Episode 80 : Learning lessons from history with Becky Davies-Downes

Image of Becky Davies-Downes sitting on a wooden box and leaning her head on her hands looking directly at the camera. — Becky Davies-Downes

Thank you for joining me for the 80th episode of Making Stitches Podcast! This time I’m sharing a chat I had with Becky Davies-Downes from William and Tilda, who, after almost two decades working in TV & film costume departments, is now sewing beautiful bags and other accessories inspired by 1940s wartime Britain.

William and Tilda Make Do & Mend style floral brooch — William and Tilda Make Do & Mend style Floral Brooch

I first bumped in Becky in September this year, at the Yarndale Festival. There, she spoke to me about how her current venture had come about, as well as a little bit about her previous career. I simply had to have a more in-depth chat with her about all things ‘make do and mend’ as well as her previous life working in TV & film.

William and Tilda 1940s style gas mask bag made out of green tweed — William and Tilda 1940s style Gas Mask Bag

My deepest thanks to Becky for speaking to me, not once, but twice in quick succession for Making Stitches Podcast!

You can find Becky’s website ‘William and Tilda’ here and from there you can find all of Becky’s social media links too.

William and Tilda Vintage Style handmade needle book — William and Tilda Vintage Style Handmade Needle Book

While you’re here, can I just mention my latest crochet pattern – the FareShare Festive Feast Wreath, which I’ve designed to raise much-needed funds for FareShare Greater Manchester?

FareShare Greater Manchester is a charity which diverts thousands of tonnes of surplus food from the food industry each year to hundreds of charities and community groups in Greater Manchester and the surrounding area. It is simply wrong that so much food would otherwise go to waste when so many people are struggling to access healthy and nutritious food.

An image of the FareShare Festive Feast Wreath — FareShare Festive Feast Wreath

The FareShare Festive Feast Wreath is a Christmas crochet pattern for a wreath based on a Christmas dinner – including sprouts and pigs-in-blankets. All the money raise from the sale of the pattern will be going directly to FareShare Greater Manchester.

You can find out more information about FareShare Greater Manchester here.

You can buy the crochet pattern for the FareShare Festive Feast Wreath here.

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link.

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops .

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi.
Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston

Episode 61 : From Food Styling to Sewing with Jen Rich

Photo Jen Rich wearing a striped jumper — Jen Rich

Hello and welcome back to Making Stitches Podcast, it’s so good to be back with you. I had to take and extended break from podcasting due to a lot of ‘stuff’ going on, but I’m thrilled to be back with you now with the first episode of Series 7!

Two houseplants sitting in stitched fabric plant pot holders — Fabric Plant Pots

My guest this time is Jen Rich, a food stylist & photographer who bought her first sewing machine back in the days of Covid lockdown. Just three years on from teaching herself how to sew, Jen has written a book called ‘Stitch: Sewing Projects for the Modern Maker’. She says she has written it with both beginners and established sewing enthusiasts in mind.

Orange and pink fabric jewellery roll — Jewellery Roll

Jen says she wrote the book she wished she could have read when she was first starting out, taking you through the steps of each project. However, the projects should also appeal to established sewers providing short ‘palette cleanser’ projects for when you need a break after working on larger projects. The fact that they are small items also makes them ideal projects for using up scraps of fabric left over from previous makes.

Pale blue denim sports bag with pocket zip open to show blue and white checked lining — Overnight bag

It’s a truly stunning book, and Jen’s experience both at the sewing machine and behind the camera are shown to their advantage. Among the 30 projects included are scrunchies, an insulated picnic bag, a reversible tote bag and Christmas stockings (along with all the projects featured in these photographs).

There are extensive instructions taking you through all the steps and techniques needed to finish each project. There are also tips on choosing the right fabric for what you are working on.

Book cover of Stitch: Sewing Projects for the Modern Maker. Cover is pale pink and shows spools of thread, scissors, pins, a chalk pencil and wooden buttons

My sincerest thanks to Jen for agreeing to speak to me for Making Stitches Podcast. You can find Jen at her on Instagram at @stitchcraftandcook

Full length photo of Jen Rich wearing a blue denim jump suit. — Jen wearing the jumpsuit we mentioned in the podcast episode

Image of illustration in pink, turquoise, black and white, showing a microphone, smart phones, piano keyboard, musical notes, video games handset, headphones, sound waves & and eye. Wording reads: Independent Podcast Awards Finalist

Earlier this month, I was thrilled to learn that Making Stitches has been nominated for the first ever Independent Podcast Awards. It’s such an honour to be included in the shortlist!

To sign up for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please follow this link. Making Stitches Podcast can be found on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and many other podcasting platforms.

Episode 12 : Bag making with Mrs H & Yarndale@home 2020

Samantha Hussey aka Mrs H

This week on Making Stitches I have two guests for you; Bag Maker Extraordinaire Samantha Hussey (also known as Mrs H) and Carole Rennison from Yarndale. Last weekend saw the first ever Yarndale@home as the yarn festival was forced to go online because of the current Covid restrictions. I caught up with Carole earlier this week to find out how the new-look festival had gone.

Before that though, you will hear from Samantha Hussey of Patterns by Mrs H. A bag maker who is on a mission to share the love of her craft with anyone who wants to have a go. Her book The Complete Bag Making Masterclass is packed with tips and ideas for creating your own beautiful bags. It comes with several patterns with detailed instructions on how to make your own.

In addition to that, Samantha runs bag making retreats and supports an online bag making community. She tells me all about how her bag making journey developed and why she believes she has a very special super power which helps with her designs.

You can find Samantha here: mrs-h.com Swoon patterns can be found here.

You can find Yarndale here: yarndale.co.uk

The bloggers Carole & I spoke about during our chat were Martin Up North & Kwannie Cheng from Studio Manya

The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops

YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE PODCAST EPISODE HERE