Stitch Please

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Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

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Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Kamali Obiagu

Her first craft was crocheting, which she began in 2014. A few years later she decided she wanted to learn how to sew. Once she learned about PDF patterns and all the things she could make with a sewing machine, she knew she had found her passion. That was late 2018 and since then she has been sewing nonstop and has improved her sewing skills and taken over most of her wardrobe with her makes.

Insights from this episode:

• How does Kamali incorporate her crafts into the gift-giving and decorating aspect of the holidays
• The significance of celebrating Kwanzaa
• Important lessons that Kamali gives to her children
• Kamali’s desire to design pajamas based on African prints this year
• Kamali’s plans for her crafts during the Kwanzaa season
• What is the message behind Kwanzaa
• The importance of hand-made things for Kamali
• The joy that brings to Kamali doing handmade gifts 

Quotes from the show: 

• “As for decorations, our family has a different flayer on this Kwanzaa season…we still have a tree, a holiday tree but we call it the black tree, the pan African tree so its a black tree with red and green decorations to mimic the pan African colors” —Kamali Obiagu in “Stitch Please”
• “Kwanzaa is our time to remind ourselves how powerful we are as black people, the potential we already have and what we have for the future and to remind ourselves that we are the greatest as we are” —Kamali Obiagu in “Stitch Please”
• “The principles in Kwanzaa remind us what we need to do to be better within ourselves and within our community” —Kamali Obiagu in “Stitch Please”
• “ [About handmade gifts] I take pride in knowing that I contributed to something other than spending a whole bunch of money on a gift, it seems the roundest time it's the most expensive time of the year, and knowing that I can make something that comes from my hands…it's amazing” —Kamali Obiagu in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Kamali Obiagu

Instagram: Kamali Obiagu

Twitter: Kamali Obiagu

TikTok: Kamali Obiagu

Blog: Kamali Obiagu

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

Check out our merch here

Leave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon

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Stay Connected:

YouTube: Black Women Stitch

Instagram: Black Women Stitch

Facebook: Stitch Please Podcast

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Florence Taylor

Florence Taylor is a firm believer that “clothes to fit the body, not the body to fit the clothes".

Insights from this episode:

• What Christmas meant for Florence’s parents
• Family traditions at Florence’s house
• Things that fill up Florence’s family
• What Christmas means for Florence and her family

Quotes from the show:

• “Christmas for them (Florence’s parents) was not about what we wanted or what we needed, such as heavy and beautiful winter clothes, boots, snow pants, mittens, socks, and such. To adolescent children and teens, this was not exciting at all” —Florence Taylor in “Stitch Please”
• “I wanted my children to understand that they have a responsibility to our local community, to have the opportunity to provide amazing imprints of who they were as individual character” —Florence Taylor in “Stitch Please”
• “So Christmas for them (her kids), is about those little that one big thing that speaks to who they are as individuals” —Florence Taylor in “Stitch Please”
• “Christmas for us, whether it’s the food that we partake in, the gifts that we share, are about filling our children and the people that we love, their souls, their spirits and their bodies” —Florence Taylor in “Stitch Please”
• “We want our house to be filled with warmth and creativity. We want the spirit of Christmas to be about being altruistic (…) it is about community, it is about building, it is about sustaining family and traditions” —Florence Taylor in “Stitch Please”
• “In my family, Christmas is about sights, sounds and smells. The sounds of laughter and music, the sight of color and imagination, and the smells of how I show my love to them in terms of baking and how I wanna nourish them” —Florence Taylor in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Florence Taylor

Florence’s Blog: Carissa Knit Corset Crop, Top, Mini, Dress, Midi & Maxi 

Instagram: Florence Taylor

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

Check out our merch here

Leave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon

Check out our Amazon Store

Stay Connected:

YouTube: Black Women Stitch

Instagram: Black Women Stitch

Facebook: Stitch Please Podcast

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Martha McIntosh

Martha is a proud Garifuna-American from the Bronx, NY, with strong roots in Livingston, Guatemala. She is a sewing enthusiast learning to sew for her curvy, plus-size body and others as well. 

Insights from this episode:

• Details about her Garifuna origin
• Her Christmas traditions growing up
• Transferring those traditions to her children
• Christmas traditions as a Garifuna
• The influence of Garifuna tradition on her sewing

Quotes from the show:

• “I already knew what to expect because of how my parents had prepared me, you know, here in the United States. Even though we were not able to go for Christmas every year, my mom and my dad made sure to tell me and share their memories of what it was growing up and what those experiences were that” —Florence Taylor in “Stitch Please”
• “Trying to figure out what my favorite aspect of our tradition is, is kinda hard because I love it all. There is nothing that I don’t love about being Garifuna” —Florence Taylor in “Stitch Please”
• “According to Garifuna traditions, shared generation to generation, taught to me by my grandmother, taught to me by my parents, and as I share those stories with my children, the Wanaragua dance is a reenactment of when we were fighting the British in St. Vincent” —Florence Taylor in “Stitch Please”
• “It is truly inspired by the culture (Garifuna). My sewing always takes and leads to the bold, that’s what speaks to me: the bold fabric, the colorful fabric. I truly credit that to a lot of the Garifuna traditional wears that we do” —Florence Taylor in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Martha McIntosh

Website: https://marthamcintosh.com

Instagram: Martha McIntosh

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

Check out our merch here

Leave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon

Check out our Amazon Store

Stay Connected:

YouTube: Black Women Stitch

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Facebook: Stitch Please Podcast

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Vanessa Martina

Vanessa Martina lives in The Netherlands with her husband and two boys. She was born and raised in The Netherlands.

