyed in 2009, but it was finished as a whole cloth piece, in a fit of sewing therapy in 2011. You can read about it here.

My passion for indigo was sparked 18 years ago when I saw naturally dyed fabric for the first time. It was years before the opportunity to learn the process presented itself. Back then, my wildest dream was having the time and space to do exactly what I do now.

carolannegraham.com
@carolannegraham

Classes:
Darning
Denim Mending
Hand Pieced Star Sampler
Intro to Handwork
Mending With Patches
Sweater Mending
Whole Cloth Quilt

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Ignacia Ibarra Black

When I was very little, my mother made an exquisitely glamorous, strapless, black and gold jacquard evening gown for my Barbie. It was magnificent and the fact that she had made it herself was nothing short of magic, to me. I was hooked!
Making stuff is in my family; we are a clan of creatives. We are painters, artists, seamstresses, knitters, fibre artists, photographers, crafters and makers of every sort of thing. I never lacked for inspiration or encouragement, and pursued every creative curiosity, since I was small.
My journey drew me to art school and more art school. I studied Drawing and Painting at OCADU, where I also took every opportunity to branch out, so I learned woodworking, bookbinding, printmaking, and paper making, too.
After graduating, I was yearning for a new creative outlet, and that led me to the magical world of fibre! First crochet, then knitting and spinning, and finally, back to one of my first loves: sewing!
As a devoted maker and total clotheshorse basically since birth, the idea of creating a self-made wardrobe is an extremely appealing ambition. I have always believed that aesthetics are a powerful communication tool, and making my own clothes feels like a natural extension of exploring and expressing various facets of my identity. So, as my skills grow, I hope always to find new and better ways to joyfully festoon myself with colours, textures and shapes that are a faithful reflection of my feelings-place.
Spending a lot of time at the workroom means that I am constantly surrounded by beautiful things and creative people. It is so inspiring! I get to see and, in a small way, share in the processes of so many other makers. I love watching folks gather their materials, create colour palettes that reflect themselves, or a mood, or a theme. I love helping in that process! And I extra love the show-and-tell of a finished project! (So please show me your makes!)

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Johanna Masko

Instructor

I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Michigan, but my crafty education comes directly from Mom!! She sewed, knitted, macraméed, embroidered—you name it!

When I’m not at the workroom, I’m a mother and wife, plus stitching, designing and sewing as much as humanly possible.

I love the light-filled space, the sewing stations, the delicious wall of loveliness, and, most of all, the wonderful staff and my fantastic students at the workroom! I am always delighted to see how everyone combines their fabrics and makes their projects all their own. I can’t wait to come to class!

Classes:
Amish Bars Quilt
Alphabet : Machine Paper Foundation Piecing
DIY Hand Quilting & Frames
Double Wedding Ring Quilt
English Paper Piecing
Favourite Four Patch
Intro to Cross Stitch
Mod Blocks
Pineapple Log Cabin
Ribbons Quilt
Sampler Quilt
Super Star Quilt
Swoon Quilt

johannamasko.com
@jmaskoquilts

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Leo

 Instructor

 

Julie Sinden

Instructor

I grew up with a mother who is a fibre fanatic, in a house full of yarn and fleece and looms and spinning wheels.  So I was crafting from a very young age, doing everything from sewing, knitting and dyeing to needle point and cross stitch.  In 2002, I set off for the mountains of BC and did a three year textile program at the Kootenay School of the Arts, an eclectic, wonderful little school.  One of the instructors there turned me on to natural dyeing in a big way, and a fellow student taught me about the wonders of boiled wool, which I now use for my production line of hats.

I currently enjoy juggling my teaching at the Workroom with two small businesses, Julie Sinden Handmade and The Love of Colour.  The first is my line of boiled wool hats and other accessories, that I have been making for more than 15 years, and which I sell at small boutiques and the One of a Kind Show.  The Love of Colour is my newest venture, and draws on my almost 20 years of studying natural dyeing, and more than a decade of teaching it.  It's a small line of my favourite natural dyes, including our very popular beginner natural dye kits. 

I love having the chance to meet such a wide range of people who all share at least one common interest at the workroom. Sharing my love of natural dyeing with the community, and seeing what students create with the things they dye in my classes is such a joy.

Classes:
Hand-dyed Yarn
Indigo
Indigo Printing
Intro to Fibre Reactive Dyes
Marbled Fabric
Natural Dyeing
Printing with Natural Dyes

juliesinden.com
rubiaweld.blogspot.com

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Rosa Moniz Tarle

Crafting has been with me since I was a kid. After lunch at my grandmother’s house was when she would sit on the edge of her bed and make, mend or alter a little something with a needle and thread. Showing me how to imagine a little change and how to make it happen.

Since then I have been fortunate enough to pursue and learn so many skills and interests  from so many people, taking me to so many new places. Whether it’s knitting, crocheting, spinning, sewing or giving how to dye a try, to play with clay, to rollerskate… the list continues… it’s about keeping heart, mind and hands connected. Carving out time to try something new drives me forward and I learn so much more than the intended skill.

I am so grateful to be a small part of the workroom. It is a hub of creativity and imagination everyday. Seeing the shop through each maker’s eyes keeps it all  fresh… the workroom is like a potluck where everyone is invited to make something and show ‘n’ tell is such a fabulous surprise. It is humbling and enlightening to witness and learn something new from so many people each day I am in the shop.

Most projects I make often have some (self imposed) challenges. I usually veer away from the pattern with some alteration or another, get frustrated and eventually figure out a solution (through trial and error and consultation) that makes me even more thrilled with the outcome.

As long as I’m discovering… that is my favourite way to make. My dream is to keep it this way.

Have fun, roll with it, go further.

@rosecolouredlens

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Sherri Lynn Wood

Guest Instructor

Sherri Lynn Wood is an artist working in Oakland, CA. She is the recipient of the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant for Painters and Sculptors, and a two-time MacDowell Colony Fellow. She has been making and improvising quilts as a creative life practice for twenty-five years, and blogs about it at daintytime.net. Teaching credits include Penland School of Craft, QuiltCon, and numerous modern and traditional guilds across the country. In 2016, she will be an artist in residence at Recology, the San Francisco dump, where she will begin work on her second book. Her first book, The Improv Handbook For Modern Quilters—A Guide to Creating, Quilting and Living Courageously, released by STC Craft/Abrams in April 2015 has sold more than 10,000 copies.

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Lizzy House

Guest Instructor

I think most creative endeavors start in childhood, and I attribute my start to my mother allowing me to be who I was. I was solemn, thoughtful and serious. She also let me dress myself from the time I could make moderately reasonable choices. She never made any decisions about who I was, or what I was going to be, she just let me be, and that shaped me into what I am, and how I treat my work.

First I found printmaking, and received a BFA in it. Then I found fabric design. Then I found sewing. Then I found gardening. I probably do most things in between too. I just like making stuff, and I like saying things in the work that I do.

When I’m not at the workroom, I’m at home in Salt Lake City, UT, gardening, petting a cat, planning a party, planning a trip, sewing a dress, making some art…

I love teaching because it is an enabling power. I get to share beautiful things that I’ve learned with wonderful people all over the world. Then you get to keep and share that joy. It’s a circle. I also love teaching at the workroom because I love the feeling, and I love the peeps.

The sewing project that I am most proud of is most certainly my Meadow quilt.

I’m dreaming of doing super complicated and time consuming couture sewing…

Classes:
Castle Treasury Quilt
Mini Quilt
Pattern Design & Block Printing
The Meadow Quilt

lizzyhouse.com

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