This is Maddles Made.
A Strathcona-based designer and maker whose business it is to sew, craft and design out of her studio at Maker Labs in Strathcona.
She sells fun, handmade wears like earrings, jewelry, textiles, homewares and fashion items playing with bright colours, fabrics, fuzzy textures and up-cycled material.
You can find Maddles Made in-store at Awen Haus or online via her website maddlesmade.com
I’m a hybrid designer-maker-artist-
I’ve always loved creating, I’m just one of those people that always needs to keep their hands moving! I’ve been selling my work on the side on and off for years, but my business got more serious when I moved to Vancouver from Australia and got my studio in Strathcona. The community here is supportive and encouraging of the things I make, which really fuels my creativity.
I have a small 90-square-foot studio inside the MakerLabs building. It’s been such a fun process to build out my space exactly to my needs over the years (no space is wasted). I have two industrial sewing machines in my space, a desk, computer, an ironing station and overflowing tubs of fabric and colourful supplies. The community here is great, I’ve made many wonderful friends who inspire me daily and I love having access to all the communal workshops and tools. Outside of MakerLabs I love the Strathcona area, there are many fun shops, bars and places to get snacks. I regularly go for little walks through the neighbourhood when I need to take a break from sewing or making.
The MaddlesMade brand is all about fun. I like to make pieces that make people feel happy when they use them. I believe wearing or interacting with items that have bright colours or fun textures can have a positive impact on people’s emotions – especially when you’re in the depths of a grey rainy Vancouver winter.
Online at www.maddlesmade.com or @maddlesmade on Instagram.
My products are also stocked in The Nooks in Gastown and Awen Haus (the in-house artist store we have at MakerLabs).
Interested in meeting more Strathcona makers? Learn more about Settlement Brewing, Birdies, Scavenger Coffee, Orii Jewelry, Yardi Grabz, Living Lotus Chocolate and Awesome Sauce Designs.
The holidays are here! It’s that wonderful time of year when you can put your gift-giving dollars into local businesses.
Looking for the perfect gift for your partner or co-worker, friend, or family member? You’ll find a variety of unique gifts right here in Strathcona.
We’ve put together a perfectly curated list that includes a wonderful arrangement of gifts to suit your needs and budget.
Check out our Strathcona Holiday Gift Guide for every personality below.
With a team of local makers from all walks of life Chapel Arts is located in the heart of Strathcona and produces beautiful hardwood pieces made from walnut, oak, maple and reclaimed fir.
Their stunning furniture and collector pieces are created from ethically sourced urban and rural hardwood trees, not from deforestation and traditional logging practices.
Read more about the Chapel Arts and the impact they are making in Strathcona and beyond.
40 years ago in a garage in Saskatchewan.
Our work has a focus on urban and rural hardwoods. It’s important to us to be as environmentally sustainable as possible. Having this facility in a central urban location reduces travel by us and our clients and we believe mixed zoning must be promoted not only for the environment but for the cultural fabric and diversity of our community. We hire locals from all walks of life and are very much a part of the community. Additionally, we serve our peers with partial processing helping their work be kept to our area and be more sustainable in every way. We are proudly making it in Strathcona.
Studio and shop at 305 Dunlevy Avenue.
Our showroom, West Coast Wood Slabs by Chapel Arts at 79 W 3rd Ave.
Or online at chapelarts.com, Instagram at @chapelarts and @westcoastwoodslabs
Interested in meeting more Strathcona makers? Learn more about Settlement Brewing, Birdies, Scavenger Coffee, Orii Jewelry, Yardi Grabz, Living Lotus Chocolate and Awesome Sauce Designs.
Make Nice Company’s products are made right in Strathcona and use natural ingredients and delicious scents like citrus, eucalyptus and mint. Their ultra-concentrated dish soap replaces up to 3 bottles of traditional dish soap and their product line also includes accessories like scrub brushes and soap trays.
Get to know Bonnie and her journey below.
Make Nice Company aims to reduce the world’s consumption of single-use plastic waste with an ultra-concentrated Solid Dish Soap that replaces up to 3 bottles of traditional dish soap. All our soaps are 100% natural with vegan ingredients that are also paraben-free and palm oil-free, made right here in the Strathcona area in Vancouver, BC.
I’m Bonnie, the founder and maker behind Make Nice Company.
I started Make Nice Company back in 2019 when I wasn’t able to find an alternative to dish soap in plastic bottles. My partner and I were switching out our body wash and shampoos with their zero-waste solid soap alternatives and I wasn’t able to find anything for my dishes. I figured, why not try to make it?
This became a whole deep dive into learning to make soap, figuring out and testing what the best recipe would be to cut grease, and what the ideal shape would be when using it. I wanted the 100% natural ingredients to be simple, nothing you can’t pronounce, and vegan. After many months of making samples and testing them with friends, I finally got to Make Nice Company’s Solid Dish Soap.