Insights from this episode:

• Christmas in the Netherlands
• Fireworks in the Netherlands
• What Christmas was like for Vanessa growing up
• Christmas at Vanessa’s home
• Details about Sinterklaas and why her family doesn’t celebrate it

Quotes from the show:

• “Fireworks are a major topic of discussion every year. Fireworks are forbidden the whole year round in the Netherlands except for New Year’s Eve” —Vanessa Martina in “Stitch Please”
• “The next big holiday or celebration is Christmas and we have three days of Christmas. We have Christmas eve, we have the first day of Christmas (December 25th) and the second day of Christmas (December 26th)” —Vanessa Martina in “Stitch Please”
• “As a child, the best Christmases used to be at my grandmother’s house. My grandmother used to demand entertainment from all her grandchildren. We used to have to prepare, a performance was mandatory“ —Vanessa Martina in “Stitch Please”
• “My kids love Christmas, they really look forward to Christmas. We put Christmas presents under the tree, but we don’t tell them that’s from Santa, it’s from us, the parents” —Vanessa Martina in “Stitch Please”
• “Sinterklaas is probably the biggest celebration here in the Netherlands. There are books of Sinterklaas, songs that are sung, there are movies of Sinterklaas, toys, all the shops are with Sinterklaas, it’s a huge thing” —Vanessa Martina in “Stitch Please”
• “So basically, I try to make all the Christmas outfits and New Year’s outfits for me and my children and my husband, and I sew a little bit for things around” —Vanessa Martina in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Vanessa Martina

LinkedIn: Vanessa Martina

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

Check out our merch here

Leave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon

Check out our Amazon Store

Stay Connected:

YouTube: Black Women Stitch

Instagram: Black Women Stitch

Facebook: Stitch Please Podcast

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Lena King

Lena King is married, with two daughters, and lives in London. She was born in Ghana, and she loves to craft through sewing. She sews for garments for herself and her family.

Insights from this episode:

• Lena King’s sewing story
• Lena King’s holiday traditions
• Sewing during Christmas
• Traditions from her childhood
• Wrapping presents in cuts and scraps
• Christmas at Lena King’s

Quotes from the show:

• “I have tried different things but sewing is the thing that really sticks, I think with me as a craft”  —Lena King in “Stitch Please”
• “Every year, I think to myself, do you know what, I’m going to sew some presents for people. And I plan it in my mind, I think about who I want to sew for and what they gonna get” —Lena King in “Stitch Please”
• “I tend to have lots of cuts and scraps of fabric every year from my sewing. And last year I wrapped quite a number of presents up in fabric that I had and that made a nice little additional present” —Lena King in “Stitch Please”
• “One tradition I have brought along with me from my childhood is that of having something new to wear on Christmas day. My mom was a real stickler for that” —Lena King in “Stitch Please”
• “I found some black fabric which is a bit sparkly and I asked her whether she (her daughter) liked it, and she did, and I made her a very simple neat little top and she loved it” —Lena King in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Lena King

Lena’s Blog: Lena King's Babydoll Dress - Simple Sew Blog

Instagram: Lena King

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

Check out our merch here

Leave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon

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Alexandra Eregbu

Alexandria Eregbu is a multimedia artist, writer, and educator whose practice draws from ancestral histories, lived experiences, and her own imagination to deepen her connectivity to the natural world. Her work is driven by travel, storytelling, memories (whether lived or dreamt), and surrealist activity across the diaspora— spanning from Nigeria, West Africa, the Caribbean, and her native city in Chicago. Her contributions have been presented at the Center for Afrofuturist Studies at Public Space One in Iowa City, Poets House in New York, the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France, Casa Rosada in Salvador, Brazil, and Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans, among others. Her writing has been published by the University of Chicago Press, Terremoto Magazine, and Green Lantern Press. Alexandria is a current Emerging Artist Fellow with the Driehaus Museum (2020); a recipient of the 3Arts Award (2016); and Newcity Breakout Artist (2015). She teaches as faculty in the department of Fiber & Material Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Insights from this episode:

• What it means to teach sewing at art school
• How art intertwines with social justice
• How artwork works as a form of empowerment
• Alexandra empowering young boys and girls
• What textile means to Alexandra
• Alexandra landing and working with Indigo
• What the project ‘Finding Ijeoma’ is and what it meant for her
• Expressing herself through deejaying

Quotes from the show:

• “Justice is definitely something that has become more and more central to my practice. Where that initially started was my work teaching young people between the ages of 14-19 years old” —Alexandra Eregbu in “Stitch Please”
• “When I first started this program, a lot of them (young boys and girls) assumed I was just like them. It really pit me in a unique position to be a friend and also a mentor” —Alexandra Eregbu in “Stitch Please”
• “The power of being present, is what these young boys and girls, who often times just need a listening ear, a little affirmation here and it will take them so far” —Alexandra Eregbu in “Stitch Please”
• “You can have a job that doesn’t require you to clock in and clock out. You can have a job that is not extracting from you. You can have a job where you create beauty (…) I think that it’s important that kids know that” —Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “I take responsibility and I think it’s a privledge to be able to know where it is you are from. And I take responsibility: that’s something I don’t really take lightly” —Alexandra Eregbu in “Stitch Please”
• “Some of those girls still check in with me to this today, which is a blessing: you just never know whose life you gonna touch” —Alexandra Eregbu in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Alexandra Eregbu

