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 59 : 2022 Christmas & New Year Special Part 2 : Review of the Year

Some of the highlights of 2022 on Making Stitches Podcast! (Clockwise from top left; Figen Murray, Amanda Bloom, Khloe from the People’s History Museum, Eleanora Tully at Yarndale, Amoami, Tracy Fox, Great Northern Textile Show, Kitey from the Yarn Whisperer

It’s that time again, as 2022 draws to a close, I’m taking you on a romp through this year’s Making Stitches back catalogue with a few of my highlights.

One of Leah Higgins’ beautiful art quilts on display at the Great Northern Textile Show

You can hear from Figen Murray, Amanda Bloom from Cosy Life Boxes, Rafael Alcaide from Amoami, Beth Gillions, Conservation Officer at the People’s History Museum, Eleonora Tulley from Coastal Crochet, highlights from the first Great Northern Textile Show, Leah Higgins, Tracy Fox and Kitey from the Yarn Whisperer.

This year, Making Stitches has been listened to across 6 continents and has held the number one spot in the Apple Craft Podcast Charts in the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland & New Zealand. It also reached the number 5 spot in the USA. Thank you to everyone who has listened this year – it’s been great to have your company.

Happy New Year!

Lindsay x

**Listen to the episode here**

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

The music featured in this episode is Winter Trip by AudioFlame 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 57 : Stand with Ukraine Art Quilts Auction with Olesya Lebedenko

We first met Olesya Lebedenko on the podcast back in March. Olesya is a Ukrainian textile artist who designs the most beautiful art quilts. She moved to Canada with her family back in 2014 and since then has become a Bernina ambassador as well as a regular on the quilt show circuit in Canada and the United States.

In our last chat, in Episode 41, Olesya spoke about the evolution of her craft from making rag dolls and running workshops in Kyiv to creating quilts in Canada as well as her fears for her friends and family back at home and the unfolding war. Since then, Olesya has lost a dear friend in the bombing and spoke about her loss in this episode between 21:30 and 30:30 in the podcast.

Olesya has been inspired to create four beautiful large quilts – the polar opposite of her usual mini quilt projects and blocks – ‘Acorn Power’, ‘Blossom of Hope’, ‘Knot for Luck’ and ‘Stand Together’ are up for auction to raise much needed funds for four Ukrainian charities; Magic Food Army, Medical Battalion ‘Hospitallers’, Ruslan Goroviy and Serhiy Zhadan. You can find all the information you need about the auction and the charities involved here.

Olesya & her daughter wrapped in the ‘Stand Together’ quilt

Whilst the bids for the quilts may be too much for many to donate, there are quilt patterns which you can buy too – the proceeds of which will be added to the charity total.

My thanks to Olesya for her time speaking to me again for Making Stitches.

**Listen to this episode here**

You can find Olesya’s website here.

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

For full show notes for this episode, please visit the Making Stitches website.
The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

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

Episode 56 : The Power of Sewing with Clare Hunter & Michelle Edwards

This time on Making Stitches, I’m sharing a couple of chats I had recently with authors who have written about sewing and the power it gives, from offering respite and hope in the hardest of situations and a voice to those who have had theirs silenced and the simple ability to fix a hole in your clothes.

Clare Hunter has worked with textiles for many years, working as a community artist, exhibition curator and banner maker. After hearing many stories about how important sewing and embroidery had been in peoples’ lives throughout history, she decided to write a book about it. Threads of Life; A History of the World Through the Eye of a Needle was published in 2019 and went on to become a Sunday Times Bestseller. Inspired by what she learned about Mary Queen of Scots during her research for Threads of Life, Clare went on to write a book about her too, an alternative biography called Embroidering Her Truth; Mary Queen of Scots and Her Language of Power.

You can find out more about Clare and her work through her website.

Michelle Edwards is a children’s author and illustrator working in the USA, her latest book; Me and the Boss; A Story About Mending and Love is based on a true story recounted to her in a yarn store one day. It charts the story of a young boy called Lee who is taken by his older sister (the Boss) to a sewing lesson in a public library. Along with the story, which is illustrated beautifully by April Harrison, is a sewing project for young readers to have a go at too. Michelle is passionate about teaching children about using their hands and has run childrens sewing classes herself as well as writing a column for a well known knitting magazine in the United States.

You can find out more about Michelle and her work through her website.

