The Makehouse Co-op

06/12/2025

It's almost time!

Two community members () and ) are hosting a picnic for the Victoria sewing community on Sunday, June 22nd from 1:30 - 4 pm at Elk Lake! Connect with other sewists, participate in a fabric swap, see if you get lucky with a "Surprise Swap" or help make picnic decorations with a handcrank sewing machine!

Swipe through the slides to see how to register, find the picnic site, and learn what to bring! See you there! 💚

05/20/2025

Hi everyone!

Kat has some more plans up her sleeve for community-based sewing events this summer and beyond! She's set up a newsletter that you can subscribe to to find out about these as well as other textile arts-related books, podcasts and other things she's enjoying.

If you're interested, sign up at: https://mailchi.mp/0f4fda610c93/test

05/16/2025

Hi folks! Believe it or not, Kat's June retreat has already sold out!!!

If you're interested in attending, drop her a line at [email protected], and she'll add you to the waiting list. If enough folks are on the list, she'll consider adding a second date!

05/15/2025

Grab your tools and let's go! Kat is hosting a super fun, fully catered sewing retreat at the Dock on Sunday, June 8th from 10 am - 4 pm! There are just 10 spots available! To register, email her, Kat Camfield, at onnamai(at)gmail.com to let her know you're interested and then e-transfer $99 to the same address. Your spot will be confirmed within 3 days of receiving your e-transfer. Got questions? Drop her an email. She hopes to see you there!

05/12/2025

Kat from and are delighted to announce that they are co-hosting a YYJ Sewists' Picnic on Sunday, June 22nd!

Events will include a "take it or leave it" fabric swap table, a "Surprise Swap", and a community sewing project (let's make our own picnic decorations!).

Swipe through the pics to find out where to go, how to sign up, what to bring, etc. etc.

Register here: https://forms.gle/nSfv7jEEbsWmh5L77
Sign up to volunteer here: http://bit.ly/4jMMyMy

Click here to volunteer!

Only 50 spaces total are available so sign up now!

05/06/2025

Hi folks! Kat from The Makehouse Co-op is organizing a screening of a beautiful documentary called "The Nettle Dress" on Sunday, May 25th at The Dock: Centre for Social Impact ().

This film tells the story of a man who creates a dress out of nettles he forages, processes, spins, weaves and sews in tribute to his late wife.

This is a visually and emotionally beautiful film that you won't want to miss! Check out the link for ticket and other info.

Textile artist Allan Brown spends seven years making a dress by hand, using only the fibre of locally foraged nettles.

04/27/2025

Grab your ironing boards, machines, and let's go sew!

It's almost retreat time again! Our last session is coming up on Sunday, May 11th from 10 am - 5 pm. There are just *3* spots left!

If you're interested in joining a great group of sewists for a day of relaxed sewing, fun, and refreshments, send an email to [email protected]. Tickets are $100+tax and up. Proceeds will cover costs of the event and any profits will go towards The Makehouse's final expenses.

Hope to see you there!

03/25/2025

Hi friends! Long time, no chat!

We had an absolute blast at our fundraising retreat earlier this month! A great group of ten sewists got together for sewing - all skill levels, working on all sorts of different projects (a costume, a quilt, garments, zipper pouches, you name it!).

While our April retreat is sold out, we do have spots available for our retreat in May! It's taking place on Sunday, May 11th from 10 am - 5 pm at The Dock: Centre for Social Impact at 722 Cormorant Street.

The cost is on a sliding scale of $100-250, the choice is yours. Wrapping up the business is having additional unanticipated costs so if you're able to pay a little more, we really appreciate it!

If you're interested, you can message us here or email [email protected] to sign up. Hope to see you there!!

03/11/2025

Hello all! Have a listen to the latest episode of Check Your Thread! If you don't know it already, Check Your Thread is an awesome podcast all about sewing and sustainability. This week's episode is all about how to make quilts more sustainably. Kat is quoted in this episode and a couple of her makes are in the episode's show notes. You can check out the episode & pics here!

Do you dabble in quilt making? Or are you curious to give it a go someday? Well this episode is PACKED full of amazing tips submitted by CYT listeners on how to do so more sustainably. So you can get maximum enjoyment from the process and finished item, whilst knowing that the negative impact it...

02/28/2025

🎶 This is "so long" for now
We'll meet again somehow
Until the day we do, I will be thinking of you🎶
- Gem and The Holograms

Today is our very last day and we are open 'til 9 pm tonight. Come down for some great deals and to pick up your on-line orders! Your absolute last chance to pick up on-line orders will be tomorrow, Friday February 28th, between 10 am and 5 pm.

Thank you one and all for being part of our amazing sewing community! We will miss you so much in the days and weeks ahead. Here's hoping we'll bump into you again one day. We hope that you will keep sewing and bringing beauty and creativity into the world!

- The Makehouse Co-op Team

02/26/2025

It's the Final Countdown! 🎸🎶

Our last day is tomorrow! Come by today or tomorrow to pick up a few goodies or to say bye to us before we go off on our different journeys! We're open 1 - 9 pm today and tomorrow (Wednesday the 26th and Thursday the 27th).

Although we won't be at The Makehouse Co-op after this week, we will take so many wonderful memories with us of your creativity and the good times we shared together. We hope we will meet you again soon in Victoria's creative spaces!

As Tanya would say, keep those sewing machines roaring!

With gratitude,
The Makehouse Co-op team (Tanya, Rhonda, Kat, Jeanine, Heather, Erin & Chris)

02/26/2025

For our last two days open we have reduced everything to 50% for all fabric and notions! We recommend shopping in-store as all orders will need to be picked up by Thursday, Feb 27th.

(This excludes furniture, samples or other items that were part of the studio space)