Making Stitches Podcast

Hello and welcome to Making Stitches Podcast! This time, my guest is Annah O'Leary from Needle and Feather, a colourwork knitting designer. Annah has led a very creative life, studying woven textiles at university, working in poduct design and then teaching, before knitting took over. When Annah first tried knitting, she found it frustrating and just didn't 'get it', however du...

It's 10 years since I first visited Yarndale and thanks to me living a lot closer to Skipton now than I did back then, I am lucky enough to be able to visit each year.  Last month, I made my sixth visit Skipton Auction Mart for this brilliant event celebrating all things yarn and creativity. As is now the tradition, I took my microphone with me to capture some of the atmosphere and to give my...

Hello and welcome to Making Stitches Podcast, my guest this time is Anglo-Irish former TV and Theatre actor, now knitting teacher, Alice O'Connell.  Knitting first came into Alice's life when she was sitting around waiting to be called onto set and soon changed her life. We spoke about times when it's been incredibly important to her, including when she first became a Mum for the fi...

Hello and welcome to a brand new series of Making Stitches Podcast! My guest for this first episode is crochet designer and teacher Sam Sabido. Sam first learned to crochet after being gifted crochet lessons around 15 years ago. At the time, she was having a tricky time and hoped crochet would give her a creative outlet and some time to concentrate on her own wellbeing.  Little did she know back t...

This time last weekend, Carry on Crafting celebrated its 5th birthday. The festival, based at Ardingley Showground in Sussex, played host to craft stalls, workshops, vintage stands, tasty food, music and fun. Last March, I spoke to the festival's founder, Justine Robson on this podcast (for episode number 94 . At the time, she invited me along to the festival - over a year later, I got there!...

In this episode of the Making Stitches Podcast, I'm joined by documentary filmmaker Paul Wyatt , director of the beautiful documentary film Sheep, Actually . Although this conversation is a little different from my usual chats with makers, it explores something at the very heart of many of our crafts: wool. Paul's documentary asks us to look beyond the skein and back to its origins, expl...

In this episode, I'm delighted to be joined by contemporary textile artist Murron Fraser.  Based in Manchester, Murron's work is inspired by nature, folklore and storytelling, creating richly layered textile pieces that invite us to look more closely at the hidden wonders of the natural world. Through a combination of machine embroidery, printmaking, and mixed media techniques, she creat...

Hello, and welcome to Making Stitches Podcast! This time, I'm delighted to be joined by Melissa Santiago-Val founder and CEO of Sew Positive. What began during the pandemic as a community effort making face masks to raise money for NHS charities has grown into an inspiring charity using sewing, mending and up cycling to support peoples' mental health and wellbeing. In our chat, Melissa s...

Upstairs in an historic industrial building in the centre of the West Yorkshire town of Slaithwaite is a vast collection of handmade items, tools and publications charting the history of knitting and crochet in the UK. The Knitting and Crochet Guild Collection was started in 1991 and is cared for by a team of dedicated volunteers. Hidden away in this fascinating archive is an extraordinary collect...

This time on Making Stitches Podcast, I’m joined by Kit Giroux, semi-finalist from the 2025 series of The Great British Sewing Bee. In our chat, Kit talks about their sewing journey, from first learning as a child to rediscovering a love of making a year or so before appearing on national television. We also chat about what it was really like to take part in series 11 of The Great British Sewing B...

I'm taking you out on the road with me today to Stockport to visit a fabulous yarn shop, Manchester Wool & Yarn. The shop celebrated its 2nd birthday earlier this year and is owed and run by Gareth, a passionate maker and supporter of the yarn community. Stocked with familiar brands and products from independent yarn dyers based across the North West of England, it's a positive treas...

My guest for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast is the wonderful Anna Nikipirowicz. Anna first learned to knit and crochet as a child in Poland, but she says she found it boring - luckily for us, as an adult she found a new passion for both crafts and is passionate about sharing her love and knowledge of them. Anna has published a series of books on crochet techniques, embroidery onto crochet...

Two weeks ago, the first ever TexStyle Festival threw open its doors at Manchester Central. It was an amazing weekend of creativity, community and lots and lots of chatting! It was the idea of the mother and daughter team behind the Buxton, Cumbria & Stafford Wool Gatherings, (Michelle Greaves and her Mum, Carole) to create a bigger show encompassing other textile and fibre crafts in their hom...