By providing meaningful work and paying Vancouver living wage, we strive to have a positive impact on our local community outside of our sustainable products. We source locally for our raw materials and packaging within Vancouver and work with Canadian manufacturers like the ones for our Soap Tray. We also cultivate our online community by our sustainable ethos along with zero waste tips and tricks!
Check us out at makenicecompany.com or on social @makenicecompany.
Interested in meeting more Strathcona makers? Learn more about Settlement Brewing, Birdies, Scavenger Coffee, Orii Jewelry, Yardi Grabz, Living Lotus Chocolate and Awesome Sauce Designs.
And it shows in their work. The Settlement Building is home to Belgard Kitchen, Vancouver Urban Winery, and craft brewery Settlement Brewing, offering a whole lot of delicious beverages that are made in-house.
What some may not know is that they not only brew their own carefully crafted beverages but they also offer to brew for other businesses that don’t have the facilities themselves.
This small but mighty team has some very unique and admirable qualities – read about their story below.
Our brewery is one-third of our brand collective at the Settlement Building, sharing the space with our sibling restaurant, Belgard Kitchen, and winery, Vancouver Urban Winery. Our business is so unique in that way, and together we can create such a special experience for our guests.
We were also recently awarded Silver at the Canadian Beer Awards for Natalia’s Belgian Witbier (Elder Moon), a huge proud moment!
Strathcona is full of artists, designers, and makers; there is so much creativity tucked in every little corner. It makes for such an inspiring, supportive and creative environment to work in. And, we have to give props to our fellow breweries – every one of them is making great beer!
We always strive to create a space where our community feels welcome and at ease, whether they live or work in the area, or are first-time visitors. There’s nothing better than seeing folks enjoy our beers!
We work closely with Mealshare, providing meals for youth in need through their “buy one, give one” program (come eat a Belgard Burger!!). We have also supported the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre by raising funds and collecting donations through our “Boot Force” Double IPA release for International Women’s Day. Plus, we have to mention the opportunities the BIA provides for us to support our community through activations like Dine Railtown / Dine Strathcona.
Finally, we recognize that we are settlers on this land, so proudly include a territory acknowledgement on all of our beer cans, and on our menus.
We can’t pick! They are all great!
‘Portside’ Pilsner is definitely a go-to for our team. Our ‘Good News’ Hazy Pale Ale is a best seller at Belgard, and our ‘Tranquilo’ Lime Lager absolutely flies at our sister restaurant, Havana Vancouver.
And, we can’t forget about our award-winning ‘Elder Moon’!
Interested in meeting more Strathcona makers? Learn more about Birdies, Scavenger Coffee, Orii Jewelry, Yardi Grabz, Living Lotus Chocolate and Awesome Sauce Designs.
Birdies is a new project that sprouted from the duo’s catering venture, Oui Chef Catering. Serving up delicious chicken, sides and their specialty beverage chicha, Birdies’ recipes have been meticulously developed drawing from the pair’s experience working in high-end restaurants both here in Vancouver and abroad.
Hoping to expand their menu soon, Birdies’ simple menu is anything but ordinary. Their birds are beer-brined for a day before they’re drenched in a pepper marinade and grilled on flaming hot charcoals. Their fries are spiced to perfection and their chimichurri and sauces will no doubt have you coming back for more.
Learn more about the founders of Birdies below and find their menu online through Doordash.
Birdies Charcoal Grill specializes in serving barbecue-style chicken using true-to-style techniques from various global gastronomic cultures. Our initial menu consists of a Peruvian-style charcoal chicken known as Pollo a la Brasa that gets served with aji criollo (a Peruvian amarillo pepper sauce), chimichurri, and chicha (a Peruvian purple corn drink created by the Andean community). We wanted to use Birdies as a way to highlight our culinary backgrounds while serving the community something unique and delicious. As we continue with Birdies we will add more flavours and styles to our menu paying homage to our heritage and the local Vancouver food culture.
We are located in the B3 Collective Commissary Kitchen on the corner of East Hastings Street and Vernon Street. Strathcona has been an ideal environment for us. There are a lot of creative and cool small businesses around the neighbourhood which gives us vision and confidence for future growth. We love the hard-working energy of our colleagues in our commissary kitchen as well and are lucky to be a part of a supportive small business community.
Since we are still pretty new our impact hasn’t been too deep. Asides from offering tasty treats we hope that over time we will grow to become a known part of the community. We are always interested in engaging in local events and promoting our working neighbourhood.
You can find us at the B3 Collective, on Instagram @birdiesyvr, and on DoorDash.
Interested in meeting more Strathcona makers? Learn more about Orii Jewelry, Yardi Grabz, Living Lotus Chocolate and Awesome Sauce Designs.