One of my former podcast guests, Olesya Lebedenko, a Ukrainian patchwork quilt designer and maker, who featured in Episode 41 is hosting a fundraising Art Quilt online auction. It runs until 16th December 2022 and you can bid on one of four beautiful art quilts on sale. All proceeds raised by the sale will go to supporting charities helping people and animals affected by the war in Ukraine. You can reach the auction through this link.

**LISTEN TO THE EPISODE HERE**

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

The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

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

Episode 55 : Sewing to Save the Planet with Stitched Up!

Disposable fast fashion is a huge cause of pollution and damage to the environment, but one community benefit society in Manchester has been doing its bit to help for the past decade. Stitched Up! which is now based in Stretford Mall in Greater Manchester has been rescuing unwanted fabric and teaching sewing skills in a bid to help people get more out of their clothes and slow down the damage being done to the planet.

The organisation takes donations of unwanted fabric and sells it on to sewists at a discounted rate as well as offering workshops on everything from basic sewing skills, repurposing garments, make do and mend sessions and dressmaking techniques. Their pop up shop in Stretford also hosts a regular Repair Cafe where experts in other fields come along to help people get more life out of their belongings rather than simply throwing them away.

I went along to Stitched Up! to meet their events co-ordinator Sarah Revington, she told me all about the organisation’s roots and its interesting plans for the future.

You can find out more about Stitched Up! through their website and YouTube channel.

**Listen to the Stitched Up! Episode here**

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

The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Oakley the Acorn Tree Sprite & Agatha the Fly Agaric Mushroom amigurumi patterns are available in the Making Stitches Shop

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

Episode 53 : The Great Northern Textiles Show 2022

Last Sunday, the first ever Great Northern Textile Show opened its doors to the public, welcoming crafters to mingle with artists and craftspeople from a wide range of disciplines and enjoy a celebration of creativity.

The event was Tracy Fox’s idea – my guest for the previous episode of Making Stitches – as an artist, print maker and dyer of fabric herself, she felt there was a gap in the market for a show celebrating local talent in Manchester and the wider area. As a city built on textiles during the industrial revolution, Tracy believed there should be a showcase for talent from the world of textiles, and so, after much thought and meticulous planning, the Great Northern Textile Show was born.

One of Leah Higgins’ Art Quilts called Cadence 7

I went along to experience it for myself and took my microphone with me to capture some of the atmosphere. I hope you enjoy listening to the conversations I had with some of the people I met there.

Thank you to everyone who spoke to me for this episode including:
Tracy Fox, the event organiser
Leah Higgins, artist
Louise from Sincerely Louise

Holly Palmer from Planet Quilts
Ian Fothergill from The Knitting Gift Shop
Tanya from the Woolly Tangle
Julie from Tilly Flop Designs

Ally Rose from the International Feltmakers Association with her penguin head

Christine and Ally from the International Feltmakers Association

Caroline from Montague Patchers in Sale

Members of the North Cheshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers & Dyers

Liz Carrington from the North Cheshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers & Dyers

Carrie (l) & Helen (r) from Yarn Addicts Manchester

Helen & Carrie from the Yarn Addicts of Manchester
Great Northern Textile Show

Listen to the episode here!

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

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

Episode 43 : COLOUR, CREATIVITY & A COMMUNITY KICK-STARTER with Clare Albans from hellohooray.com

Hello and welcome to this episode of Making Stitches Podcast celebrating the joys of colour and creativity as well as community support. You can hear Clare’s episode here.

When Clare Albans left a career in music behind, hand embroidery helped fill the gap leaving her job had left her with. After blogging about her life and makes for several years, Clare launched her small embroidery business selling designs and haberdashery and filling her Instagram followers’ feeds with a riot of colour and inspiration.

Last year, Clare launched a kick-starter campaign to raise the funds needed to open her own bricks and mortar haberdashery shop and studio which she hoped to use to help her local community in the North East of England. Unsure how the fundraising would go, she was overwhelmed with support and is now celebrating her one-year anniversary of Hello Hooray Haberdashery & Studio. Clare has been enjoying spreading her love of making, meeting customers and being able to host craft social events and workshops in her studio too.

You can find out more about Clare on her website, Instagram, Pinterest & Twitter. Clare also has her own YouTube channel, which you can find here.

Clare’s first book: Colourful, Fun Embroidery

The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

If you would like to buy a PDF crochet pattern for Sophia the Sunflower, (£5 from the sale of every pattern will be donated to the UNHCR Refugee aid effort supporting Ukrainian refugees) you can find the link here.

