Sew What?

In this episode Isabella interviews Dr Brenda Rewhorn, the chairman of the Ring of Tatters and a maker of all sorts of textiles who did her PhD on the history of tatting. The two talk about the development of tatting, the different types of tatting that are practiced, the tools involved in tatting production, and modern day uses of it. You can join the Ring of Tatters here: https://www.ringoftatte...

In this episode, Isabella interviews Dr Eleanor Houghton about her new book Charlotte Brontë's Life Through Clothes , published by Bloomsbury. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com. You can buy Charlotte Brontë's Life Through Clothes  here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/charlotte-bront%C3%ABs...

In the first part of this two-part episode about needlework in India, Isabella interviews the staff at Chanakya, based in Mumbai. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com. You can find out more about Chanakya International here: https://chanakya.in/ and the Chanakya School of Craft here: https://chanakya....

In the second part of this two-part episode about needlework in India, Isabella interviews the staff at Shrujan and Shrujan LLDC, based in Bhuj.  Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com. You can find out more about Shrujan here: https://shrujan.com/ and Shrujan LLDC here: https://shrujanlldc.org/ . You c...

In this episode, Isabella interviews Dr Elizabeth Way about her exhibition Art X Fashion , on display at the Museum at FIT until 19 April 2026. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com. You can find out more about Art X Fashion at https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum/exhibitions/art-fashion/index.php and more ab...

In this episode, Isabella interviews Alexandra Peters about her sampler collection and the importance of studying samplers.  Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com. Alexandra's website is https://www.alexandralallypeters.com/. You can learn about her upcoming talks at Norwalk Historical Society and...

In this episode, Isabella interviews Hannah Sutherland, ACR, Senior Textile Conservator at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The two discuss what is involved in conservation, knitted masterpieces, and the exhibition Marie Antoinette Style . Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com. You can find Hannah on In...

In this episode, Isabella interviews Shilei Zeng, Assistant Curator of China at the Victoria and Albert Museum and final year PhD student at King's College London. The two discuss Shilei's research into the use of Chinese textiles in 18th-century Britain and beyond. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhat...

In this episode, Isabella interviews Micah Clasper-Torch, an artist, designer, and educator whose work is centred around the traditional craft of punch needle rug hooking. The two talk about the history and use of punch needle in all of its forms.  Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com. You can find Mi...

In this episode, Isabella interviews Ruth Battersby, Senior Curator of Costume and Textiles at Norfolk Museums Service. The two talk about the embroidery of Lorina Bulwer, a Victorian woman institutionalised in the Great Yarmouth Workhouse who spent her days embroidering vibrant, angry, and extremely long biographical scrolls. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagr...

In this episode, Isabella interviews Alexis Penny Casdagli, the daughter of Major A.T. Casdagli, an Anglo-Greek spy famous for embroidering subversive needlework during his time in German POW camps in WWII.  Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com. You can read Major A.T. Casdagli's wartime diary, P...

In this episode, Isabella interviews Jo Andrews, host of the wonderful textile podcast Haptic & Hue . Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com. You can listen to Haptic & Hue and learn more here: https://hapticandhue.com/listen/. And be sure to check out the Textile Travels guides here: https://ww...

In this special holiday episode, Isabella interviews a variety of individuals who helped plan and who attended Gathered at Gressenhall, a special textile takeover day at Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse, which took place on 29 September 2024. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com. Show notes: Fiona Ashle...

In this episode, Isabella interviews Dr Seth Rockman, associate professor of history at Brown University, about his new book  Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com.

In this episode, Isabella interviews Sarah Brokenborough, a PhD student at Tulane University, about her master's dissertation entitled "What’s the Use?: A Comparison of Needlework Samples Made By Free, Freed, and Enslaved Schoolgirls in the Early Nineteenth-Century Atlantic World." Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast h...

In this episode, Isabella interviews three people from Fine Cell Work, a British charity that runs rehabilitation projects in prisons by training prisoners in paid, skilled needlework. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com.

In this episode, Isabella interviews writer, historian, teacher, and lifelong mender Kate Sekules about the history and importance of mending and darning. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com.

In this episode, Isabella interviews Dr Magali Berthon about Cambodian silk weaving and how textiles were affected by the Khmer Rouge regime. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com.

In this episode, Isabella interviews PhD student Eleanor Gilchrist about her fascinating and surprising research into the history of crochet.  Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com.

In this episode, Isabella interviews artist Marcia Goldenstein about her series "Women in Stitches," consisting of tiny embroidered portraits of women past and present. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com.

In this episode, Isabella interviews Maya Wassell Smith, assistant curator of art at the National Maritime Museum and a PhD student at Cardiff University. The two discuss naval embroidery in all of its forms. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com.

In this episode, Isabella interviews Jamie Chalmers, AKA Mr X Stitch, the Kingpin of Contemporary Embroidery. The two discuss what's happening in the world of contemporary embroidery and what it's like to be a man who embroiders. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com.

In this episode, Isabella interviews Dr Lis Gernerd about her new book, The Modern Venus: Dress, Underwear and Accessories in the late 18th Century Atlantic World . The two talk about all sorts of undergarments, embroidered muffs, networks of women, and how to build a fashionable woman's body in the late 18th century. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram,...

In this episode, Isabella interviews Dr Lucie Whitmore and Dr Bethan Bide about the Museum of London's exhibition Fashion City: How Jewish Londoners shaped global style and the accompanying Bloomsbury exhibition catalogue. Images and sources are available at @sewwhatpodcast on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. The podcast has a website, sewwhatpodcast.com.

In this episode, Isabella interviews English embroidery expert and Witney Antiques director Rebecca Scott. The pair talk about their new exhibition and accompanying catalogue, "Choice and Precious Work": Treasures from the Schoolroom, 1650-1750 , centring on an embroidery suite made by 17th-century London Quaker girl Elizabeth Hall and multiple generations of her descendants.   Images an...