Drawing from Diana’s love of bicycles as well as her experience in the cargo-bike delivery industry, the pair started their coffee business during the beginning of the pandemic. A challenging obstacle to their original business plan has led them to find their community at a number of Vancouver Farmer’s Markets as well as festivals, weddings and other events.
Learn more about Rory and Diana’s story below.
Rory: Scavenger Coffee is a mobile coffee shop, pulled behind a bicycle. Our cart is handmade, by us, from local and scavenged materials. Our espresso is hand-pulled, on our 1970s Italian espresso machine.
We launched just before the pandemic, and it’s been an interesting ride since then figuring out ways to survive. We thought we’d made it when we got a Downtown operating permit for the corner of Robson & Granville St starting on March 1st, 2020… but we’re fortunate to be flexible and we pivoted to operating in neighborhood parks so we could serve people working from home.
Now we have a happy mix of farmer’s markets, private events, festivals, and sunny days at the park.
Diana: I’ve always loved coffee, but it was my passion for bikes that inspired me to start a business. I worked for Shift Delivery, which is a cargo bike delivery co-op, a few years ago. They had such a great community and really showed me the potential of a bike-based business. They inspired me to combine my love of coffee culture with my passion for bikes and start a business.
Diana: We feel really lucky to live and work in Strathcona. It’s a 2 minute commute to our kitchen space, which is tucked under the Powell St overpass. My admiration for the community that coffee can bring was fostered in no small part by some of our neighborhood mainstays, like the Wilder Snail and the Union Market. Those spots are just a couple of examples of the many reasons why I love this neighborhood.
Diana: By operating a small business exclusively from a bicycle, we hope to inspire folks, and shift the city towards being more bike-centric, active, and community-oriented.
Rory: People love to see crazy things being pulled by a bicycle, and no one believes us at events when we tell them that yes, we did bike it here. I like to think that we open some people’s eyes to what you can do with a bicycle. It’s such a great way of getting around Vancouver.
Diana: On the weekends we’ll be bouncing around the Riley Park, Kitsilano, West End and Trout Lake Farmers Markets all summer long: April 30th – Oct 30th. We’re also really excited that festivals, events, and weddings are happening again this summer! We’re still filling our schedule, but we’ll be posting our location on our Instagram @scavengercoffee.
You can also learn more about Scavenger Coffee at www.scavengercoffee.com
Interested in meeting more Strathcona makers? Learn more about Orii Jewelry, Yardi Grabz, Living Lotus Chocolate and Awesome Sauce Designs.
Everything we purchase has an environmental impact. The growing popularity of fast fashion over the last couple of decades has led to a cheaper price point but has also been a contributor to the negative impact on the environment.
Making environmentally responsible choices with our clothing is a great way to show your love for fashion but also the planet. Having a high standard for the social and environmental impact of our clothing is a great step we can take as individuals to help create a cleaner, greener and more fair planet.
We spoke with Strathcona businesses Blackbird Fabrics and Our Social Fabric about why having a positive, sustainable impact is an important part of their businesses. Read more below.
Blackbird Fabrics is a Strathcona business that provides high-quality fabrics and supplies for sewists, by sewists. They offer a range of apparel fabrics that feel at home in any modern wardrobe including natural fibers, deadstock fabrics, and custom print lines, with an emphasis on fabrics that are environmentally and socially responsible wherever possible.
By providing home sewists with the fabrics & tools they need to make their own garments, we aim to steer people away from fast fashion and towards a slower and more sustainable way of engaging with the fashion industry.
The growth of our business has allowed us to take on a number of custom projects where we are able to ensure that we are working with suppliers that meet our social and environmental standards. We also work with a number of deadstock suppliers where we source leftover rolls and offcuts from fashion brands and textile mills, breathing new life into existing fabrics rather than purchasing all of our fabrics brand new.
Within our warehouse, we strive to produce as little waste as possible, repurposing and recycling our scraps wherever possible. We do this by selling our remnants and flawed cuts at reduced prices, creating bundles out of our scraps, and recycling any leftover fabric pieces with a local textile recycling company, Fabcycle.
Having seen the negative effects that have resulted from the rise of fast fashion, such as overconsumption, inhumane labour practices, and devastating effects on the environment, we believe that it’s important to commit ourselves to use our platform and our purchasing power responsibly.
Likewise, as a team made up of home-sewists who have a personal investment in the slow-fashion movement, we believe that it’s important that our practices as a business reflect these shared values.
It’s incredibly inspiring to see the wealth of knowledge that has been made available to regular consumers by way of the slow-fashion community. In an industry like the fashion industry where many of the details around production have traditionally been behind closed doors, it’s so encouraging to see people pushing their favourite brands for more transparency and asking industry-level questions surrounding their practices.
