Welsh textile artist Matthew Downham always knew he wanted to be an artist, and when he picked up a needle and thread, he knew that was the medium for him. Matthew, who has exhibited his art in the United States, uses layers of stitches to cover teddy bears in his work. For him, the act of threading a needle and tying a knot is as much part of the art as the finished piece itself.
Matthew’s black sketchbooks
In this episode, Matthew shared with me his journey to becoming the artist he is today, which was interrupted by a prolonged period of anxiety. I’m very grateful to Matthew for speaking so openly about the struggles he has faced so far, and am delighted he shared his story with me.
Listen to Matthew’s episode by searching for Making Stitches on your favourite podcast app or via this link.
Hello again! Last episode we heard from Louise Armitage aka Gini’s Dorset Buttons, and how a friendship blossomed between her and Hayley Shelton from Dotcraftstudio while they were competing in Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas last year. Well it didn’t seem right to only hear from one half of that crafty partnership, so in this episode I share the chat I had with Hayley all about her craft and her amazing end to 2020.
We know Hayley for bringing amigurumi to a national television audience in December last year as she created a beautiful reindeer head using the amigurumi crochet technique. However, she is also an accomplished illustrator and won a tv competition for her Christmas card design last year as well and her work has been shared online by the influencer Mrs Hinch.
I caught up with Hayley a few weeks ago to hear about her big tv experience, how she first got into crafting and her exciting plans for this month. You can hear her episode here or here.
You can find Hayley on Instagram at @dotcraftstudio The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay from Postcard from Gibraltar.
Season’s greetings! Here’s a very special Christmas episode of Making Stitches Podcast for you. I know that this Christmas is one like no other and thought you might appreciate an extra long episode of stitchy chat to lift the spirits – especially if your festive plans have been dealt a blow by the latest Covid restrictions.
Making Stitches is a product of the lockdown (it was a project for me to focus on instead of thinking about everything else that was going on). So I thought I’d take this opportunity to look back at 2020 and how crafts help get us through when things are tough. I asked Making Stitches listeners if they would like to share their ‘Stitch Stories’ and four of them very kindly stepped forward. My thanks to Diane from Merseyside, Lisa in Macclesfield, Rebecca in Ontario in Canada and Sarah in Gibraltar for sharing their Stitch Stories.
Lynda-Rose (l) & Lisa (r) from The Crochet Sanctuary
Also featuring in this episode are Lisa & Lynda-Rose from The Crochet Sanctuary (who were my first ever guests on Making Stitches back in April) as well as Eleonora from Coastal Crochet. Lisa & Lynda-Rose spoke to me about their projects since April (3 Crochet-alongs and a podcast of their own no less!) and Eleonora spoke of the therapeutic benefits of crochet and how hosting her Beachcomber Blanket CAL this spring helped her cope with all that was happening.
Eleonora Tully & her dog Salty from Coastal Crochet
Wherever you are in the world at this time and whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope you find peace and joy and let’s all look forward to a brighter, more positive 2021 with our crafts to keep us company! Happy Christmas & Happy Stitchmas!
Listen to the episode by searching for Making Stitches on your favourite podcast app or through this link.
You can find Lisa & Lynda-Rose at The Crochet Sanctuary on social media. Eleonora’s website is Coastal Crochet and you can find her on social media too.
And to find my lovely listeners who shared their Stitch Stories: You can find Diane at Stitchscape, Lisa is Teal & Tangerine on Etsy and on social media. Rebecca is at Sweet Bee Crochet and you can see Sarah as @sarahsheehangib on Instagram.
The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
Creativity whether it’s music, craft or art has long been seen as having a positive impact on mental health, and after the year we have all experienced, it’s something many of us have had to focus on. This week on Making Stitches, Emma Jones from Vintage Sewing Box speaks about the benefits of focusing the mind on stitching and how that simple repetitive activity can calm the mind and our thoughts look ahead to Christmas with the Apex Singers.
Emma Jones from Vintage Sewing Box
Emma Jones says on her blog that she ‘loves sewing’ it’s been an important part of her life since early childhood. In this episode Emma not only explains how stitching has helped her deal with difficult times, she also discusses her love of English Paper Piecing and hand embroidery and has a truly lovely tale about a quilt dedicated to the memory of her Gran.