Katy Mitchell is the crochet designer behind Kate's Crochet Creations, known for her vibrant granny square patterns and beautifully themed blanket designs. Her work celebrates colour, creativity and the joy of crochet, her patterns inspire crocheters of all skill levels.  I was thrilled to be able to chat to her about how her hobby turned into a full-time job. Katy's work has been featur...

Hello and welcome to the 100th episode of Making Stitches Podcast.  Way back in April of 2020 when I published my first ever Making Stitches Podcast episode, I had no idea that over 5 years later, I would be publishing episode 100! That blows my tiny mind! In the months leading up to this milestone, I had a couple of conversations with my lovely yarny friend, Christine Perry (aka Winwick Mum) and...

Hello there and Happy Stitchmas! It's that time of year again when I take a look back at the past 12 months and choose some of the highlights of my podcasting year.  2025 has been a big year for me, I celebrated 10 years of blogging (Postcard from Gibraltar and then Making Stitches Blog) and 5 years of Making Stitches Podcast. In this episode I share some of the chats I have had this year and...

In this episode of Making Stitches Podcast I chat to Anita Gibney — the designer behind Made by Anita and the author of the brand-new book; Patchwork Granny Square Blankets. Known for her beautiful crochet blanket deisgns, Anita has become an ambassador for Stylecraft Yarns and has just published her first book. We chat about how her love of crochet began, the inspiration behind her quilt-inspired...

December starts next week which means we are officially on the countdown to Christmas, but there's still time to make a few Christmas gifts for special people or some decorations for your home.  In this special 'Bonus Episode' I'm sharing a chat I had with Justine from Little Box of Crochet and Nicky Ward from A Heart Shaped Cherry. Followers of Little Box of Crochet will know...

My guest for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast is Kat Molesworth, the creative force behind the Blogtacular Podcast & Festival. With Blogtacular, Kat helped countless creatives and bloggers find their voice and their community online.  These days, Kat's work means she's serving another creative community, working for Immediate Live, on the Knit & Stitch Show, the Stitch Fes...

Welcome to Making Stitches Podcast! In this episode I share a chat I've had with Michelle Greaves, one half of the team behind the brand new TexStyle festival which is coming to Manchester next year. Michelle and her Mum, Carole, have been hosting yarn festivals for a number of years including the Buxton, Cumbria and Stafford Wool Gatherings, next year, they are hosting a much bigger event sp...

My guest for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast is Amy Ting, a crochet designer from the US who specialises in amigurumi. Amy is a passionate advocate for the Japanese technique of crocheting in the round to create soft toys. She has been crocheting amigurumi creatures for 7 years and shares her work online on her website:  https://curiouspapaya.com/ and on social media too  https://www.insta...

On the weekend of 27th & 28th September, Skipton Auction Mart was again transformed into Yarndale. The festival of all things creative brings stall holders and crafts people from far and wide to share their love of their creative passions. While knitting and crochet take centre stage with every imaginable colour and type of yarn, there are many other crafts to enjoy, including embroidery, sewi...

The Red Dress, recently recognised by the Guiness World Records as the largest collaborative embroidery project, is a truly stunning piece of work. It was created by Kirstie Macleod, a British artist, over a period of 14 years with the help of 380 different embroiderers. The dress is made of 87 silk panels which have been embroidered by people from 51 different countries and includes techniques pa...

Back on 1st June this summer, the Woven in Kirklees Festival kicked off with World Stitch Day at Oakwell Hall in Batley. Among the attractions of stalls from local community groups, textile artists, workshops and an interactive fabric 'Time Machine' was The Red Dress on display in West Yorkshire for the first time. The Red Dress is an award winning collaborative embroidery project which...

Hello and welcome to the first episode in this new series of podcasts from Making Stitches. This time, I'm sharing a chat with my crochet friend Eleonora Tully from Coastal Crochet. Eleonora and I have both celebrated a special blog birthday this year. It's 10 years since we both began our blogging adventure. While there's no doubt that Eleonora's blogging and designing has tak...