Sew Magazine - Issue 68
Gather is a young, London based pattern company whom specialises in beginner friendly kits with beautiful packaging. Caroline Vargas tells us more about the (almost!) family business.
Sandra and I are friends (and soon to be sisters-in-law) who have always shared a love of textiles and design. The idea of making our own pattern range came to us when we were exploring the idea of dressmaking kits. At the time, the only really widely available patterns were the more traditional ‘big-four’. It seemed the natural step to create our own.
“Our sewing kits have been hugely popular, I think we managed to find some great fabrics to pair with the patterns and for beginner dressmakers they’re a really useful tool to get started. The instant gratification of the PDF patterns we offer is brilliant, too, especially for quick and simple projects like out Tallis collar.
“Our patterns reflect the combination of our two quite different personal styles and we’re very proud of the fact that all the components, including the tissue, are printed here in the UK. This means we can keep costs down as much as possible and it has enabled us to develop really good working relationships with our suppliers.
“As for many indie sewing companies, social media is hugely important for us as a way to get ourselves known, and also as a way to connect with existing customers and the sewing community as a whole. We’ll try to provide advice on anything sewing or fabric related by email or via Twitter, Instagram etc (we’re not so good on sport or geography, but hey, we can Google it for you!)
“One of the lovely things about indie patterns is that you can tell the amount of love that has gone into creating them. They’re all about being a joy to use, accessible to modern sewists and are often just beautiful products in themselves. We love our Kris Atomic illustrations so much as they’re really iconic without being too prescriptive - it’s still easy to imagine the possibilities that the patterns offer.
Caroline’s words of wisdom
“Check out the insides of ready-to-wear clothes - you can pick up all sorts of inspiration and tips as to the ways garments are constructed.”