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

Episode 38 : Happy Stitchmas 2021! The Making Stitches Podcast Christmas Special & Review of the Year 2021 (Part 1)

It’s Christmas Eve, so here’s my Christmas gift to you dear listener! This year I’m splitting my Christmas Special into two halves, the first one is here for you today, and the second one will be out one week from today on New Year’s Eve.

In Part 1 I look back at a few of my personal highlights of the year so far on Making Stitches and feature little snippets from interviews with Sara Huntington – Editor of Simply Crochet Magazine, Louise Armitage aka Gini’s Dorset Buttons, Great British Sewing Bee 2021 contestant Adam Brooks, Heather Griffith from HGDC Crochet & Louise Murray from Hooked by Lou. You’ll also hear from Tracy, Julie and Lucy from Black Sheep Wools in Warrington and Kate Blackburn from Katie Did This UK hand-stitched cards.

You can find links to all my guests below. My thanks to everyone who spoke to me for the Podcast this year – I couldn’t have done it without you!

I hope you enjoy listening to this special festive episode and I very much look forward to sharing Part 2 with you soon! Have a great Christmas! You can listen to it here.

Sara Huntington – Editor Simply Crochet Magazine & @crochetdeli on Instagram
Louise Armitage aka Gini’s Dorset Buttons
Hayley Shelton aka DotCraftStudio
Adam Brooks
Matthew Downham Art
Heather Griffith from HG Designs Crochet
Louise Murray from Hooked by Lou
Tracy, Julie & Lucy from Black Sheep Wools
Kate Blackburn from Katie Did This UK on Etsy & Instagra
The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Episode 36 : Crafting a Dream Sewing Business with Sarah Wadey & Freya Gilbert of Crafty Sew and So

Sarah Wadey (L) & Freya Gilbert (R)
from Crafty Sew & So

When Freya Gilbert and Sarah Wadey met at a sewing workshop in 2014, they knew they had met a kindred spirit. Within months they followed their dreams of setting up a sewing business and opened their bricks and mortar shop Crafty Sew and So in Leicester selling fabric haberdashery and offering award-winning workshops. They used their skills gained in retail and the fashion industry to build their business which included a variety of craft workshops as well as dressmaking patterns and kits.

When Covid forced the shop to close, undeterred, Freya and Sarah moved to the Crafty Sew and So workshop and put their business online. During the past 18 months they have not only continued to sell sewing essentials but have run online workshops attracting participants from overseas as well as closer to home. Now that Covid restrictions have eased they are beginning to offer in-person workshops too.

I’m thrilled that Freya and Sarah were able to share their story with me for Making Stitches. You can hear their episode here.

If you would like to find out more about Crafty Sew and So, you can do here. You can also find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

If you would like to take part in the Christmas episode of Making Stitches with your own ‘stitch story’ please get in touch with me via social media or email: makingstitchespodcast@gmail.com
The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Episode 30 : Sew on the Go with Mary Jane Baxter

Mary Jane with her new book in ‘Bambi’
Photo credit: Thomas Skovsende

Back in the days before Covid, when the notion of being able to pack up a camper van and do a road trip of Europe was a thing, former BBC Brussels Correspondent Mary Jane Baxter did just that. She did it in style in a 1986 Bedford Bambi van adorned with vintage wallpaper. Taking just a few possessions with her, including her hand-crank sewing machine and a collection of her own hand-made hats, she set off on a voyage of creativity and adventure calling in on former work colleagues and discovering new textile inspired destinations.

On her return from her tour of France, Belgium, Italy and Scotland, Mary Jane set about recording her travels in the form of a book; Sew on the Go. In it you find a travel journal, a number of creative craft projects you can have a go at as well as a searingly honest document of the highs and, at times, painfully lonely lows of solo traveling. From driving down a black run in the Alps (during summer) and camping next to a Cathedral in France to browsing flea markets and hosting craft pop-ups to help fund the trip, Mary Jane’s account of her travels is warm, emotional and utterly inspiring.

My grateful thanks to Mary Jane for sharing her adventures with me for Making Stitches.

You can listen to Mary Jane on Making Stitches here.

Mary Jane looking for bargains at a brocante (flea market)

You can find Mary Jane’s website, where you can order her book; Sew on the Go here and her Instagram account here.

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

You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi.