Do you ever think about all the useful stuff that gets thrown away, every single day, and how to get it into the hands of people who need it? Return-guest Noah Hirsch tells us all about his dumpster diving and mutual aid activities which help feed and clothe members of his community. Plus, he shares…
Read More
This episode is a fun exploration into the qualities of, and differences between, visible and invisible mending. What are their strengths and when are they likely to be victorious? Taking a deeper look into these approaches to mending can give us a clearer idea of how we want to tackle each repair job we are…
Read More
This is first of a two-part series about sewing and saving and buckle up because it starts with an unapologetically political rant about the current cost of living crisis. I then explore the question, ‘Can sewing save you money?’ looking at mending, garment making, quilt making and making reusable products. I also share a listener…
Read More
This episode is something of a love letter to my favourite mending technique: patching! Mending with patches is a beginner friendly option for giving most types of clothing and fabrics a longer life. Depending on your choice of patching fabric, it can be a bold statement, or a subtle repair. It offers plenty of opportunities…
Read More
For Episode 45 I have a fascinating talk with Noah Hirsch, a maker, artist and scavenger based in Washington, USA. Both in his employment and in his spare time, Noah works to keep materials, particularly textiles, out of landfill. Noah tells me about the motivations behind his activities, his approach to repair and reuse and…
Read More
This episode is the second featuring my conversation with mending-legend, Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald. Two years ago Erin wrote a book called Modern Mending, which I legitimately feel may be the very best mending book out there. In this episode we hear all about its creation and the concepts behind it, including the concept of ‘experimend’! She…
Read More
This episode (Ep. #39) is the first of two featuring Australia-based mending expert, Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald. In this one we hear the tale of how a baby journalist with zero formal sewing training grew to become a mending legend. Erin tells us how quitting her former career and the fall-out from her breast cancer diagnosis led…
Read More
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…
Read More
This is the third and final instalment of my mini series about the Make Do and Mend campaign. We pick up where we left off in the second episode and explore some more themes and lessons from the 1940s that really resonate today. In the second half of this episode I then leave the big-picture…
Read More
This is the second instalment of my mini series about the Make Do and Mend campaign. As I was reading and writing about that era, I couldn’t help but think about the situation we find ourselves in today with the climate crisis. There was so much relating to the use and reuse of materials that…
Read More
