MEET GATHER HERE
FOUNDED BY
VIRGINIA JOHNSON
LOCATION: 1343 Cambridge St Cambridge, MA 02139
THE INTERVIEW
Written by Boston Women’s Market
BWM: We always like to start by giving people the opportunity to talk about what their shop is all about!
Gather Here: Gather Here is a fabric and fiber boutique, but we really specialize in educating people on how to make things for themselves. Our focus is fiber, so anything from sewing, knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, embroidery. We even teach people how to quilt. Everybody's road to making is different so we try to support whatever their entry is and then help them realize how they want to introduce making as part of an everyday part of their life.
BWM: We always like to start by giving people the opportunity to talk about what their shop is all about!
Gather Here: Gather Here is a fabric and fiber boutique, but we really specialize in educating people on how to make things for themselves. Our focus is fiber, so anything from sewing, knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, embroidery. We even teach people how to quilt. Everybody's road to making is different so we try to support whatever their entry is and then help them realize how they want to introduce making as part of an everyday part of their life.
BWM: I found you guys through a woman who found you from another woman. There is this huge female community around you guys that’s very loyal to you. How did that come to be?
GH: We are a woman-owned business. I’ve been sewing since I was six, and I’m really passionate about sewing and embroidery and knitting. All of our staff, except my partner, are female and all of our instructors are female. There is very much a very strong female presence here.
I think that when we discuss what fiber arts are and what they mean to people, historically they’ve been female-oriented. Often that’s in a disparaging way, and what we’ve been trying to do in contemporary craft is talk about how it is actually empowering. It’s not a way to keep people in the home or from exploring other avenues of creativity, but actually a way of empowering people to be creative.
BWM: I love that. You're reworking my assumptions of crafting as we speak. Boston Women's Market works with a lot of young entrepreneurs, and female makers and shakers. They are always super interested in people who have their own shops and who have been doing it for awhile. If you could tell your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
GH: I think ten years ago, I was just imagining a place where I could meet other women who were interested in similar things I was interested in. I wanted to explore more, but I was really afraid of what that might mean for my career, and I wish I had known then what I know now. That is that at the end of the day if you know what you want to do and you know there are people who are kind of interested in what you do, you can take the leap. At the end of the day, I went into it thinking, I’m not doing this so I can fail, but at the same time I am free of the concern that I could fail, if that makes sense. At the time, I was like ‘I have nothing left to lose. This is what I want to do and I’m just going to do it and hopefully it all works out."
It was hard, I never want people to think that it wasn’t hard and scary, but I wish I had done it ten years earlier. At the time, I was still figuring out what I wanted to do and who i wanted to be. We’re allowed to be complex and sort those things out, but risk is okay. It doesn’t mean we’ve failed at another career. I was in academia first. I taught at Tufts, but I knew I wanted to make things and work with other makers. I was too scared, thinking “does that mean I’m bad at being an academic?" You can be good at lots of things, but that doesn’t mean you’re supposed to be doing it.
BWM: So now that you’ve come this far and you’ve been doing this for ten years, what’s your favorite part of it?
GH: We meet new people all the time and seeing that spark, that “Oh my God! I've found where I’m supposed to be or learning what I’m supposed to do.” I taught this amazing jean-making class last summer and at the end of the workshop, a woman was on the verge of tears because it was the first time a pair of pants fit her. She felt great about her body, and at the moment was like, this is what feminism was for me. I have given you the power, and now you have a body positive experience, AND you made them!! You made these pants, and so in that moment, I was like "this is why I am doing this."
BWM: In the name of celebrating other women, who inspires you in your personal or professional life?
GH: There are so many! Right now, I've been thinking a lot about this woman, Jacqueline Sava who is the founder and creator of this product, Soak. She went to RISD and she made this hand-washing soap for knitwear and intimates, where you put a few drops in the water, but you don’t need to rinse it! You let it soak, you pull it out, and then let it dry. I think about her all the time. She went to art school and then she was trying to find her way in the world. She was like “wait, I can do this", and she created this business that now has a warehouse and employs all these people. I see her product all over and I still get really excited about seeing it because she was just one person and she did this amazing thing..
Then, I think about my friend Jen Beeman who is the founder and creator of the pattern line Grainline. She does really contemporary, easy-to-wear women’s clothing and patterns. I get excited when I see people wearing her patterns, and I get really excited for Jen, whose changing the world. I think about all these different people who I have met along the way, who I’ve met because of this store, or who I was already reading about when I was thinking about opening the store. And I'm always thinking about how they’ve changed the world in their little way every single day.
I mean, Shelley at Albertine Press. She has this great little retail brick and mortar and she still has her letterpress business and it’s just great. I remember meeting her seven years ago and over the years, when a place would open up around my neighborhood, I’d say “Shelley, I wonder if this space would work.” Having her now be a neighbor is really exciting. There are so many women doing so many really amazing things.
BWM: And as you’re made more aware them, the excitement grows! The female community of Boston businesswomen and shop owners is very close, and just seems to be getting closer and closer!
GH: It is! And the internet has changed how we know each other. My friend Amy, who owns and designs the yarn line Knit Collage, is Boston-based. I remember commenting on a photo of hers and somebody in the small business community was like “I didn’t know you know Amy.” I’s crazy! We’re all so interconnected.
It’s really cool because I think especially when you’re in it, when your sleeves are rolled up, you forget you’re not alone. So you can be posting in this void, and then suddenly, you’re like “wait, there are tons of us and we’re here for each other!” It’s okay to lift up your head and acknowledge that.
BWM: You’ve given me so many women owned businesses and brands, but is there anyone else you’d like to include on your list of favorite woman-owned or operated businesses, brands, or entrepreneurs?
GH: I’m a huge fan of Sofi over at Olives and Grace in South Boston. I just love what she has done to elevate the conversation about where things come from and how we support people who make things that we consume, I think she has really changed the conversation, while making others really aware of it. I think that as other people open businesses, they model her thinking: what am going to stock? Where does it come from? Who is making the product that I'm selling in my business? And how do I have that conversation with the people that support my business.
I really applaud her. I love the success that she has had because there’s an element to contemporary shopping that is fast and easy and inexpensive, and she has added value to the products she has carried. She has become a force in her community. I think all small business owners regardless of gender can learn from that. I think we can make a difference in the lives of the people whose products we choose to carry.
The other small business I’m really excited about is Emily, who is opening up a used art supply store called Make and Mend. She’s currently accepting donations of old and used art supplies!
I’m also a huge fan of Maggie Battista, who started this blog called Eat Boutique. She had her first cookbook come out called Food Gift Love, and she just had this health and personal epiphany and her body has changed a lot and she has been really open about these changes and how she is eating and cooking differently. I loved reading about that journey for her and how transparent she’s been about sharing that journey over the last year.
GATHER HERE
If you're into crafting, you know Gather Here. If you're not into crafting, you will be after visiting the bright, inviting safe space that is this local craft boutique. Located in Inman Square, Gather Here brings together the warmth of a Makerspace and the creative inspiration of your one stop, go-to art supply haven.