Website: Alexandria Eregbu

LinkedIn: Alexandria Eregbu 

Instagram: Alexandria Eregbu

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

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Leave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.
Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon
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Businesses in this episode (in order of appearance)

Baby Cakes Bags and Rags

Sew Hooked On Treasures

Cultured Expressions

African Stretch Fabrics

Dru Christine Fabrics and Design at the DC Creative Suite

 Thanks, I Made Them

Mondes Threads

Gifted Hands by Chrissy, LLC

Nicole Elise, LLC

Scraplanta Creative Reuse Center

Seams and Such Boutique, Seams and Such Boutique, LLC

Beau Jé Designs

Sew Creative Lounge

Sew Sweet Academy

Living Water Quilter

Kena Quilts

Geaux Savvy Designs

Krafting Cuzzins and More, LLC

What's She Creating Enterprises

Tangular Irby, Pearl and her Gee's Bend Quilt  

Couture Man Sewing 

Bzy Peach, LLC

Dovetailed London

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Preorder the beautiful 2023 Black Women Stitch Wall Calendar here

Episode 138 of Black Women Stitch, Fabric Intake Process

BlackWomenStitch Instagram, homepage, Patreon

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LaTisha Porter

LaTisha Porter was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, where she currently resides. She is a mother of two amazing daughters, Maiya Nicole and Makenzie Elise.

​

LaTisha decided to make garments for women adding later both children and men to her line of custom sewing. The choosing of her company's name, NicoleElise LLC, was developed by her desire to leave a legacy for her daughters using their middle names, Nicole and Elise. Her love for all things fashion has been since she can remember.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Insights from this episode:

• LaTisha’s sewing story
• LaTisha’s transition from a reluctant apprentice to where she is now
• What sparked LaTisha’s interest in sewing
• Philadelphia’s sewing scene
• Latisha’s experience in a magazine 
• How she overcomes the challenge of fitting another person

Quotes from the show:

• “The feeling that I got when I got into a fabric store was just overwhelming, so it just made me want to make things” –LaTisha Porter in “Stitch Please”
• “The Philly sewing scene is unscripted if you will, it’s very organic. No one is scared to be themselves and present what they like for themselves. No one sews alike, but everyone is bold in what they do, that’s the major thing” –LaTisha Porter in “Stitch Please”
• “I try not to conform to what everyone else does. If I like a pattern, and I wanna wear that pattern, and I’m gonna make that pattern about 50 thousand times. I’m not a one and done” –Latisha Porter in “Stitch Please”
• “One of the things about making 50 dresses in the same style: the difference between you doing that and maybe some fast fashion house is that every single one of yours is different”  –Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “A lot of times, people want something that they have seen me in. I mainly sew dresses and skirts for people” –Latisha Porter in “Stitch Please”
• “There’s no better time than now. If there’s something you wanna do, just do it. We have to turn the volume down on life, and listen to ourselves, and hear our hearts, and follow our path” –Latisha Porter in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Latisha Porter

Instagram: LaTisha Porter

Website: https://www.nicoleelise.shop/

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

Check out our merch here
Leave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.
Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon
Check out our Amazon Store

Stay Connected:
YouTube: Black Women Stitch
Instagram: Black Women Stitch
Facebook: Stitch Please Podcast

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon.

Jen Hewett

Jen Hewett is a printmaker, surface designer, and textile artist. Depending on how you look at it, artist is either Jen’s second or fifth career. With a degree in English Literature from the University of California, Berkeley, she started her working life in education and educational nonprofits. She then briefly ran her own stationery business and took a few detours through business operations, human resources, and consulting before becoming a full-time working artist (again). She partly credits the success of her experience running her own creative business to her non-linear (but always interesting) career path.

Jen’s first book, Print, Pattern, Sew: Block Printing Basics + Simple Sewing Projects for an Inspired Wardrobe, was published by Roost Books in May 2018. Her second book,  This Long Thread: Women of Color on Craft, Community, and Connection, was published by Roost Books in November 2021. Her clients include Anthropologie, Cost Plus World Market, Moda Fabrics, Unilever, and Yelp. Her work has been featured in Better Homes and Gardens, Uppercase, and MSNBC.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Insights from this episode:

• Who Jen Hewett is and what she does
• How Jen’s book came to be
• How Jen got into printmaking
• Jen’s print-making process
• How to believe in your work and voice
• Why Jen considers herself a textile artist
• The inspiration behind Jen’s book
• Creating representative work
• What to expect from Jen Hewett

Quotes from the show:

• “I design a lot of things for the sewing industry. So, I design primarily fabric and I have been doing that since 2018. I am on my third or fourth fabric collection at this point” —Jen Hewett in “Stitch Please”
• “I have done a lot of textile art and didn’t call myself a textile artist. I always say I am a printmaker first and everything flows from that, but I am owning it now, that I am a person who does and likes many things” —Jen Hewett in “Stitch Please”
• “With printmaking, you do one thing and you do it over and over again, unlike being a painter who does a one-of-a-kind one thing. A printmaker is already set up operationally, it makes sense to do the same thing over and over again” —Jen Hewett in “Stitch Please”
• “What’s the saying like ‘walk around with the confidence of a white man and you will get what you want’?” –Nicole Angeline  in “Stitch Please”
• “The nice thing about the work that I do is that it is replicable. So it feels in many ways, low stakes. That I am constantly putting things out there, some will stick, some won’t” —Jen Hewett in “Stitch Please”
• “When I find books like this one, that are good and I like them, and I like to go back to them, because not every book you get that you are gonna go back to, but this one is nice and it's very digestible” —Ada Chen in “Stitch Please”
• “The overall consensus seems to be celebratory and gratitude, if I can put it in two words. Folks who are celebrating that this book exists and that women of color are having their voices centred and amplified, and talking to a variety of people. And then the gratitude which extends towards you for creating and pulling this together” —Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “I wanted it to be representative. Not necessarily everybody because that’s impossible, but to include people who are not included” —Jen Hewett in “Stitch Please”
• “In many ways, writing this book didn’t feel like a race because I had this really strong sense that the community would have my back. But then I had to do everybody’s story’s justice in order for people to have my back”  —Jen Hewett in “Stitch Please”

