This is the first of two episodes with Sarai Mitnick, a major influence in the sewing scene for over 15 years. Sarai chats with me about the birth and evolution of the online sewing community, and the role that her businesses, Colette Patterns and Seamwork, have played. Plus Sarai talks about how her own podcast,…
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My guest for Ep.#63, Brandon Hayden, shares both his amazing creations and positive personal philosophy under the Instagram handle @happilydressed. Since high school, thrifting has always been Brandon’s method for carving out a unique visual identity. Initially, he got a sewing machine to complement his thrifting, which gave him the ability to alter items he…
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Episode #62 features a conversation that I had with Lydia Higginson, owner of Made My Wardrobe, when I visited her studio in Bristol. MMW started as a personal, year-long challenge to replace her entire wardrobe with self-made items that have meaning stitched into every piece. This led Lydia to discover a passion for teaching people…
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Barley Massey is the owner of Fabrications, a wonderful shop, studio and maker’s space on Broadway Market in East London. Barley is an artist, maker, teacher and activist who uses her space to explore and to teach resourcefulness through creativity. A fundamental aspect of Barley’s work is the fostering of real-life community, providing support, connection…
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Sewing and mending are important life skills, as well as being a source of fun and creative expression. However, with fewer and fewer schools offering any kind of sewing or textiles lessons, are us adults doing enough to pass on these skills to children and young people? After all, the planet will be in their…
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For Episode #32 of Check Your Thread, I got to talk with textile activist Shams el-Din Rogers. For me, this is the most powerful and thought provoking conversation I’ve had for the podcast to date. Shams shares her thoughts and perspective as an activist, advocate, teacher and campaigner. We get into the sources of Shams’s…
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Welcome to episode 9 of Check Your Thread. In this one, I chat to my friend and colleague Julia Hincks, who just so happens to be a sewing expert and author. She has written two amazing sewing books, The Overlocker Technique Manual (published in 2014) and The Coverstitch Technique Manual (which has just been released)….
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