Handmade History

Chances are you have heard of Gee's Bend and its famous quilters. Maybe you've even been to the Airing of the Quilts Festival that takes place in Gee's Bend every October (if so, we are jealous!!). But did you know that a quilting co-op was formed with quilters from Gee's Bend and other communities in Wilcox County in 1966? The Freedom Quilting Bee is the story of how Minder Coleman, a community l...

Alicia went with our Other Sister, Monica, to Frocktails Boston this October. Tune in as Alicia and Monica recap their experience, from bingo boards to raffle prizes, the fantastic theme (Enchanted Forest), favorite frocks, and more! Did you go to Frocktails? We would love to connect with you on Instagram--tag us @handmadehistorypodcast and tell us about your frock! This free-form-ish chat was ful...

This episode is brought to you by Felted Sky, a needlefelting kit company. If you're looking to refresh your fiber stash or grab a mini-kit, check out feltedsky.com today. And as a special treat to our Handmade History Podcast listeners, they're offering 20% off of their entire Winter Collection now through December 14, 2026. Just go to feltedsky.com and use code Handmade20 at checkout. The short...

It's officially spooky season, and this week we're talking about crafts that people have used for thousands of years to protect themselves from witches and the evil eye . Whether or not you believe in supernatural phenomena, these forces have driven people to carve, burn, stitch, and create amulets and other protections since the time of the Neanderthals. Did you know... 🧹The largest collection o...

A milliner of fabulous hats & pillar of the Black community and the creator of the iconic cowboy hat both started their companies in Philadelphia, PA. Mae Reeves and JB Stetson's iconic work could not look less alike, but both of these epic American hatmakers shared a love for their local communities and left their mark on the trade. In this episode, you'll learn... 👒About the hat shop you can vi...

What do Mary Martin, Rosey Grier, and Loreta Swit have in common? They all wrote needlepoint books! We're kicking off Season 3 with a deep dive into needlepoint. With stops at King Tut's tomb in 1922, Edo-period Japan, and Renaissance Italy, we take you on a tour of the stitches, materials, and makers that made needlepoint into the wildly popular craft it is today. Highlights include A unique coun...

Join us for a very special bonus episode! Alicia sat down to chat with Jane Healey, the author of The Saturday Evening Girls Club, a novel set in the early 1900s. The SEGC was a real club that launched a pottery venture, Paul Revere Pottery. Bowls, plates, tiles, and vases from this small shop are held in museums today, and sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most of the girls in the SEG we...

If you were a 90s kid (like Alicia was) or the little sister of a 90s kid (like Sonia was), chances are Laura Ashley influenced your bedroom design. Laura Ashley, born Laura Mountney in Wales in 1925, started her iconic, eponymous company by screenprinting in her Pimlico apartment with her husband, Bernard. Inspired by a Women's Institute exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, Laura wanted to...

Close your eyes and picture a sampler. We bet you are picturing a cross-stitched design with an alphabet on it. This type of sampler is quite common in England and North America, but there are many other types of samplers. In fact, samplers have been made in almost every culture around the world for several thousand years. This episode is sponsored by Embroydica . Visit Embroydica.com and become p...

The Saturday Evening Girls began as a story hour in Boston's North End at a trade school for young people--and quickly grew into something more. This episode is sponsored by our Patreon Patrons. Thank you!  We invite you to  sign up to our Patreon  at any level. Free members get a blog post with links and photos from each episode. Paid members get special discounts to crafty businesses as well as...

When you think of sports gear, what do you imagine? Stretchy synthetic fabric, baseball caps with stiff brims, huarache sandals... ...yes! Join us as we talk sports gear from head to toe, and share deep dives into questions you didn't know you had, like Who invented the sports bra, and when? (Spoiler alert: two women, less than fifty years ago!) Why is the baseball cap round, instead of shaped lik...

In this bonus episode, Alicia chats with author Anne H. Putnam about her newest book, Make Do and Mend , a breakup memoir. Grab your favorite handcraft and listen in to learn about kintsugi, the Japanese art of filling cracks with gold and silver; why Anne decided to self-publish this memoir; and how embroidery and mending helped guide her through a difficult time. Scroll to the end for a giveaway...

This episode is sponsored by our Patreon Patrons. Thank you! And a special thank you to Emily for supporting the show! We invite you to sign up to our Patreon at any level. Free members get a blog post with links and photos from each episode. Paid members get special discounts to crafty businesses as well as access to our Discord. You probably have heard of sewing machines...but did you know that...

