Where have we been?

It's been a rather long time since we've been able to update this space - apologies for our absence!

We're still here, we're still working away! We got our pattern back from the graders back in August and sadly it had to go straight back to be re-graded as there were a couple of issues. Since then we've been busy testing to ensure everything is perfect and all our measurements are ok. We've also been hard at work adding all the detail to the pattern and transforming it into something beautiful. We spent a very enjoyable evening brain storming names (all will be revealed soon!) and have been drawing diagrams and re-working our instructions to be as clear as possible.

Sadly, Gather HQ was burgled a few weeks back and amongst various things taken was the laptop which contained all our precious hard work. Heart breaking. We had backed it up a few months back so all is not lost entirely but certainly the most recent version of the instructions has gone and will have to be rewritten. Luckily we still have the file with the finished pattern otherwise I think we may have both suffered a nervous breakdown! As you can imagine this has been a frustrating time and we are now waiting on the insurance company to decide to pay out so we can purchase a new mac and get back on it!

But we're excited still and raring to go with this pattern - now we're approaching the crazy Christmas season we're not planning on doing any pattern testing until the new year. Keep an eye out if you're interested in doing this, you can check back here or follow us on twitter: @gatherkits

Hoping to be back soon with a couple of Christmas crafty posts. That's all for now!

Slowly but surely...

It's been a while since we updated our progress in this space - not because we haven't been hard at work, simply that we've fallen behind our original time plan and things have taken a lot longer than we originally thought.

When we began this venture, we sat down, planned everything out with a clear time frame and gave ourselves deadlines. This promptly went out of the window as soon as we started!

We had wildly underestimated the time involved in the designing, drafting and testing of our pattern - a process frustrating at times but ultimately one worth taking the time to get right. This, coupled with the fact that neither of us are able to spend as much time as we'd like on our project, meant we found ourselves a little behind where we had wanted to be at this time. A brilliant (and rather steep) learning curve though. I suspect that there are very few small businesses that are started up on time and exactly as planned, I feel it's almost part of the process!

So, where are we now? Well, the very exciting news is that our first pattern is currently at the graders, being magically transformed from a one size set of paper pattern pieces into a digital nest of 6 sizes. We're expecting to receive them at the end of this week and, assuming all is well and correct (a rather large assumption I know!) will be putting the call out for pattern testers next week.

Progress and Packaging

Things are still ticking along nicely at gather HQ. Our pattern is SO nearly there, but we've decided to make a few last minute design changes which has slowed us down a little. We've tweaked a sleeve, lowered a neckline - all little details that you don't realise make a massive difference until you have a few finished dresses in front of you! 


Our slow-down has given us chance to start thinking about our packaging though. Here's some of what we've been looking at for inspiration.

From top left clockwise:
Wax Seal by Follow Studio
Striped String by Folly & Glee
Printed Paper Bag by Peach Blossom
Striped Ribbon by Jane Means
Canvas Bag by Under the Sycamore
Mast Brothers Chocolate

What do you think? Have you got any examples of amazing packaging that you've seen - sewing related or not? We'd love to see!

A progress update

We're hard at work at the moment working on our final samples and we've now made what will (hopefully!) be our last design alterations. The dress is looking great! To the relief of both of us we've also moved on from making up calico versions to using fabrics we're considering for our kits. We're testing various fabrics, seeing what works best with the design. It's so lovely to be working with great prints rather than endless beige!

Hopefully we will soon be ready for pattern testers to volunteer their services. If you're at all interested in testing our pattern then keep an eye out on this blog or come and follow us on twitter: @gatherkits

We'll be putting the call out as soon as we're ready for you!

Introducing Charlotte Hardwick

I suppose some people may think it's strange to start up a business creating and selling dressmaking patterns when neither of us are pattern cutters!  However, what we can do is curate - just as someone who is not an artist can start up and run a gallery. Where our strengths do lie is in the design, the look and the feel of our product. We think we might know what people want to buy - because it's what we want to buy. As keen but novice dressmakers ourselves, we're essentially creating the pattern and kit that appeals to our style, taste and to our skill-set; we hope that others may like what we come up with!

Our next step was then to find someone who had the technical expertise, who understood what we were trying to achieve and who could help us make that into a reality.

Enter Charlotte! She's brilliant quite frankly. A graduate of Wimbledon School of Art, she then trained at the London College of Fashion as a Pattern Cutter with Dennic Lo as her tutor. (good credentials? I thought so!) We first met with her a while back to discuss the first design that Gather is going to produce. The brief to Charlotte was a bit of an essay really! We chatted over coffees and she suggested some brilliant alterations to the original design, all the while kindly making us feel like we weren't a pair of amateurs... Having someone with her kind of expertise on board has been a real learning curve for us and we're hoping this will be the start of a long and fruitful working relationship!

I don't want to give too much away regarding the first pattern just yet but I can tell you that it will be a dress. A simple but chic affair! There will be a couple of versions to make and a really nice little detachable accessory.

And so it is under construction. We're hoping to have the first version back by mid-December so we can get testing (the fun bit!) and I absolutely can't wait to see our vision made up in a physical form.