About Us
Awl Or Nothing Creative Inc.
Awl or Nothing specializes in soft-good fabrication, prototyping & creative project management.
Chanti Laliberte and Maegan McWade are skilled craftspeople with extensive cross-disciplinary backgrounds in fashion, tailoring, costuming, props and entertainment production. We provide a wide range of technical capabilities—bringing all kinds of creative textile projects to life with precision, detail and care.
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Co-Owner
Chanti is well-known in the Toronto theatre community as a head of wardrobe, craftsperson, and coordinator. Over the past 15+ years her work has supported productions onstage for companies like the Stratford Festival, Blyth Festival, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, Obsidian Theatre Company, Buddies in Bad Times, and Crow’s Theatre, among others.
Skilled in transforming abstract ideas into tangible processes, Chanti excels at planning, procurement & execution, managing the many moving parts of any project. Her expertise ensures that every element comes together seamlessly.
Chanti has a BFA Spec Hons in Theatre Production & Design from York University, and trained as a craftsperson with both the Stratford Festival and Jitterbug Boy. In 2017 Chanti was the recipient of the Brian Jackson Guthrie Award for Design, and has twice been an OAC Pauline McGibbon Award nominee, in 2019 and 2022.
Advocating for the wellbeing and life-balance of creatives within the arts communities is a priority for Chanti. You can’t have good art without your artisans being cared for. This is evident Chanti’s approach to all things, prioritising people over product time and time again.
Meticulous in their work, Chanti’s attention to detail and readiness to play are second to none, making her the perfect fit for tackling your weird and wonderful projects as one half of the powerhouse team that is Awl Or Nothing.
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Co-Owner
Maegan has been a beloved Tailor and fixture within Toronto’s fashion scene since 2014, when Maegan founded Shoppe and Tailor Ltd., a leading Toronto tailoring shop for suiting, bridal tailoring, denim repairs and creative garment solutions.
Maegan’s skills in garment engineering, textile manipulation, entrepreneurship, and being the fastest-stitcher-in-Toronto are a vital part of Awl Or Nothing’s creative services.
In 2020, Maegan’s tailor shop pivoted to become Shoppe and Tailor Studios, a queer-positive community-oriented maker space and rental sewing studio. This is the space in which Awl or Nothing was founded in 2021, keeping the team grounded in their community while expanding their business dreams.
When not working on projects for our AON clients, Maegan continues to teach workshops and private sewing lessons, as well as teaching in the Fashion program at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Among other accolades, in 2018 Maegan was the winner of the title prize on SliceTV’s Stitched! for their design prowess, and has a Bachelor’s of Fashion Design from Toronto Metropolitan University.
Why Awl or Nothing?
Awl or Nothing Creative Inc was born out of the belief that creative textile work & ‘maker’ skills are transferrable, not bound by the confines of a specific industry. That our specialized skills are valuable, and that what we create is important.
When the pandemic hit Toronto in 2020, bringing with it lockdown & stay-at-home emergency orders, Maegan from Shoppe and Tailor was forced to shutter the doors of their well-known and bustling Toronto tailoring shop. At the same time, Theatres and stages in Canada went dark & Chanti’s work as a Head of Wardrobe & craftsperson disappeared, with no idea what the future would hold.
Two makers, both alike in tenacity and drive to survive, somehow, found themselves wondering “How can I continue to thrive as a creative craftsperson in this changing world?”. This question, along with the essential issue of “how do we create for a living while maintaining our mental and physical well-being?” Caused the two friends to put their heads together to come up with what they wanted the future to look like for themselves and their community.
We work with Costume & Set Designers, Fashion Designers, Artists, Creative Marketing teams, other fabrication businesses, entertainment companies, and our neighbours. Our team handles projects on any scale, from miniature to massive.
Got a vision that requires some fabric elements?
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