Dressew has been an iconic business in Vancouver since the early sixties. They moved a few times but they’ve been in their current location for as long as I can remember. We moved to Vancouver in the early 90’s and witnessed the Halloween lineups around the block throughout the month of October for years. After we moved out of the city in the early 2000’s, friends and I would plan day trips around going into shop at Dressew. It has EVERYTHING! Fabric, thread, walls of buttons, trims up to wahzoo and those zipper aisles get me every time! You name it, they have it! After all it is called "your selection store".

March 2022

February 2023

Fast forward to 2020 and the COVID years… that’s when Dressew, like many Vancouver businesses, boarded up their windows to protect them and had a mural, painted by artist Tierney Milne, that said in giant text, “DO THE BEST YOU CAN”. Unfortunately when COVID subsided, windows kept getting broken, and Dressew decided to keep their boards up. The first mural lasted for quite a while and was cleverly designed so graffiti could be easily painted over. Eventually it was hit so hard, there was no going back.

Fast forward to spring of 2021. I was perusing the Dressew aisles and I ran into my friend Anna, who was now working there. As we caught up I asked about the plans for the mural out front. She said she didn’t know but would introduced me to the owner Jessica. It was great fun meeting Jessica for the first time in person. My first three fabric collections had come out during COVID and I had never gotten the chance to see them in a store, until I saw them at Dressew… a store that means so much to me! I asked Jessica about the mural outside, and let her know I was looking for one to do. She said she’d talk to David and let me know.

Fast forward to the middle of January 2023. Jessica DM'd me on Instagram asking if I was still interested in doing a mural for Dressew! ABSOLUTELY! I asked if they wanted anything specific. Their only requirements were no profanity, nudity and to include their hours and address. Easy enough. Wait? How large is it?! Only 75 feet wide and 8 to 11 feet tall (it is on an angle)! Gulp!

Sunshine Inn : : Three prints

OPEN 9-5 Tuesday to Sunday

David of DRESSEW

by 3pm the wall was blasted with sun!

Since they have a giant yellow awning I used my Sunshine Inn collection as inspiration, knowing it would match well. I used one of the signs from the collection to show off their address and hours (closed only on Sunday and Mondays folks! So many people showed up on those days were bummed they weren’t open). In the doorway I used my groovy (hexie) floral with the message “Your Sewjo Awaits” for those entering. For the biggest and tallest section I blew up my vintage floral (I always wanted to see that print large - wish granted!). I used selvage like strips to separate the three parts. David and Jessica wanted one change to my mock up, they wanted my name closer to the door. Um, okay. Done! Later David told me when he received the mock up, he gasped, they LOVED it so much!

our first day

our last day

Fast forward to April 26th, finally no rain! The paint had been bought and the breakdown of the mural had been made. I’ve never been so excited to get out of bed each morning, we had SOOOO much fun! My main partner in crime was Dianne, my (72 year old) mother in law! She was with me almost every day. My husband Chris was with me every weekend and when he could get away from work. Dressew is on West Hastings. Just a few blocks away, on East Hastings, the community is really hurting. I don’t even know how to describe it: it’s shocking to see so many people needing help. Unfortunately the situation has been growing and moving more west so painting solo wasn’t an option. While there are design and post secondary schools, trending cafes, bakeries and restaurants around, chatting with David and Jessica about it, vandalism, theft, overdoses and open drug use all co-exist in this community.

the wall, the first day we arrived

It might sound weird but we were never afraid. In fact encouragement from passersby started on the first day and increased as we went on. Some were business people, some were students but many were also unhoused people and people who lived nearby. Many people asked how long we thought it would last until it was tagged. My standard answer was 12. They would laugh, I would laugh. We all knew it was a possibility and we all knew we would be sad to see it happen. It was really nice to hear that the local people would also be upset if someone damaged the mural. We did in fact get tagged a few times. Two of the tags were small, while the one was a long sharpie line throughout the mural. It was all easily painted out but you could feel the unhappiness of the person as we removed the sharpie. Before we started the mural we agreed with David that we would put an anti graffiti coat on. We didn’t know if it would 100% protect it but we knew it was worth a try. It did protect the mural and hopefully minimizes any damage in the future.

Many delightful things happened on this epic journey of a mural. A family of Canada Geese walked through the ladder I was on, this was after they were ushered from walking down the middle of the road in busy traffic. There were visits by our regulars for a daily chat, many puppies visits and from people we hadn’t seen in forever! People brought us fresh baked cookies and lattes! We got to know the staff at Dressew and saw behind the scenes. I had an abundant amount of friends stop by and help out on the mural for hours and sometimes days!

(From left to right: @ninjasaremammals, @danorvil, @bettina_harvey, @stevenhakwinsyvr (taking the photo), @puneet.datewas, @fatcatmango, @carolwilson, @giulia.levrini.illustration, @trendywalrus. Sadly the day we painted together and ate our lunch on ladders was the last day we spent with @janaraynemac, who suddenly passed away May 17.

The biggest surprise working on this mural was at least once a day, someone would be sure to stop us because they wanted us to know how much they appreciated what we were doing and the impact it was having on their community. One story that stood out to me was from a lawyer. One afternoon, he stopped because he wanted me to know that he had been walking by each day. When he left from work, he could feel a dark cloud over his head. Each time he reached the mural he could feel his mood change. He'd feel lighter, energized and happy. I never would have guess the mural would have that kind of effect but we'd get stories like that daily from everyone who existed in the neighbourhood. Even bus drivers would honk at us and give us the thumbs up as they drove by! It was humbling and an honour to be embraced by this community.

In the past there have been times when I’ve struggled with my WHY as an artist. Why do I do what I do? I’m not tackling any major travesty. I make pretty and happy things sitting in my studio alone. I look at them and think, I don’t know, I like it! But does it matter? Will it make any difference? This community proved to me, yes. Yes, it does! I saw and was told daily the impact it had. I’m still being DM’ed photos of the impact it has. It took this community and a 75 foot wall to understand my why, but here it is: I do what I do to, sprinkle the world with a little bit of …

P.S. And big thanks especially to Christopher Mair, Bambi Edlund, Crissy Arseneau and Britney Berrner for their generous sharing of knowledge, support and cheerleading!

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