Resources Mentioned

Asian Sewist Collective

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Jen Hewett

Website: Jen Hewett

Instagram: Jen Hewett

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

Check out our merch here
Leave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.
Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon
Check out our Amazon Store

Stay Connected:
YouTube: Black Women Stitch
Instagram: Black Women Stitch
Facebook: Stitch Please Podcast

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon.

Kia Sangria

Kia Sangria is passionate about cosplay, costume creation, being a sewist, and creating costumes for black people in play.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Insights from this episode:

• Kia meeting her husband through cosplay
• Kia’s cosplay-themed wedding
• Kia’s generosity and helping people in sewing and cosplay
• Getting recognition from brands
• Kia being a cosplay panel
• Insights into cos-fashion
• Collaborating with Zelouf fabrics
• Kia’s plans for Halloween

Quotes from the show:

• “For me personally, my husband represents one of the more positives aspects of cosplay which is not just someone in a costume, but actually someone becoming the character” —Kia Sangria in “Stitch Please”
• “That (sharing information generously) is pretty rare, not a lot of folks will go out of their way, they might tell you a few things, but it takes something, I think very generous to create an entire video to show somebody something” —Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “I don’t really do the things that I do for brand recognition, but it’s really nice that folks notice” —Kia Sangria in “Stitch Please”
• “I am a resource; that’s what I tell people, please don’t be afraid to ask me questions cause I am here to help you” —Kia Sangria in “Stitch Please”
• “Color is very big for me. As someone that likes to take different types of creative control over how I make costumes, having so many different shades of blue and green, and what have you, allows me to customize my looks” —Kia Sangria in “Stitch Please”
• “For the type of sewing that I do, which is sewing for cosplay, it’s a little bit different from sewing a blouse, or a shirt, or a pair of pants, or a dress. There is a lot of pieces that go into cosplay making. I am looking to be that resource”  —Kia Sangria in “Stitch Please”
• “Sewing is hard, but I think that sometimes sewing on your own can also be difficult if you do not have that experience, and you do not know where to turn to” —Kia Sangria in “Stitch Please”

Resources Mentioned

Zelouf Fabrics

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Kia Sangria

Facebook: Kia La Sangria

Pinterest: Pinterest

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

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Sarah Hill

Dr. Sarah Ashley Hill is a psychologist and lupus warrior who started sewing in 2019, after learning that she had a severe form of lupus nephritis. Having had a knack for fashion from a young age, Sarah has used sewing as an articulation of her style and to suit her current lifestyle.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Insights from this episode:

• How Sarah got started in sewing
• How diagnosis with lupus led to her sewing journey
• Sarah’s lupus journey
• Sarah’s pursuit of creativity 
• Sewing her grandma’s Bridgerton Ball

Quotes from the show:

• “An artist has to create, so it wasn’t an option for me to not do something with this creative energy. Even if the body was breaking down, not creating, not finding beauty or making beauty was not an option” -Sarah Hill in “Stitch Please”
• “It’s not going to kill me [lupus], or if it kills me, it’s gonna kill me doing what I am gonna do [sewing]” -Sarah Hill in “Stitch Please”
• “What you can’t do and can't control is your attitude, your outlook, the space in your heart, the vision that you have, and those who you’ve allowed to hold that vision with you and for you” -Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “We all get to claim our time, and we do not have to live by someone else’s calendar or somebody else’s clock” -Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “If you wanna do something, just go try it, and if you do not have the resources, there are plenty of organizations like sewing communities if you do not have a sewing machine” -Sarah Hill in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Sarah Hill

Instagram: Sarah Hill

Website: Sewing for Myself 

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

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Shasta Schatz

Shasta Schatz loves to create. Her favorite hobby is sewing, where she dabbles in yarn manipulation, painting, 3D printing, hot gluing, and duct taping. Her costuming inspiration is mainly from the 16th century drawing inspiration from her love of art museums. 

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Insights from this episode:

• Insights on historical costuming
• Differences between costuming and cosplay
• Shasta’s journey in costuming
• How art museums have inspired Shasta’s work
• How Shasta found a community in costuming
• The challenges she has experienced in making garments

Quotes from the show:

• “I do a lot of observing when I am costuming no matter where I am” -Shasta Schatz in “Stitch Please”
• “Every single garment that I make, every accessory, every headpiece, every beaded pin that I put in my hair, I can probably trace it back to art history or letter that was written to a person” -Shasta Schatz in “Stitch Please”
• “I absolutely give out information freely, always send me messages, I will tell everybody everything because nobody told me anything when I started out after college” -Shasta Schatz in “Stitch Please”
• “Nobody wants to sew upholstery fabric by hand, so you put that part in the machine, but you do the linen part by hand” -Shasta Schatz in “Stitch Please”
• “Incorporate a little bit of hand sewing into every single garment that you make” -Shasta Schatz in “Stitch Please”
• “Go out and grab a big three pattern that looks close to what you want coz it’s at least gonna give you an idea of what goes into it” -Shasta Schatz in “Stitch Please”

Resources mentioned:

• Audre Lorde’s essay
• The Tudor Tailor

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Shasta Schatz

Instagram: Shasta 

Facebook: Green Linen Shirt 

Twitter: ScifiCheerGirl 

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

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Serena

Serena sews and collects vintage patterns and sewing machines. She enjoys creating vintage content from the 1940s-1950s for Instagram and YouTube to help encourage diversity in the vintage world and share her passion for vintage style. She enjoys dressing up and creating her vintage reality. 

