GENEVIEVE BARLOW reports on three mums with ideas sewed up
Sewing and creating clothes at home for their children and themselves has led three young central Victorian women to open a space for creative artists in their town.
Louise Jiricek, Lisa Gunders and Kerrie Schreenan, all of whom have children at home, found they shared an interest in materials, fabrics and sewing, and decided they wanted a place where they could come together to create and sew and inspire others to do the same.
Their space is called Gathering. It is in a former fruit-and-vegetable shop tucked down a side street in Newstead, southwest of Castlemaine.
Though near a cafe, supermarket and pub, it is not a high-exposure area by most measures, yet since they opened in May their venture has drawn constant and steady traffic.
That traffic includes shoppers delighted to find high-quality natural fabrics and handmade clothes for children and adults, plus toys and other goods.
Others, thirsting to revive their own lost and neglected craftsmanship, come in offering materials and asking for lessons in various crafts.
Already the small shelves are filled with goods, mostly from local artists and creators, ranging from truly comfortable underpants, called Wonderpants by Katherine McAllister, to Lisa's soft toys for kids.
There are Louise's girls' skirts, Lily loves Pearl organic skincare by Daylesford's Samantha Molineaux, bolts of imported and Australian natural fibre fabrics selected by Kerrie, and cushions made from recycled and felted woollen blankets by Castlemaine designer Mim Whimsy.
The women also plan to run workshops in sewing, knitting, screen printing and other crafts, and hope by providing the space, other creative types will emerge to share their skills.
Though not strictly a co-operative, Gathering relies on those who sell their works there to open the shop on a rostered basis.
There's also a strong emphasis on recycling materials.
Louise, whose label is clothing business PipPoppit, for example, fashions girls' skirts and boys' pants out of curtains and sheets.
"One of my big things is to have a low impact on the environment by using materials that are out there already rather than creating more," Louise says.
Lisa Gunders, a graphic designer studying to be a teacher, had already established her label, Jemima Loves Big Ted, before the births of her two children.
She designs fabrics to create her softies, indulging her interest in creating patterns in the fabrics.
Louise and Lisa live in Newstead, while Kerrie lives at Guildford, about 20 mins southeast, where her love of fabrics and making things for herself and her four children led her to start an online business - bloomfabrics.com.au - earlier this year.
She felt confident enough to do so because she wanted to offer quality apparel fabrics not available in Australia's discount fabric and embroidery shops and says it is well known there's a general revival in homemade clothes and crafts.
Her stocks at Gathering include Australia's only retail supply of organic high-quality Peruvian pima apparel cottons, as well as wools, corduroy, bloomfabrics.com.au and European cottons, such as Hilco from Germany and Stenzo from the Netherlands - all of which are 1.45m to 1.7m wide, making them suitable for clothes-making rather than just embroidery.
"There's so much joy in sewing," says Corowa-raised Kerrie, who also has superfine (17-micron) Merino wool from her own sheep.
"Once a week I might have a coffee-fuelled night where I sew until two in the morning. Of a night, I love to knit."
- Gathering, Panmure St, Newstead, ph: 0438 582 632.
