VEZ.TO, Toronto, ON (2026)

11/18/2021

• the lives of most men are patchwork quilts •
detail of one of my favourite patches, and the sketch that inspired it. this sketch has been occupying its own corner of my mind for at least four years.

geometric, clean, but definitely not static. eric borchert, 1928.

#刺し子

11/15/2021

• discontinuous events // roughly sewn together •
anyone who works with textiles gets a little bit of a hoarding complex.

the advent of fast fashion has done an unbelieveable job marketing to us that there's such a thing as a 5$ t shirt, or that its normal to wear something once or twice before pitching it into our neighbours backyard to be their problem. even still, I think the concept starts to wash away when you become part of the process. when you know what it takes to make a shirt and you know its more than 5$, no matter the economy. when you see just how many threads needed to be woven or knitted together to make the cloth, and that thread had to be spun, and that material grown.

that, or I'm just too sentimental.

when I worked as a production sewist I had an eagle eye, a magpie heart, that lead to an overflowing bin of junk jewels - bits of fabric that were barely too small to keep, too darling to throw away. but when a friend comes to me to save a favourite piece of their clothing, and I get to mend it with a scrap from the cutting room floor, I think I'll keep being sentimental.

thank you for trusting me with your favourite shorts! just in time for the warm weather 🥲
#刺し子

11/12/2021

• a piece of patchwork birds can pull worms from •
held on to this scrap for five years, I knew it was too good for the garbage. dangerously validating. hang tight for the whole piece.
#刺し子

10/21/2021

saline-sweet // a wash of salt water

10/09/2021

six of one // half dozen of the other
my memory has two modes - either razor sharp, like a crack of lightning illuminating full detail in high contrast, or dreamy and nebulous, with details silkily streaming between my fingers like remnants of a snuffed out candle. there are a lot of things pre-pandemic that fall into the latter category, especially when I try to put one memory chronologically after the other. was that last year? and by last year three years ago? was it before or after this or that? does it necessarily matter?

some years ago (?!), I had the chance to take ‘s intro to couture embellishment and tambour beading workshops. it was a great experience - the class, the venue, the people, all lovely, bright and inspiring! but life felt short of time back then, and eventually those lessons slunk away from the forefront of my mind, falling into that space between the cupboards called "for when I have time."

when I was looking to embellish masks non destructively, I found that time. all the beading on these masks is done on a separate tulle layer with tambour, leaving the three layer mask underneath uncompromised, and unburdened by an untenable fourth layer. as a huge lover of embellishment and textiles I knew it was only natural to want to decorate masks, but as someone who was neck deep in the research from an early stage, I was concerned. the more perforations in a masks layers, whether it be a decorative valve or a satin stitch, the more risk of particles passing through.

when people talk about epiphanies, they usually talk about the lightning moment. but for me, this came together in the second way, watching furls of that long snuffed out excitement making shapes and sense.

but six of one, half dozen of the other - we got there eventually.

10/06/2021

• c'est tellement mystérieux, le pays des larmes •
hello, it's been a while - for me and instagram/for this project and the light of day.

generally speaking, my grasp on time is a little tenuous. my drive and creative vision take the shape of a tunnel, which makes me very good at getting from point a to b when the track is set. when I have to lay the track myself? well... lets just say the rails weren't built in a day. this project was physically made in the late fall of last year, in isolation, going on a year of working without living. at that time, naturally, I felt it was reasonable to expect myself to be the artist, the photographer, the subject, the provider, the housekeeper, the griever, the consoler, the island. maybe you find these expectations ridiculous, maybe you find them relatable, disquieting.

when I was patterning, beading, sewing this project; I was in my element, comfortably moving through the dark of the tunnel at a steady clip. then came the part where being alone in that tunnel felt less comfortable and more claustrophobic, the part where I wanted to call other creatives to collaborate but it wasn't possible. so I continued, trying to fill these people-shaped gaps by teaching myself new skills I didn't have. posing, composing, lighting, editing. my perseverance eventually became overwhelmingly restricting, decelerating my momentum to complete stop.

from a content creating angle this deep lull in productivity is a fatal flaw, but from a human angle? it was nothing but natural law. human beings need other people - socially, emotionally, and especially creatively. sometimes I like to think I'm well equipped to be a full time hermit, if the goal is just putting one day after the other. in service of meeting an absurd standard, I was conveniently ignoring the shape of my grief. elusive, oil slicked, gold-black and obvious - from the right angle.

months ago, I felt the beading on this first mask, indignantly refusing to behave for the camera, was testing my patience.
but perhaps it was testing my perspective - are you really seeing what's on your face? are you afraid of it catching the light?