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Insights from this episode:

• Insights on Serena’s style as a form of costuming
• How Serena describes her style and practice
• Her journey in transforming her wardrobe
• Serena’s journey into vintage clothing
• Serena’s favorite vintage decade
• Insights into Serena’s black vintage inspiration

Quotes from the show:

• “I felt comfortable with myself like as a person, I’ve always been into vintage” -Serena in “Stitch Please”
• “I don’t think I have a favorite, I chose my style in seasons” -Serena in “Stitch Please”
• “I love that your creative genius is not gonna be encumbered by the historical demand of the time” -Lisa in “Stitch Please”
• “I think the word authentic is a word that gets absolutely beaten to death, it gets overused. There are some folks that will have you think that authenticity is a thing that you do, rather than who you are” -Lisa in “Stitch Please”
• “First, I am a creator. I like to dress in the past, but I like to leave room for creativity” -Serena in “Stitch Please”
• “I think 100 percent historical accuracy is not realistic” -Serena in “Stitch Please”
• “I try not to be too inspired by people that I can’t talk to and relate to, and usually that not gonna be celebrities. I try and find inspiration in everyday things and people” -Serena in “Stitch Please”
• “I try and find inspiration from all types of people in all walks of life because I don’t want to live in this tunnel of monotony” -Serena in “Stitch Please”
• “Never believe you are ever done learning” -Serena in “Stitch Please”
• “Don’t underestimate the power of just trying because you really don’t know if you are capable until you actually try” -Serena in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Serena

Instagram: Sewrena

YouTube: SewRena 

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

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Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

Check out our merch here
Leave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.
Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon
Check out our Amazon Store

Stay Connected:
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Instagram: Black Women Stitch
Facebook: Stitch Please Podcast

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon.

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich is a crafter, a blogger, a sewist, and the author of several children’s books, including Operation Sisterhood, It Doesn’t Take A Genius, 8th Grade Superzero, Two Naomis, Saving Earth: Climate Change and the Fight For Our Future, as well as the picture book Someday Is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-Ins, and Mae Makes A Way: The True Story of Mae Reeves, Hat and History Maker. Her most recent release is The Sun Does Shine: An Innocent Man, A Wrongful Conviction, and the Long Path to Justice with Anthony Ray Hinton and Lara Love Hardin. She is the editor of the We Need Diverse Books anthology The Hero Next Door, and has contributed to several collections.

Lisa Woolfork

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English, specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Insights from this episode:

• Olugbemisola’s start of her sewing journey
• Olugbemisola’s childhood and growing up with black dolls
• How Olugbemisola is bringing dignity to black folks through her books and amplifying their voices
• Insights on affirming black women and how they can claim their space in the world
• The power of black creativity
• The connection between writing and sewing
• The process of narrating an audiobook

Quotes from the show:

• “When you make something yourself and put that creative energy into something, it makes it even more special” -Olugbemisola in “Stitch Please”
• “Dignity is not something you give, dignity is something you affirm. Everybody is born with dignity, everybody has it, but not everybody gets to have it affirmed” -Lisa Woolfork  in “Stitch Please”
• “I think a lot of times the focus is on the struggle and the striving and not enough on just the beauty, creativity and the art” -Olugbemisola in “Stitch Please”
• “You have a relationship with every book or every story that you read, and it’s a very personal relationship” -Olugbemisola in “Stitch Please”
• “We are a people, and a people does not throw their geniuses away” -Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “Telling your own story and telling the story of your people and having those stories was just so important to me from a very young age” -Olugbemisola in “Stitch Please”
• “Be generous with yourself, be kind to yourself, do not feel that your process has to reflect anybody else’s ” -Olugbemisola in “Stitch Please”

Resources Mentioned:

In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

Website: Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich 

Instagram: Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich 

Twitter: Olugbemisola 

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

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Facebook: Stitch Please Podcast

Black Girls Sew Projects by Hekima Hapa and Lesley Ware available here

Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon.

Hekima Hapa

Hekima Hapa is the founder of the nonprofit, community organization Black Girls Sew in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Not only is Hapa the founder, but she is a fashion designer and a business owner of Harriet’s by Hekima (HbyH), a Harriet’s Alter Ego company. Hapa is investing her over two decades of experience in fashion styling, fashion merchandising, sewing, and designing to teach courses for Black Girls Sew to leave the youth excited about education in sewing, design, and entrepreneurship. She has also co-authored the book Black Girls Sew with Lesley Ware. 

Lesley Ware

Lesley Ware is an author, educator, entrepreneur, and personality who has written five books: Sew Fab: Sewing and Style for Young Fashionistas, My Fab Fashion Style File, How to Be a Fashion Designer, 101 Ways to Love Your Style and Black Girls Sew.

Lesley’s passion for inspiring youth began when she earned her degrees in Elementary Education and Public Administration and continued when she orchestrated national programs for institutions like the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Girl Scouts of the USA.

