Gwen of Bella Filato Studio

Gwen is a talented fiber artist and makes everything from macrame, to punch needle kits, to hand-dyed yarn, and finished knit items. I was so attracted to her feed and vibe when I first stumbled upon it a couple of years ago, and it was such a joy to finally meet and chat with her about how the biz has grown and changed throughout the years!

Hobby to Business

Gwen’s business started as a hobby about 5 years ago. She learned to crochet from a friend and later taught herself how to knit. A couple of years later, she joined her first craft show and she was hooked! She loved seeing the reactions of customers to her products and fell in love with it the business of making. Since that first market, Gwen has been incredibly successful selling her knitwear at several markets every year.

The Bella Filato Studio Brand

Her shop name, Bella Filato Studio means “beautiful yarn” in Italian. Gwen’s husband is Italian and that was the inspiration for her name. She says changed several times throughout the years, but dyeing yarn has been a long term goal for her for a long time and the name is just perfect.

Gwen is a lover of all fiber arts and does it all. Outside of markets, Gwen has also taught macrame, weaving, and punch needle art at a local shop and art center. She does say that knitting is her main focus for her business, but dyeing yarn has been a dream for a while. Even with all of her different focuses, Gwen’s brand aesthetic and vibes are so strong. How does she do it? She says, you just have to go for it and learn along the way!

When you do what you like, it comes through in your branding

New Website, Hand-dyed Yarn Launch, and Market Prep

Gwen’s new hand-dyed yarn collection is inspired by fall colors. She says she’s all about Pinterest and often gets her inspiration from the platform. She’s been loving diving in to this new part of her journey and is excited to finally see her dream come to fruition. She says the website has been a long time coming, but it’s a lot of work! Being a mom and running a business is hard, but she loves it.

Market prep

Though she sells a lot of supplies for makers, most of her sales still come from selling finished products. Her first markets are usually in October and her final markets are in December. She would always take January off, then start back with production in February! She said she would bring over 300 finished items to every market…that’s a lot of production hours!

Gwen would take all finished winter products down in February

Marketing the Business

Word of mouth has been the biggest way her business has grown. Markets have always been the biggest part of her business and sales and is a huge part of how her business is marketed. As she mentioned before, the interactions with customers is something she has loved the most and they’ve definitely helped spread the word!

“Business is all about learning as you go.”

What is your definition of success?

“Success is different for everyone.” Gwen says getting yourself out of your comfort zone and achieving the goals you set out to achieve is what she would describe as success.

What is your biggest fear in business?

Gwen’s biggest fear is being overlooked and failing in her own eyes. She says she struggles with imposter syndrome a lot and the best way to overcome is it is to just be YOU. She says you just can’t compare yourself to others. You need to just be yourself and do what you want to do.

What is your biggest brand and business struggle?

Perfectionism. Gwen is a self-proclaimed perfectionist and has a hard time sharing her work that she feels isn’t up to her standards. We chat about how people want to see the process, your mistakes, and behind-the-scenes. There is so much value in authenticity and showing the human behind the business. People love to see your face and want to connect with you as a maker.

What is your biggest piece of advice for someone starting out on their business journey?

“Keep going and don’t give up. Be you and believe in yourself. Followers will come.”

You just cannot play the comparison game. You never know what the behind the scenes is for someone else.

There were so many more words of wisdom and tasty tidbits of advice for makers in this interview. You can watch the entire video below!

Find Gwen on

Instagram: @bellafilatostudio

Her new website launching 9/1!: https://bellafilatostudio.com

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BellaFilatoStudio