Alongside Earth Day, this week is also Fashion Revolution week, an annual global campaign dedicated to mobilizing consumers, brands, and policymakers to advocate for a safer, more transparent, and less exploitative fashion industry. We’ll be participating by sharing articles and information over on our Resource page and Instagram, we also encourage you to check out the numerous resources provided by Fashion Revolution if you are interested in learning more.
Our Social Fabric is a non-profit fabric store selling donated deadstock fabric and fibre arts supplies online and in person. They keep ‘waste’ fabric out of landfills by getting it into the hands of the fibre arts and slow-fashion community. They believe in a future where no useable fabric ends up in Canadian landfills.
Our Social Fabric is a non-profit selling donated deadstock fabric and fibre-arts supplies online and in-person. We keep ‘waste’ fabric out of landfill by taking donations of fabric and selling it to the fibre-arts and slow-fashion community. In 2021, we kept more than 20 tons of textiles and sewing-related materials out of landfills. Over the last five years, we have diverted a staggering 85.5 tons!
Our fabric, notions and supplies are priced at up to 75 per cent less than regular retail prices. We sell to the public through weekly in-person sales at our store on Venables Street and ship across Canada through their online store.
Our shelves, virtual and real, are crammed with unique high-quality fabrics that shoppers won’t find anywhere else.
We help to make sewing more affordable, approachable and more sustainable for our creative community.
Our Social Fabric exists to reduce the environmental impacts of ‘waste’ fabric caused by overproduction and overconsumption and to provide more sustainable shopping options to those in our creative community who are enjoying the practice of making their own clothes as opposed to consuming fast fashion.
We were founded in 2009 by a set decorator and a fashion designer who were both alarmed at the large volumes of fabric ‘waste’ being generated by the movie industry in Vancouver and took action to save it from going to landfills.
We still receive donations from the movie industry, but now count clothing manufacturers, designers, wholesalers, estates and home sewers amongst our donors.
As an organization, we believe that fabric waste can not only be avoided, but channelled to create positive change in our community. As a non-profit our pricing structure is designed so that we make just enough to keep the business running.
Joanna Wyatt, chair of Our Social Fabric, explains further, “Being part of a wider community is really important to us. Any surplus funds we have are channelled back into sewing-related educational opportunities and organizations as well as key community causes. For example, we offer three annual scholarships to Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s school of fashion design. And in 2021, when first the fires and then the floods were raging in British Columbia, we donated part of our sales or made an in-kind donation to support the rebuilding efforts.
All our volunteers and employees are sewists and fabric lovers. We swap pattern ideas and love showing off our latest makes and share sewing tips. We are firmly part of the slow-fashion movement and community!
When we spend time selecting fabrics and patterns and then sewing them up into wearable garments we are making conscious and deliberate choices about what pieces we add to our wardrobes. When you invest time and learn new skills to produce a garment you have respect for it that can be lost when you purchase fast fashion items.
But best of all, when you sew the garment is uniquely yours. You can proudly wear something you made and know there is little to no chance that anyone else will be wearing the same outfit as you anywhere in the world! Don’t like the colours or trends in stores? Not a problem, make it how you want. It’s so liberating to know that the only limitation is your imagination.
Our online store can be found at www.oursocialfabric.ca or visit us at 270-1275 Venables St during one of our in person sales. We’re open every Thursday 3pm-7pm and one Sunday a month, 10am-1pm. Check our website for the latest sale schedule. Our staff and volunteers are always on hand to answer questions and help you make fabric selections. We also sell sewing machines for anyone wanting to get started.
The daughter of an artist, Stephanie is also an artist at heart who studied design at university. Her story is one of inspiration and patience – that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams.
You can find Orii Jewelry showcased in the MakerLabs shop and the handmade pieces can also be found online at oriijewelry.com
Learn more about Stephanie of Orii Jewelry below.
Orii jewelry is a miniature sculpture with a minimalistic aesthetic. Handmade in gold, silver and bronze, each piece is an abstract interpretation of elements from nature such as wind, water or geological formations. I use traditional metalsmithing techniques combined with computer-aided design.
Creating art has been my passion since I was a child. I grew up observing my father sculpting and painting in his studio. I was mesmerized playing with his plasticine clay, watching it emerge into new shapes. I later studied sculpture and industrial design at university. After my studies, I worked for a high-end jewelry store which led me to starting my own business about 7 years ago.
Strathcona has a rich creative community with many diverse artists. My studio is in Makerlabs, an inspiring maker space with over two hundred members and many artist studios.
Jewelry is more than an accessory. It holds sentimental value to the wearer and is often a symbol of commitment or something that holds a special memory. My designs communicate and connect on an emotional level with nature-inspired themes and visual language. My intent is to create heirlooms that embody memories that can be passed down for generations.
Visit my online shop oriijewelry.com or make an appointment to see my collection in person at my studio.
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