She has created fashion education programs for the Parsons School of Design, Metropolitan Museum of Art with the Costume Institute, Pioneer Works, Museum of the City of New York, New Visions, New York Times Student Journeys, and other institutions.

Insights from this episode:

• Insights into what led Lesley and Hekima to write their book
• How they chose the fashion icons to interview in their book
• How denim is connected to black ancestry
• Insights on how they bring in fashion and black cultural knowledge 
• Lessons Hekima and Lesley learned while writing their book during the pandemic
• The lessons they hope people will learn from reading their book

Quotes from the show:

• “I talk to people all the time about how easy it is to upcycle denim and how easily and readily available it is, but it is not something easy to produce” -Hekima Hapa in “Stitch Please”
• “It is really important that we think about it [denim] historically: it being connected to cotton, and how our ancestors being here” -Hekima Hapa in “Stitch Please”
• “Every time that I get an opportunity to do anything, especially working on books, in my head I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to do this again, so I give it everything that I possibly can” -Lesley Ware in “Stitch Please”
• “The logistics of writing a book in the pandemic present challenges and opportunities” -Lesley Ware in “Stitch Please”
• “I think the book itself is like a love letter to Black girls, and that's something that I really love about it” -Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “To get your stitch together, you’ve got to write it down” -Lesley Ware in “Stitch Please”
• “Just keep trying even when it seems impossible, it doesn’t seem like it’s gonna happen: whether it’s stitching and you are making a garment, or it’s really like stitching in life” -Hekima Hapa in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Hekima Hapa

Instagram: Hekima Hapa 

Twitter: Hekima Hapa 

Facebook: Hekima Hapa

Lesley Ware

LinkedIn: Lesley Ware 

Instagram: Lesley Ware 

Twitter: Lesley Ware 

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

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Facebook: Stitch Please Podcast

Support Black Women Stitch on Patreon. 

Bianca Springer was born and raised in The Bahamas, now lives in Pearland, Texas, with her husband and two children. She learned to sew as a child, but says motherhood cultivated her passion for the craft. Representation matters and Bianca always tries to honor that through her writings. Recently she wrote REPRESENT! an embroidery book that looks like you! It celebrates diversity with more than 50 embroidery motifs of people in a wide array of skin colors, body shapes, and natural hairstyles. No need for painstaking design alterations—you can simply jump right in and start stitching. These inclusive embroidery projects represent every kind of beauty; see yourself and your loved ones in these designs. Expand your embroidery and sewing skills while increasing your appreciation of others! Celebrate beautiful YOU!

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English,  specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, Black identity, trauma theory and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she actively resisted the white supremacist marches in her community, Charlottesville Virginia. The city became a symbol of lethal resurging white supremacist violence. #Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the Community Engaged Scholars program. She believes in the power of creative liberation.

Insights from this Episode

• What does the word “represent” means to Bianca
• Why does Bianca feel a strong urge to represent the black community in an unapologetic way
• Bianca’s trajectory writing down her designs and patterns on blogs and  magazines
• How was Bianca’s process to write her book
• How Bianca’s character has been put to test in the industry
• Bianca’s thoughts on community building
• Bianca’s  “Represent!” book and its frames
• What would Bianca say to a person that is looking to “get their stitch together”

Quotes from the Show: 

• "[About  the meaning of represent] It means authentically showing off as your true self or allowing people into your space so they can do that as well" - Bianca Springer in “Stitch Please”
• "This is me stepping into a space, I am not whispering, I am not easing in, I am not trying to stand back and wait for you to acknowledge me, I feel like in my craft life and in the craft spaces I have been in as an introvert, I had been happy to do that" - Bianca Springer in “Stitch Please”
• "We are the ones we have been waiting for" - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• "As someone who is trying to encourage others into craft, I want people to understand perfection is not the goal so if your work is less than perfect framing it elevates it. I’m highlighting the imperfection" - Bianca Springer in “Stitch Please”
• "I say this book [Represent!] is for everyone, not about everyone" - Bianca Springer in “Stitch Please”
• "Try something different and ask themselves two questions beyond their resistance, whatever thing is stopping you from advancing, ask yourself why and then why not and once you begin to explore that, you’re gonna get some stitches together" - Bianca Springer in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Bianca Springer

Website: https://thanksimadethem.com

Blog: https://thanksimadethem.blogspot.com/

Instagram: Bianca Springer

Book: Represent! Embroidery - C&T Publishing

Pinterest: Bianca Springer

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

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Instagram: Black Women Stitch
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Join Black Women Stitch on Patreon. 

Tracy Perry is a self-taught artist with 30+ years of experience in sewing and art to create unique dolls using fabric or clay. She's been creating and selling dolls since 2008. Tracy was the owner and operator of ImaginePerryDolls and TerranDollmaker.  Tracy endeavors to make dolls that show the many colors and uniqueness. She strongly believes that everyone should have access to a doll that looks like them or inspires them. Her dolls have appeared in an issue of Art Dolls Quarterly.  And she has a sincere fan base that includes Virginia-based doll clubs, and collectors from around the United States.

Host: Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of African American Literature and Culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, the fiction of Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black Lives Matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she became a founding member of Black Lives Matter Charlottesville. Actually, she is active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the College Fellows Program to reshape the undergraduate general education curriculum.