Mabel’s Garden – Emma’s quilt dedicated to the memory of her GranEmma with ‘Mabel’s Garden’ on display at the art exhibition
To find out more about Emma Jones’ work please check out her website: Vintage Sewing Box
The Apex Singers
Also this week, as our thoughts turn towards Christmas, we hear from The Apex Singers about a special Christmas Concert they are hosting online. The young vocalist group, which is based in Manchester, launched its first album back in March just as the UK went into lockdown and is now looking forward to performing together for the first time since that launch. Lydia Wonham from The Apex Singers explains how 2020 has changed the way the group has made music and how they now want to share their Christmas performance with as many people as they can online.
You can find out about The Apex Singers here and you can buy tickets for their Christmas Concert ‘Snowed in at Home’ here.
** YOU CAN LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE HERE OR BY SEARCHING FOR MAKING STITCHES IN YOUR FAVOURITE PODCAST APP! **
The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
When Jill picked up a crochet hook after a period of ill health and a serious injury three years ago, she had no idea where it would lead. Her Gum Leaf Crochet Instagram account now has over 14,000 like-minded people forming part of the Gum Leaf community.
Jill says she has formed deep bonds with some of her fellow online crocheters across the globe as well as in her native Australia. She offers support and encouragement to anyone who wants to get involved, especially those who may have had health problems like she has.
Jill says she’s inspired by the nature which surrounds her on the eastern coast of Australia, and has begun dying yarn using natural dyes & pigments.
You can hear this episode with Jill from Gum Leaf Crochet here. You can also find Making Stitches on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher as well as many others.
Hello there! Making Stitches is back for a new series after a long summer break. In this series, as with the first one, I hope to be sharing the stories of interesting creative projects as well as hearing from creators themselves about their own creative journeys.
In this first episode of series 2 I recap on what’s been happening over the summer for myself as well as some of my guests from series 1. Since I last spoke to you, a new crochet podcast has been born, a lockdown quilt has been completed and is now on tour raising funds for charity and just like many other events this summer a yarn festival is going online so you can enjoy it from the comfort of your own home.
For more information on the subjects covered in this episode, please check out:
Lynda-Rose & Lisa from The Crochet Sanctuary
The Crochet Sanctuary Website or find the new Crochet Sanctuary Podcast on your favourite podcast app.
The Creativity in Captivity Quilt
Search for ‘The Quilt. Spring2020 Creativity in Captivity’ on Facebook.
For full details of Yarndale@home please visit the Yarndale website and follow Yarndale on social media for all the details.
Music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops
**You can listen to this episode here! ** You can also find Making Stitches on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher as well as many others.
This week on Making Stitches we hear from Amanda Bloom the driving force behind Little Box of Crochet. The bi-monthly subscription box delivers a yarny treat to crocheters around the world and contains a complete project with yarn and instructions along with what Amanda describes as ‘knick-knackery’ or extra little treats to enjoy.
Amanda spoke to me from her home above her beautiful yarn shop ‘Craftopia’ in Ingleton in North Yorkshire. She spoke movingly about her beloved daughter Jenny who set her off on her Little Box of Crochet journey whilst she was seriously ill with cancer as well as about her move to Ingleton and her hopes for the future.
You can find out more about Little Box of Crochet here: https://www.littleboxofcrochet.co.uk/ You can also find Little Box of Crochet & Craftopia on Instagram.
Hello and welcome to the Making Stitches Podcast! My name’s Lindsay and for as long as I can remember, I have loved filling my spare time by making things. I’m a real advocate for crafts and their ability to calm and quieten the mind when things are tough.
For a while now I’ve been thinking about putting a podcast together about crafts and the stories of the people behind them, but it never seemed to be the right time. Now, as many of us are confined to our homes because of the coronavirus pandemic, more than ever crafts and their therapeutic qualities are so important. That made me think, now might be the time to get this started!
In the coming weeks, I hope to be speaking to some of the people behind the blogs, patterns and make-alongs that bind our community of crafters together as well as other crafters and makers along the way.
Please follow the Making Stitches Podcast on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook or here through this blog so you don’t miss out on the first episode which will be coming your way very soon!
Making Stitches Podcast 