We are gather

Hello - we are gather!

We are two friends and - pretty much - sisters-in-law who like to think we're a dab hand with a needle. Over cups of tea and family gatherings, we discovered a shared love of fashion and craft and slowly but surely an idea began to form....

Frustrated by the lack of UK-based dressmaking patterns we decided to give it a go ourselves, but with a bit of a twist. "How hard could it be?" (said the girl who had once decided to take up her beautiful silk wedding dress at 8pm the night before the big day, glass of wine in hand - should I really listen to someone so cavalier?)

As well as a stylish pattern, we thought why not supply everything that goes along with it - beautiful fabrics, haberdashery and even the thread? These would be dressmaking kits for beginners and the more advanced alike, allowing those without the time, inclination or confidence to get started on some sewing without having to spend ages agonising over which fabrics will work or which zip is the right length.

We are Sandra (me) and Caroline (the one with the wedding dress) and we'll both be blogging here about starting our small sewing business as well as any crafty adventures we undertake along the way. I'm a graphic designer who spent my art school years messing about with fabric and thread, much to the amusement/bemusement of my tutors. Caroline is a fashionista, known for her ridiculously expensive (but oh-so-cool) taste in shoes and all things fabulous. I spend my days designing websites, she spends her days running after a toddler. We both spend our evenings planning great things for gather and tackling the mammoth to-do list that we seem to have drawn up...

Right now we have designed our first pattern and it's currently being put together (by an amazing pattern drafter - check back here to find out more about her) and we're awaiting our first toile. We're hoping to have our pattern in December so that we can spend our Christmas stitching, sewing and testing. There's a lot of fun stuff to come and we're itching to get going with it all.

We're already having a ball coming up with plans and ideas for gather and we hope you'll love what we do. Any suggestions or questions, please do email us at info@gatherkits.com or tweet us @gatherkits. We really want to hear from you!