Insights from this episode:

• How Tracy got started in doll making
• Insights into the different types of dolls
• Differences between soft sculpture and cloth dolls
• Tracy’s button-jointed doll experience and the lessons she learned
• Tracy’s favorite tools in doll making
• Tracy’s process in doll making and choosing the personality, shape, outfit, and character

Quotes from the show:

• “Plushies can be a novelty, they can represent lots of different things: they can be abstract, they can be representational” -Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “Don’t overcommit if you are a solopreneur” -Tracy Perry in “Stitch Please”
• “You love dolls, you love doll making, and that love was very much tested and it stood its test but you also got to learn lessons about boundaries, about protecting the peace of your creative life” -Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “My number one tool is my hemostat” -Tracy Perry in “Stitch Please”
• “If you have something that is working for you, don’t change” -Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “One of the things I love about your dolls is how they look like you” -Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “I just try to do what I like, I was just bending myself backward trynna say ‘people don’t like this, people don’t like that,’ then I would find out that people did like it” -Tracy Perry in “Stitch Please”
• “I think too often when women, especially Black women, wanna do something that’s self-directive, self-determined, self-reflective, it’s seen as selfish, which is absolutely false” -Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “The work that comes from your hands should reflect the deepest essence of who you are, as well as from the inside and outside” -Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Tracy Perry

Website: Seams Like Tracy

Instagram: TR Perry

YouTube: Seams Like Tracy

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

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Leave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.
Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon
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YouTube: Black Women Stitch
Instagram: Black Women Stitch
Facebook: Stitch Please Podcast

Host: Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of African American Literature and Culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, the fiction of Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black Lives Matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she became a founding member of Black Lives Matter Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the College Fellows Program to reshape the undergraduate general education curriculum.

Guest: Chris Cooper is the owner of Studio Tissue8 and is a Master Seamstress with over 30 years of professional experience specializing in bridal/wedding gowns. Having started sewing for dolls, Chris has transcended all her fears and become a master seamstress and shares her gift of sewing through her store, Studio Tissue8, which offers various services, including its signature Valet Service for Alterations.

Insights from this episode:

• Insights into Chris’ work
• How Chris is sharing her gift of sewing with other people
• Chris’ journey into sewing
• How she came up with the name Studio Tissue8
• Her journey running Studio Tissue8
• Chris’ commitment to sharing her gift of sewing
• How sewing allows her to think and process her problems 
• Chris’ fear of getting started on her journey and how she overcame it

Quotes from the show:

• “I distinctly remember thinking that it was a gift [sewing] because it was never hard for me, it kinda just came to me” - Chris Cooper in “Stitch Please”
• “It was gifted to you so you wanna offer that and amplify that so that other people can have the benefit from it, but also know how to do it themselves as well” - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “There is something about that fabric in my hand, and the sound of the sewing machine that just puts me at total ease” - Chris Cooper in “Stitch Please”
• “I don’t think ‘I can’t do’ it’s just that I have never done it before” - Chris Cooper in “Stitch Please”
• “Something that I tend to think about fear is that sometimes your victory is on the other side of fear” - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “You’re never gonna do anything that you wanna do unless you get yourself out of this fear thing” - Chris Cooper in “Stitch Please”
• “Fear is what pushes you, fear is what makes you do things that are out of your comfort zone. If you don’t have fear, then maybe something is not right” - Chris Cooper in “Stitch Please”
• “When I have fear, it sometimes helps me to get the additional information and to find possibility models” - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Chris Cooper

Website: Studio Tissue8 

Instagram: ​​Studio Tissue8 

Sign up for the Black Women Stitch quarterly newsletter

Check out our merch here
Leave a BACKSTITCH message and tell us about your favorite episode.
Join the Black Women Stitch Patreon
Check out our Amazon Store

Stay Connected:
YouTube: Black Women Stitch
Instagram: Black Women Stitch
Facebook: Stitch Please Podcast

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of African American Literature and Culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, the fiction of Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black Lives Matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she became a founding member of Black Lives Matter Charlottesville. Actually, she is active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the College Fellows Program to reshape the undergraduate general education curriculum.

Teju Adisa Farrar

Teju is an environmental equity consultant, speaker, and creator/host of the Black Material Geographies podcast. She centers on climate, racial, and distributive justice by sharing ideas on regenerative practices and co-collaborative design. Teju uses a social geographies perspective encouraging us to think about space, place, and identity. Teju’s lens includes sustainable fiber and fashion systems, urban ecologies, nature, history, activism, and art. She supports people, collectives, and organizations who are mapping / making alternative futures.

Insights from this episode: 

• How to reclaim the traditions that are valuable art and are valuable to us
• How do we look at geography in relation to humans who identify as Black across the planet
• Strategies to help people get economic independence and freedom so that they have to borrow from people and be forever indebted
• Details on how to alleviate people from poverty and give them a platform for economic freedom
• Why it is important to learn where the different textiles come from
• How understanding the importance of making things for ourselves or where they come from can shift how we consume things

Quotes from the show:

• “We need to know how to make things with our hands because that’s how we can support ourselves and live outside systems that don't support us, that don’t value us and in many cases are violent to us and oppress us” - Teju Adisa Farrar in “Stitch Please”
• “I don't ever underestimate the joy and creativity that is involved in Black folks getting dressed, and especially Black women” - Teju Adisa Farrar in “Stitch Please”
• “Black joy is our birthright. We live within systems of oppression that convince us constantly to devalue the things that we do, that are not connected to capitalism and patriarchy” - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “Freedom isn't a secret; it is a practice” - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “When you get dressed, and you look the way you wanna look, and you wear the colors you wanna wear and texture, and the style, you feel good” - Teju Adisa Farrar in “Stitch Please”
• “What you wear is like your armor” - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “Nature is constantly guiding us and resisting us and our efforts, and we can learn a lot about how the natural world operates” - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “Sustainability is how do we keep things in circulation for as long as possible” - Teju Adisa Farrar in “Stitch Please”
• “Sustainability is if we cannot use it in the way we have been using it, can we use it in a different way and can we find a way to make it work, can we find someone who knows how to use it in a different way” - Teju Adisa Farrar in “Stitch Please”
• “It just the human thing to do, to give people agency, dignity, leisure pleasure” - Teju Adisa Farrar in “Stitch Please”
• “Making is one of the most important pleasures of human life” - Teju Adisa Farrar in “Stitch Please”