09/26/2020

• love isn't blind, it's a witness // bearing witness to the unbearable •
we are more connected than we have ever been, but are we designed to bear that?

some days, it feels impossible - we are only human, it's one thing to read, or hear, but entirely something else to see so far beyond the reach of our experience.

to make our own eyes all-seeing, and in turn our hearts all-feeling, to think to ourselves "I cannot do it, it is too much." but the heart is a muscle, like any other, and it needs work. through growing pains and salt water, we experience the alchemy of being, of understanding there is nothing "only" about being human.

09/21/2020

• fit right // fit tight •
if there is one thing that I am adamant about when it comes to masks, its fit - a good mask fits the your lifestyle, fits your look, but above all fits your face.

that's where the beauty of the pleat comes into play. pleats are not only an aesthetic choice, they allow a mask to expand according to the face it's on, giving you extra breathing room and a tight fit at the cheek (which is most often where masks fail to lay flat).

besides all that, pleats have a special place in my heart, since they always take me back to learning how to make tutus the traditional way - making stacks of quarter inch pleats by hand, with a pin, and scribbled out equations as a roadmap to the final dimensions.

but I know that not everyone feels the same way about pleats as I do - teaching people to sew this style of mask showed me that for many people pleats can be confusing, intimidating even. with the mental toll of everything going on around us it's harder to get through some of these small hurdles. when I was writing the pattern instructions for these masks, I spent a lot of time trying to streamline the process and the language to help cut through our collective brain fog.

and now for the non-sewing inclined, I've done a bit more streamlining - if you want to get your hands on some of these masks, check the link in my bio for the online store. no more emailing, no more DMing back and forth (unless you'd like to work on a custom project or say hi), just click and ship.

07/08/2020

coincendentia // casting off
there's something a bit romantic about following the comings and goings of celestial bodies. it continues our connection with the spirit of storytelling, and finding our place in the world. even if it means nothing, the desire to see things above as below is charmingly human. so if you're into that kind of thing, let's talk about the stars a minute.

it's cancer season for one, which is dear to me since I have so many good friends born around this time. naturally this year there won't be The Birthday Party for all us to get together, but comfy at home is where the heart is for cancer folks, at the very least. the first pin in this set came about while I was thinking about all the birthdays happening in my circle.

this weekend, the sun, earth and moon had a moment of being perfectly aligned - resulting in a lunar eclipse! if you didn't know it, you might have felt it the past few days. maybe the urge to clean and organize has suddenly struck you, or perhaps you're feeling a bit blah about doing things the way that has been just fine for a while now. the good news is, now is a great time to change! shake off anything that's got you feeling stuck, and do a little something for future you and see what comes of it in august.

the last pin in this set is all about cycles - the fabric itself is plain muslin I use for testing sewing patterns. once the test is complete, I can cut the pattern out of the intended fabric, and I can use the muslin as a backing for pins and other small embroidery projects. when it comes to sewing garments, the only way you know it'll work is once you've done it, and some fabrics don't take well to second passes. lucky for me, plain unbleached cotton muslin not only can stand up to a second pass, but also takes well to second lives.

07/06/2020

grab n go // life as it is
keeping the essentials handy for a less stressful errand experience. keys, wallet, sanitizer, alcohol wipes. brass hardware for the looks, and the antimicrobial properties. meditatively stitched appliqué for the feeling of calm.

today these are the little things that are helping me get going and live life as it is now.

VEZ.TO

11/18/2021

11/15/2021

11/12/2021

10/21/2021

10/09/2021

10/06/2021

09/26/2020

09/21/2020

07/08/2020

07/06/2020

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