Madame 2 Sew is owned by local designer and fashionista Jenn Jones. (Photos by Rose Clements)
Mapped out in the streets of Southside are many restaurants, coffee houses abundant bike shops. Yet, in the wealth of neighborhood favorites lies a hidden red suite along Phoenix Avenue, showcasing unique designs for the Flagstaff fashionistas.
Gently tucked between Beaver and South Leroux Streets is Madame 2 Sew. Owner, designer and entrepreneur Jenn Jones provides an outlet for fashion-forward Flagstaff residents by providing affordable designs and custom alterations.
“We are the only fashion retailer in Southside, as far as clothing boutiques go,” said employee Sharlene Gavelan. “The way the shop is set up, we’re a little bit different than anything else in Flagstaff. We get a lot of comments that we are like a shop tucked away in New York City or San Francisco.”
Jones fell in love with the art of sewing at a young age, as she grew up with various involvements in the theatre.
“Music is my biggest influence; it’s my world,” Jones said. “It creates a story and narrates the sound until I have a design.”
The Florence and The Machine fan grew up in Flagstaff, attending various schools in the community including Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy. After studying costume design and construction at the University of Arizona, Jones headed back up north and began a line of soft fabric bags sold at The Basement Marketplace.
With inspiration to expand her craft, Jones took a leap and opened Madame 2 Sew this past April.
“I just like playing with words,” Jones said. The shop’s name, Madame 2 Sew, was derived from the wax museum Madame Tussauds. “With the costumes and things, we [have] become our own museum here.”
The two-level suite is decked with an abundance of dresses and accessories decorating the floor. The alterations room sits to the left of the entrance where you can see Jones and her small staff working through rows of colorful yarn spools and sewing machines.
“I think we need a reality show; just take Ace of Cakes and make them all seamstresses,” Jones said.
Madame 2 Sew houses a collection of Jones’s personal designs of clothing and jewelry, as well as refurbished secondhand finds, which she personally picks. Jones and Gavelan, who have been friends for 12 years, go on thrift store hunts looking for pieces they can mend with a little love and a sewing machine.
Merchandise offered at Madame 2 Sew is varied, from secondhand clothes to jewelry such as the necklaces shown above
“I do the little stuff, like hooks and eyes and buttons,” Gavelan said. “No machines for me.”
Offering zippers to a yellow BCBG dress and finding the same dress sold at Nordstrom’s at a secondhand store, just missing a small button, the ladies of Madame 2 Sew search for and welcome new challenges. Jones recalls finding a Betsey Johnson dress on sale for a dollar, only needing a single strap. “It’s like artwork,” she said.
They use extra fabric to make scarves and take leftover flowers to make into hair barrettes. Exclusively, Madame 2 Sew is also home to a vintage Kate Spade clutch and a vintage necklace for $200.
While the services may seem the same as far as other alterations shops go, Jones makes each piece unique so a customer will never find one item just like the next.
“If one dress pattern is made twice, they will always be different. A size small will be orange and the blue will be a large. We try to keep it all one of a kind, especially the dresses,” Jones said.
Jones also describes her collection in the store and clientele as a “rhapsody” offering “different sounds and voices.” After assessing the personality of her customers, alterations will come naturally.
“I wouldn’t put someone super-professional and conservative in a low-cut mini dress,” Jones said.
Priced between $20 to $150, every purchase also includes custom alterations. Collectively, Jones teaches Flagstaff “what it is like to have fitted clothes.”
“[Because] we are an alterations shop, we get all kinds of customers: students, bridal parties, lawyers. It’s a pretty eclectic crowd,” Gavelan said.
Through it all, the clientele is one of Jones’s favorite things about moving back up to Flagstaff.
“It’s everything really, but my regulars are my few favorite people on earth. It’s all about that personal and professional relationship,” Jones said.
Jones is confident students will enjoy her designs, especially because she offers unique and personalized alterations.
“We have stuff that is one-of-a-kind and that you probably won’t find again,” said Jones. “I try to buy stuff that is off the beaten path. Also, with pretty much anything in the shop, if you want to add anything like lace or have the hem brought up, we will do it for you. So you will have a guaranteed fit, which I think is important to NAU students.”
Jones is proud of how far the shop has come, but looking toward the future, she is beaming with the thought of the great changes ahead.
“We have expanded our retail,” Jones said. “Before, we just had a downstairs and we had a selection of local one-of-a-kind dresses with a few imports here and there. Now, instead of only having dresses like last year, we have tops, skirts, shorts, handbags [and] new jewelry.
“We are very label-savvy,” Jones said. “And we try to offer that here for the ladies who come here for school and miss all the fancy stuff back home.”
Madame 2 Sew also brands themselves as being a label-oriented retail store. Jones will now be offering consignment on gently used pieces.
“If someone wants to bring in their dresses to see if they can get their money back on them, we will definitely look at it,” Jones said. “If it has a designer label on it or if they have cute tops and bottoms that are in really good shape, that’s something we are moving forward with this year. Who knows, maybe someone lost a few pounds and now their Juicy Couture pants don’t fit them anymore. Well, we will look at them.”
This coming April, Madame 2 Sew will be celebrating their one-year anniversary.
“We are having a huge birthday celebration the first Friday in April,” Jones said. Jones’s plans include throwing a huge bash, full of good food, good clothes and a cake so extravagant “Betsy Johnson will be calling asking for her cake back.”
Recent Comments