Making Stitches Podcast

Hello! Making Stitches is coming back very soon for a 7th series. Among my guests in the coming weeks will be food stylist & photographer turned sewing designer Jen Rich to talk about her new book aimed at beginners and established sewists alike, I'll take  you along to the Black Sheep Wools 40th birthday weekend and clinical psychologist and knitter, Dr Mia Hobbs from Why I Knit Podcast...

Way back in December 2022 I promised you this episode of Making Stitches with crochet designer Catherine from Catherine Crochets. Unfortunately, life rather got in the way of those plans, so now, six months later than originally promised is the final episode of the current series of Making Stitches. Catherine got hooked  on crochet while expecting her second child and since then, her passion for t...

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. 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...

In this, the first of two Christmas and New Year specials this year, I catch up with a few old friends of the podcast: Lisa & Lynda-Rose from The Crochet Sanctuary (my first ever guests on Making Stitches) and Christine Perry, otherwise known as Winwick Mum, who first appeared back in Episode 31). We look back at what's been happening in the worlds of The Crochet Sanctuary and sock knitti...

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...

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, exhi...

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 bein...

A chance experience at an airport back in March left its mark on Rafael Alcaide. On returning home to Madrid, Rafael saw a large group of Ukrainian women and children who had just arrived from fleeing the invasion in their homeland. Wanting to do something to help, Rafael turned to his friend Rita, a crochet designer, and together they came up with a design for a small amigurumi bear which has bec...

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 m...

There are many strings to Tracy Fox's bow, she describes herself as a dyer, print maker and artist creating the most beautiful art fabrics in her home studio in Manchester. She also uses her fabric to make stunning art quilts and has exhibited her work and sold her cloth at various craft shows over the years. It was at one of those shows, the Nantwich Quilters Exhibition and Fabric Sale, that...

It hardly seems a year ago that I last followed the Yarn Walk to Skipton Auction Mart for Yarndale 2021. Last year saw the yarn festival based in North Yorkshire return after Covid, and this year it's celebrating it's 10th birthday. Seeing as I had such fun on my last visit, I had to return - not just to squish some gorgeous yarn - but to meet more lovely crafty folk. This episode, the f...

Hello there! Making Stitches Podcast will be returning to your podcast feed again very soon with a brand new series. I'm looking forward to bringing you some more inspiring maker stories with guests from the world of yarn crafts, textiles and embroidery, as well as many other crafts too. Among my guests for the new 6th series will be Eleonora Tully from Coastal Crochet along with other crafts...

Hello and welcome to Episode 50 of Making Stitches and the last episode in this series. As it's the end of the current series, I thought I'd reconnect with a couple of friends of the podcast and catch up with their latest news. My guests for this episode are Sock Knitting Champion; Christine Perry or Winwick Mum as she's known online and Juey from Juey Jumbo Craft Tools who I met at...

Hello and welcome to this, the penultimate episode of this current series of Making Stitches Podcast! This time, Emma Munn AKA Emmaknitty is my guest sharing the story of her creative journey into knit & crochet design. Originally from the South of England, Emma and her family now call Oviedo in Northern Spain home and it's from there she manages her small craft business alongside her job...

The last couple of years have seen many of us take a step back and reconsider what it is we want to do with our lives. The pandemic gave us a new perspective and often forced us to change paths. Kitey from the Yarn Whisperer is no different. After a 30 year-long career in teaching in various countries around the world, he found inspiration in a plate of Padron Peppers whilst on holiday in Spain an...

Like so many makers, despite loving all the creative subjects at school, Sally Wilson took a traditional route of study and then a 'conventional' career which for her was as a lawyer. However, whilst on maternity leave, she began to question whether a return to law was really what she wanted at the end of her family time away from her job. Sally found time to shoe-horn in an e-commerce c...

This time on Making Stitches Podcast, crochet is under the spotlight and Joanne Scrace from The Crochet Project in particular. The Crochet Project was set up to design and write beautiful crochet patterns using natural yarns and with inclusivity high on the agenda. Crochet Project patterns come in a wide range of sizes to fit all bodies, avoid gender assumptions and even come with directions for l...

This time on Making Stitches Podcast, I'm taking you out on the road with me to the People's History Museum in the centre of Manchester. It is the national museum of democracy and home the world's largest collection of trades union banners. Being custodians of the literal fabric of our history requires painstaking conservation work to keep the banners in a stable condition for futur...

Crochet & Knitting designer Lynne Rowe is my guest for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast. Lynne first learned to knit and crochet as a child, but it was after the birth of her own children that she turned to yarn crafts in earnest. Firstly knitting for pleasure, then to raise money for charity,  Lynne then ventured into crochet and knitting design and has written several books as well as...

Hello and welcome to this episode of Making Stitches Podcast celebrating the joys of colour and creativity as well as community support. 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 fi...

Welcome to a crochet-tastic double bill of Making Stitches featuring not just one, but two inspirational makers; Hannah Cross from Hanjan Crochet and Amanda Bloom from Little Box of Crochet. My first guest, Hannah Cross has been designing crochet garments, toys and soft furnishings for over a decade and has been featured in Simply Crochet Magazine many times over those years. After leaving a caree...

Hello and welcome to the first episode in this new series of Making Stitches Podcast! Kicking off the series is a chat I had with Ukrainian artist Olesya Lebedenko. Olesya first got creative as a young child making up stories for her toys, then at the age of 5 she was taught to cross-stitch by her grandmother. Crafts would stay with her throughout her life - she says she has never been able to sit...

Hello there! Making Stitches Podcast will be returning to your podcast feed very soon with a new series. I'm looking forward to bringing you some more inspiring maker stories with guests from the worlds of quilting, crochet and embroidery as well as many other crafts as well. Among my guests for the new 5th series are Olesya Lebedenko, a Ukranian artist who makes the most amazing quilt blocks...

Figen Murray first took up knitting seriously to help her cope with hearing loss. At the time, she was working as a psychotherapist, and decided to practice what she preached and turned to creativity to help lift her mood. Little did she know then that just a few years later her knitting would help her cope with the dreadful loss of her son, Martyn Hett, who was one of the 22 victims of the Manche...

I hope you've had a lovely Christmas! I have one last gift for you this year before the clock strikes midnight again and we begin another year. Following on from the Happy Stitchmas episode published on Christmas Eve, this is my Hogmanay offering with a celebration of some of the freedoms I was able to enjoy this year as well as hearing about peoples' crafty New Year's Resolutions f...