My Story

  

 

Since 2011, I've used my love of baking and sewing to inspire traceytoole designs, a line of tabletop linens, blankets and homegoods. One day in 2016, I found this photo of my grandmother, Molly McGowan Toole wearing a long, well worn apron. As I thought about my grandmother, her life and that apron, how she probably made it herself, by hand from a flowersack or canvas scrap McGowan Mercantile was born. 

In 2022, I decided to combine traceytoole designs and McGowan Mercantile.

Today I use fabrics just like the ones my grandmother wore back in the 1930's. These vintage-inspired products are all handmade in Brooklyn from sustainable materials like up-cycled, organic and deadstock fabrics. They're tough enough to stand up to your work day or your toddler's kitchen adventures. They're classic enough to pass down to the next generation.  I hope these products  inspire you to bake, cook, eat, build and enjoy life more sustainably. 

A percentage of profits is donated to the Gowanus Canal Conservancy https://gowanuscanalconservancy.org/ This organization is dedicated to the cleaning and care for the parks and public spaces in the Gowanus lowlands. The Gowanus canal is a few blocks from our studio and is deeply polluted from factories operating in this location for many years.