Thank you to our sponsor, Quiltfolk! Visit Quiltfolk.com and use code HandmadeHistory for 20% off your first order. When Francis Cabot Lowell built the first end-to-end cotton mill in Waltham, MA, he needed workers. Instead of hiring children, like many other factory workers (horrifying), he hired women. The farmers' daughters of New England flocked to mill towns and for the first time ever, made...

Have you listened to our latest episode yet? Here's the description: Stumpwork Embroidery from West to East: Birds, Bees, and Byzantine Icons! Ever seen a piece of embroidery where the petals literally popped off the fabric? Welcome to the decadent, dimensional world of stumpwork embroidery. Today, stumpwork artists love to stitch flowers, bees, berries, and birds. But stumpwork has a long history...

Sponsored by Folkwear Patterns! Visit Folkwear.com to explore our collection and join a community that's been stitching history for half a century. What do a 27,000-year-old figurine, a Bronze Age coil of horsehair, and King Henry VIII's "minions" have in common? They are all part of the wild, tangled, and surprisingly complex world of millinery. This week, we're diving into the history of how we...

What does it mean to be a "custodian of craft"? 🧵✨ In our latest episode, Alicia sits down with the heritage crafter, conservationist, podcast host, and Odd Fellow Willow Polson for a journey through the hidden corners of history. From the secret symbolism of the Odd Fellows to the year-long process of  weaving baskets , Willow shares what it's like to hold traditions in your hands. We're talkin...

Did you know the world's oldest leather shoe is a right-footed size 7? In this episode, we talk all things leather. From the science of tanning (using everything from tree bark to animal brains) to the world's oldest right-footed shoe, we explore how humans have used animal skins for over 70,000 years. Join us and travel from an ancient cave in Armenia to the snowy Schniedejoch Pass in the Alps to...

This episode is brought to you by Quiltfolk, an ad-free magazine made for quilters like you! Visit quiltfolk.com and use code HandmadeHistory for 20% off your first order. Thank you, Quiltfolk! We are running a stumpwork stitch along this March and we would love to have you join us. Starting March 3, we are going to stitch a design created by Melissa Galbraith of MCreativeJ–a 3-dimensional wild pa...

A quick reminder: if you'd like to join us for the Wild Pansy Stumpwork Stitch Along with MCreativeJ in March, please pre-order your kit or pattern today! You'll get everything you need (pattern, supplies, and a great Handmade History article) to make a beautiful hand-embroidered 3-D pansy & learn to do stumpwork! Get 15% off the kit or PDF pattern before 12/31/25. Want to share the Stitch Along a...

This episode is brought to you by Sculpey. Are you curious to try out polymer clay? Are you a polymer clay artist or enthusiast? We have a special offer for you from Sculpey, the original polymer clay company. Use code HANDMADE25 to get 25% off your entire purchase on Sculpey.com . If you aren't sure where to begin, Sculpey III clay is the perfect polymer clay for beginners. It comes in almost fif...

We're doing a giveaway! To celebrate our collaboration kit & pattern with Melissa Galbraith of MCreativeJ, we are giving away one of Melissa's books, DIY Embroidered Shoes . If you would like to enter the giveaway, visit Handmade History Podcast on Instagram . You'll see the giveaway post pinned right at the top and you can comment and enter there. If you're not on Instagram, no worries! Just send...

This episode is brought to you by our Patreon page: visit patreon.com/handmadehistorypodcast and sign up to get our free posts! You'll be the first to know when an episode is live. Explore more on each topic with videos, photos, and links to research rabbit holes. This week also marks the launch of our first collaboration: the Wild Pansy Stumpwork Stitch Along! Pre-order your kit to make a beautif...

Sponsored by Folkwear Patterns. Folkwear – Where history meets your hands. Visit Folkwear.com and use code HANDMADE20 for 20% off your purchase. Code is good through the end of 2025!  Cosplay might make you think of shiny spandex and elaborate makeup--but did you know it got its start in 1939? Morojo (pronounced mo-roy-oh) was the first ever sci-fi fan to create a costume for a con: a dress that c...

Sponsored by Folkwear Patterns. Folkwear – Where history meets your hands. Visit Folkwear.com and use code HANDMADE20 for 20% off your purchase. Code is good through the end of 2025!  "Hairwork" probably makes you think of intricate Victorian mourning jewelry and silky sculpted hair under glass. We take a broad view of this craft and talk about hairwork from ancient times (such as false beards mad...