The Stitch Safari Podcast

Words like Sew Bros, Seamsters and Manbroiderers have now been added to the stitch and embroidery lexicon, but what are the reasons why more men want to stitch?

The corset is a garment of feminity, grace and glamour and is a very cleverly engineered garment, one that perfectly balances function with aesthetics.

Shoe obsession is nothing new.  From the exquisitely embroidered Chinese Lotus shoe to the stunning Indian Mojaris, societies world-wide have exhibited their culture through their couture - and their footwear is no exception.

Remembered as an innovator and revolutionary, many critical artistic genres owe a great deal to the dedicated work and example of Constance Howard. She nurtured the idea of embroidery as an art form and vehicle for artistic self-expression.

Historic images of ornate, over-the-top embroidery tends to make us think it was destined for use by women - but no, fashion in the middle of the 17th century saw the evolution of a new style featuring elegant embroidery, and it was all for men.

People embroidered war embroideries for many reasons - for some it was a means of income, for others it was a form of therapy and rehabilitation.

Judy Chicago, feminist, artist and art educator is best known for her seminal artwork, The Dinner Party 1974-79.  This conceptual art installation also incorporates the use of embroidery.

This episode focuses on some of the embroidered embellishments created for this delightfully charming, thoroughly modern, fictional character, Phryne Fisher by Australian costume designer, Marion Boyce.

In this episode, I'm honouring two amazingly talented and creative embroidery artists - Sonia Delaunay and May Morris - two very different aesthetics, yet both used stitch in their work.

From something as simple as a needle, thread and cloth, women created thought-provoking, powerful and inspirational messages - showing us the materiality of the history of the women's suffrage movement.