Sew What?

In this episode, Isabella interviews Dr Alison Mayne, a textile researcher and practitioner who wrote her PhD about knitting and crocheting Facebook groups and wellbeing. The two discuss the intersection of needlework and social media, new Soviet dress, fashions from the feminist magazine Spare Rib, and the continued fight for inclusivity in the world of needlework and textiles more generally. 

As always, images and resources discussed in this episode are available on Twitter and Instagram at @sewwhatpodcast.

In this episode, Isabella discusses one of her greatest loves, embroidered cabinets and caskets made in the 17th century. She explains the differences between cabinets and caskets, how they were made, some exceptional surviving examples, and what these boxes can tell us about the relationship between early modern women and privacy. 

In this episode, Isabella talks with Kelli Coles, a PhD student who researches Black American schoolgirl samplers. The two discuss Black samplers made by girls across America's East Coast in the late eighteenth through mid-nineteenth centuries.

In this episode, Isabella examines a group of mid-19th-century samplers made by South Indian girls in a missionary school run by a British woman. She discusses the intersection of these samplers and colonialism, focusing on evidence of colonialism in the samplers' threads, inscriptions, and compositions. 

In this episode, Isabella interviews Elena Kanagy-Loux, a lace maker, lace historian, and Collections Specialist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Antonio Ratti Textile Center. The two discuss the importance of making in order to understand historic textiles, favourite museum objects, and all things lace. 

In this episode, Isabella discusses the needlework of the Brontë sisters. She focuses on their childhood samplers, an unfinished quilt Charlotte, Emily, and Anne made, and Charlotte's many collar and cuff designs.

In this episode, Isabella discusses Jane Austen's needlework. She focuses on a sampler supposedly made by Jane Austen, as well as a quilt Jane made with her mother and sister.

In this episode, Isabella interviews Rose Sinclair, lecturer in Textiles in the Design Department at Goldsmiths, University of London and design practitioner and researcher. The two discuss Dorcas clubs (specifically those used by Caribbean women when they arrived in the UK in the 1950s and 60s, the topic of Rose's PhD), the intersection of textiles and race, and the power cloth has to tell stories.

In this episode, Isabella interviews Dr Susan Kay-Williams, Chief Executive, Archivist, and Curator of the Royal School of Needlework. The two discuss the history of the RSN, special objects in the collection, and favourite types of needlework.

In this episode, Isabella discusses how samplers from Spanish colonies are the intersections of needlework from around the world and across centuries. The first half of the episode focuses on a Guatemalan sampler at LACMA, while the latter covers motifs in Mexican samplers. At the beginning of the episode is a discussion about the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement. Here are just a few resources:

TO DONATE:

• https://bailfunds.github.io/
• https://www.gofundme.com/f/ukblm-fund
• https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bail_funds_george_floyd?fbclid=IwAR2hmif9qbD6d43ld-QFuL1FCXDFrNRohzgupYKov-9fgnHb7PWFDhewII0

TO READ:

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H-Vxs6jEUByXylMS2BjGH1kQ7mEuZnHpPSs1Bpaqmw0/preview?fbclid=IwAR21QkkmrmmB9f9aKwjm7rgir4M6MbO932ntl1-m0ULFD3Vu3dWSVPHvNFQ&pru=AAABcp3QumA*MZk0-BbHbWHG6SuPfSuBgw#
•  bit.ly/ANTIRACISMRESOURCES
• Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race
• White Fragility
• Between the World and Me
• How to Be An Antiracist
• The Hate U Give

TO WATCH:

• 13th
• When They See Us
• Becoming
• Moonlight
• Selma
• Fruitvale Station

TO LISTEN:

• 1619 
• Code Switch
• Intersectionality Matters!
• About Race

TO SIGN: 

• https://www.change.org/p/mayor-jacob-frey-justice-for-george-floyd?recruiter=895898514&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_term=psf_combo_share_initial&recruited_by_id=6a4669c0-a74d-11e8-a554-dd9015f4e479
• https://www.change.org/p/govia-thameslink-justice-for-belly-mujinga-justiceforbellymujinga?original_footer_petition_id=22536040&algorithm=promoted&source_location=petition_footer&grid_position=4&pt=AVBldGl0aW9uAASnUQEAAAAAXtYxCkz3BEtlMjI0YWFhYQ%3D%3D
• https://www.change.org/p/human-rights-campaign-justice-for-ahmuad-arbery?original_footer_petition_id=22510898&algorithm=promoted&source_location=petition_footer&grid_position=1&pt=AVBldGl0aW9uAD7xTwEAAAAAXtYvfr7R3OczYTNjY2M1Zg%3D%3D
• https://www.change.org/p/andy-beshear-justice-for-breonna-taylor