We were lucky to catch up with Alison Spanner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alison, thanks for joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents always fostered and supported my creative ideas as a child. Boxes of craft supplies, paper scraps, painting sets, and coloring books were never in short supply. My mother in particular encouraged me to hand make greeting cards to send to family, and supported my love of sewing very early on. She taught me to cross stich, helped me make paper, and showed me how to dry flowers.. I was given my great grandmothers quilling and tatting supplies, and was never admonished when half finished projects were covering the entire dining room table. While that all may just seem like a way to keep an only child with a big personality busy, it was so much more than that to me. It taught me that there are people who really appreciate the quality and thoughtfulness of a handmade item. It taught me that things can always be reused in new ways, even if they appear useless to someone else. I became more comfortable with failure as part of trying. I had the opportunity to challenge myself, and gain confidence in my artistic abilities. All of that directly shapes what I do now, repurposing vintage and secondhand textiles into children’s clothing.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I am the owner and seamstress of Gather + Sew, a children’s clothing line made with vintage and secondhand textiles. I never expected to be a business owner, but here I am! I treasure the opportunity to be creative every day, and to make unique clothes that kiddos enjoy wearing. I pride myself on having created a truly sustainable business. By using only secondhand supplies and materials, I’m reducing the amount of unwanted textiles that get sent to the landfill and also not creating more material demand. I use a lot of vintage tablecloths and linens, which are often stained to the point of ruin – but I can usually salvage one end or section and turn it into something useful again. The only supplies that I ever buy new are thread, elastic, and interfacing. Everything else already exists in the wild, and I just have to find a way to get my hands on it.

Several aspects of my life helped me to shape Gather + Sew. My creativity and love for sewing was cultivated at a very young age by my family. The importance of running a business that is good for humanity and the environment was taught to me when I was working in the field of Social Work. Retail experience as a sales person, buyer, and merchandiser gave me a good look into how and why people shop. Paying attention to my mental health showed me that I needed to have a job that aligned with my values and beliefs – even if that meant creating the job myself. Now, my business and daily work is authentically me, which feels really rewarding.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

One of my main goals with Gather + Sew is to educate people about the dangers of fast fashion, and to show them that buying clothing doesn’t have to be bad for the environment or humanity. Many people don’t know that the fashion industry is the second largest polluter world wide, nor do they know the horrific working conditions of most garment factories. Workers are not paid a living wage, do not have a safe setting in which to do their job, and are forced to be on the job for up to 16 hours a day without breaks. As if that weren’t bad enough, many of those workers are children.

As a society, we have become so far removed from the clothing making process that we don’t even know what it involves, or what it should cost. There is a common misconception that slow fashion clothing (handmade and ethically produced) is over-priced, but it really isn’t. Most of us just don’t understand how much work goes into making a quality piece of clothing. Fast fashion is underpriced, because somebody, somewhere, is not getting paid fairly.

While I want to educate the world about the benefits of slow fashion, I do not want to throw shade on people who can’t afford it. Many people in this country are employed at jobs that don’t pay them a living wage, so having the money on hand to purchase anything other than fast fashion is definitely a privilege. My goal is always to educate, and never to shame.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

It’s been a steep learning curve and a long time coming, but I’m finally starting to grasp the idea that running a successful business does not require personal perfection. I’ve been a perfectionist my entire life, to the point where I often don’t even try things that I know will challenge me. I thought in order to be good at something, and for it to have value to me, I had to be able to do it perfectly. Starting Gather + Sew has really opened me up the idea that there are going to be some things that I’m not great at, but that I don’t need to let that impact my ability to operate a business successfully. I’m bad at anything technical, so I reached out to a friend with skills in that area to help me with my website. I’m bad with numbers and math, so I definitely need to hire someone to help me do my taxes. I struggle with thinking outside my own little box, so I talk to friends with small businesses to get ideas about growing my own. I’ve stopped being perfect, and starting doing well instead.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gathernsew.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gathernsew/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alisongathernsew

Image Credits
Alison Spanner