Canadian Pattern Designer blog tour: Interview with Audrey & Tiffany

Today’s interview is with Deb of Audrey & Tiffany. Deb makes up one half of the duo behind Audrey & Tiffany, the other half being Allison who also designs her own patterns for E+M Patterns.

Deb is also the blogger/seamstress behind Sprouting JubeJube where she shares the items she’s sewn for herself and her children and also shares some tutorials and sewing techniques. I feel like I should include some sort of full disclosure notice here, ha. We first started chatting on Facebook over a year ago, I knew she lived near me and I knew she was somehow related to this girl I went to highschool with. Well, turns out she’s her (the highschool girl’s) older sister, lives about a 15 minute walk away, but we’ve only met up once in the last 18 months or so. (I know! So lame, I blame my 22-month-old). I tested both of the Audrey & Tiffany patterns, you can see my versions of The Secret Garden dress here and a modified one here, I apparently never posted my Holly dress though. Anyway, enough about me, read on to learn more about Deb and Audrey & Tiffany. Don’t forget! There’s a giveaway and a coupon code, go to the end to get all the details!

 

Can you tell us a little about Audrey & Tiffany? Why did you choose the name? Why did you two decide to start working together?

I think (I hope) that Allison and I have a lot of the same ideas, and from the get go when I saw her first pattern from E+M Patterns and she picked me for testing I knew I liked her. We started to chat and we’d send each other images of ideas, how we’d change it up. I remember it was in March 2014 that we saw the same image at the same time and it became our inspiration for the Secret Garden Dress. Well, we enjoyed the experience enough to plan out our next pattern design. During that time we also decided that it might be best and less confusing to people to create our own brand, a name that would convey the simple style and elegance associated with our patterns…I had been getting a lot of comments in regards to the simplified version of the Secret Garden that it looked like something a young Audrey Hepburn would have worn. So, after some brainstorming we came up with the name Audrey & Tiffany.

 

Can you describe a typical day for you?

A typical day… there aren’t any…work at home mom of 4 kids is all I have to say.

When I’m lucky I get coffee before 9am while I’m checking my messages and write up my to-do list which is always too ambitious. At about 11:30 I start thinking about feeding lunch to the kidlet left at home while the others are at school. Get as much sewing or photo editing or writing done before 3:15 when I start getting ready to get Julia at the bus. After that supper and then back to the sewing room. During that time I get the normal stay at home mom stuff done like laundry and cleaning.

 

What was the first thing you ever sewed that you can remember? How did it go?

I can’t really remember my first finished project but I do remember choosing fabrics and patterns for myself for my aunt to sew up, I think I was the only toddler excited to be in a fabric store and it wasn’t to play hide and seek under the cutting tables. I remember hand sewing sitting next to my aunt and her teaching me about grain lines with paper patterns (it was actually a dress for my Barbie, and yes in my time they actually made paper patterns for Barbie clothes. My aunt is a perfectionist and always wanted to show me the right way of doing things and I do remember she used to have me take things apart if the seam wasn’t right.

 

Since this is Canada inspired blog tour, tell me a little about where you live. Is there one place nearby that you always recommend to new visitors? (A shop, restaurant or landmark).

I live in Quebec, Montreal area, actually on the south shore of Montreal. I love walking in Old Montreal. There’s always so much to see and do. I like to feel like a tourist when I walk around that area. Place Jacques-Cartier is full of artists and street performers, small shops and restaurants, and not far (8 minutes walking distance) from Place Jacques-Cartier there’s the Garde-Manger Restaurant with famous chef Chuck Hughes.

 

Is there any other place in Canada that you’ve always wanted to visit or that you do visit on a regular basis?

I don’t travel really. Until a few years ago I hadn’t even been to Quebec City. I would love to visit all the provinces and see what each has to offer.

 

Do you think that being Canadian influences your designs?

The fun thing about Canada is the obvious four seasons we have here. Its no secret my favorite is spring because we get to dress in layers and skirts start coming out of the closet. I would say that the weather we have in Canada does influence what I make and the materials I use.

 

What are your top 3 favourite sewing or creative resources? (books, websites, etc)

My go-to resource is my aunt and sewing mentor. I like that if I ask her a question that she doesn’t know the answer to she will look it up with me. I look to Pinterest for some of my inspiration.

 

What is your #1 sewing tip or trick?

#1 tip…measure twice cut once. Its all about taking your time and using the right tools.

 

Do you have any future plans for Audrey & Tiffany that you would like to share? 

Right now for Audrey & Tiffany I can say there is a pattern in the works, I hope it goes into testing soon. I don’t want to say yet what it is, but I think it should be a nice change from a dress. Right now Audrey & Tiffany has an Etsy shop on its own, but at this point there are no plans for a full website or a separate blog. I’m not saying it will never happen, but its not for the next 6 months at least.

 

Audrey & Tiffany is offering 25% off in their Etsy shop with the coupon code OHCANADA.

The code is valid from June 11th to the 15th

 

You can find Audrey & Tiffany on Facebook, and Etsy.

Deb can also be found through Sprouting JubeJube on the blog, Facebook, and Pinterest.

 

These bloggers will be sharing their versions of an Audrey & Tiffany pattern:

 June 11th: All Things Katy! – June 12th: Not Sew Fast – June 13th: Conversas de Hermanas

(For the full schedule go here)

Enter to win both the Holly and Secret Garden PDF patterns through the Rafflecopter below!
Don’t forget to link up anything you’ve sewn from any of the featured designers for a chance to win even more prizes! Go here to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Ula writes for Lulu & Celeste