Resources Mentioned: 

Black Material Geographies Podcast

Stay Connected:

Black Women Stitch Patreon

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Teju Adisa Farrar

Website: tejuadisafarrar.com

Instagram: @misstej

Twitter: Teju Adisa-Farrar

Facebook: Teju Adisa-Farrar 

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EMERGENCY SUPPORT REQUEST: Sew Hope Community Sewing Room, a Black woman led nonprofit sewing studio was recently damaged by severe flooding: 16 inches of water saturated the newly opened venue. Please donate to the Go Fund Me or directly to the project.  CashApp$SewHopeSTL If financial support is not possible, Sew Hope is accepting donations of machines and fabric. 

About the episode:

Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of African American Literature and Culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, the fiction of Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black Lives Matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she became a founding member of Black Lives Matter Charlottesville. She is active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the College Fellows Program to reshape the undergraduate general education curriculum.

Angela Franklin

With a BA in Art from Xavier University in Cincinnati and her MFA from Bradley University, Angela Franklin-Faye has exhibited her works both throughout the US and internationally.

She has lived abroad since 1997 and, since 2007, has divided her time between Senegal and the United Arab Emirates. This international experience has resulted in a body of work that has encouraged her to chronicle the experiences of people from the diaspora worldwide. 

Her works are presently featured in the national exhibition of Contemporary African Art for the 13th DAK’Art Biennale, along with the Dialogue in Black and White Exhibition at the Charleston City Gallery.  In addition, Paris Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, The Art Hub-Abu Dhabi, The Renwick Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, Ohio Craft Museum, and Musee Boribana - Dakar are just a few spaces that featured her work. Works by Franklin-Faye are in the corporate collections of Atlanta Life Insurance Company, The NationsBank, Arco Chemical, and Household Finance. 

In 2013, she earned a second Master's Degree in Online Education and Leadership Management and credits this with having an even greater impact on her artwork. She is the owner of Chez Alpha Books - a bookstore and academic resource center in Dakar, Senegal.

Insights from this episode:

• Angela’s beginning of her sewing journey
• Angela’s adaptability to the fashion and fabric world
• How she has been able to thrive as an artist based on her geography
• Insights into her study of art at Xavier University
• Insights into slavery and black history in regards to Ohio/Kentucky border
• Insights into the stained glass initiative

Quotes from the show:

• “I made a rule that if I am going to be here, let me find a fabric that is found here, let me not rely on African fabric in the Pacific Island, or if I am in the Middle East, let me rely on the fabric that I find there” -Angela Franklin in “Stitch Please”
• “It’s really incredible because what that [adaptability] allows you to do is to both grow as an artist and to be connected to the community in which you are living” -Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “I used to enamel a lot, do a lot of couple enameling and glass fusing, and my whole passion right now is to go back to it” -Angela Franklin in “Stitch Please”
• “When I do this series of work, I said to everyone that it’s not about the trauma of slavery, it’s about the contributions that they made, economically because they would build the prairie” -Angela Franklin in “Stitch Please”
• “Slavery is not black people's shame. Black people should not be ashamed of having been enslaved. The shame is in white people. The shame is in those folks who could compromise so much of their own beliefs to enact the greatest crime against humanity” -Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “The stain glass initiative seeks to acknowledge and perpetuate the diversity of experience and reflection that is needed to envision a better common good” -Angela Franklin in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Angela Franklin

Instagram: Angela Franklin 

Facebook: Angela Franklin

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Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of English specializing in African American literature and culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, the fiction of Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black Lives Matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she became a founding member of Black Lives Matter Charlottesville. Actually, she is active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the College Fellows Program to reshape the undergraduate general education curriculum.

Support the Black Women Stitch Patreon (swatch cards are available for Patrons to download)

Stay Connected:

Website: Blackwomenstitch.org

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

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Cultured Expressions on the Stitch Please podcast: episode 52 and episode 78.

 Find Lisa Shepard Stewart on social media

Website:  www.CulturedExpressions.com

Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/CulturedExpressions/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/culturedexpressions/

YouTube:  www.youtube.com/CEFabricVideos/Videos

Blog: www.culturedexpressions.wordpress.com

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Host: Lisa Woolfork is an associate professor of African American Literature and Culture. Her teaching and research explore Black women writers, the fiction of Black identity, trauma theory, and American slavery. She is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black Lives Matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she became a founding member of Black Lives Matter Charlottesville. She remains active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the College Fellows Program to reshape the undergraduate general education curriculum.

Marcia Spencer

Marcia Spencer is a style & fashion lover, designer, entrepreneur, and stylist based in Raleigh, Carolina. Marcia loves to incorporate trends into the season and loves the 70s vibes. She has a background in fashion design and retailing and runs the Keechi B Style blog. She has designed and marketed a line of children’s clothing as well as luxury bags and is currently a blogger on the Mood Sewing Network.

Insights from this episode: 

• How to pursue your passion and follow non-traditional careers
• What it means to have a fashion-driven selling philosophy
• How to transition from one business to another and still maintain the passion that you started with
• