INTERVIEW
MATERIAL GIRLS By MDHUB Member, Kate Bendix What do you think are women’s top pet peeves when it comes to fashion? I’ll go first – a lack of pockets on everyday clothes. And is it possible to find a gorgeous dress if you’re ample chested and don’t want to look like a bag of spuds? Asking for a friend. Well, if you can sew, pop on over to The Fold Line, find a pattern you love, choose a material to die for and get sewing. Founded in 2015 by new MDHUB members, Rachel Walker and Kate Underdown, The Fold Line is a website for people who love sewing and making their own clothes. They supply unique
sewing patterns, in paper and digital formats, made by independent designers for customers to make and tailor to fit them whatever their shape or size. Rachel says “The Fold Line was set up to sell advertising and grow a community of makers. To help us diversify we worked with Fiona Shafer of MDHUB. It was great to have such a caring and competent person on our team. With her help and experience, we transitioned into selling patterns online made by independent designers. We are now the largest supplier of sewing patterns in the world.”
Rachel Walker and Kate Underdown Rachel and Kate come from different backgrounds but share a love of sewing and making. Rachel started out in science, then wholesale and pattern production. Now she oversees business operations. “I like to be productive and busy, I love the challenge of sorting things out and keeping things going.” Kate is the warp to Rachel’s weft (look it up). She’s a knitwear designer-turnedmilliner-turned-guru of the indie sewing world; the creative mind behind social media and content. The Fold Line is the epitome of Instagram with 132k followers. She is also the champion of their sewing community. They started out to build a community of makers so when the website became a store there was a ready-made audience hungry for content. “It wasn’t part of our strategy. It just happened. The importance of the community is massive, especially on Facebook. Makers provide help and encouragement to others, often sharing video tutorials, reviewing work and giving tips.” Thinking about it, sewing is a solitary craft. You can easily lose a weekend to a
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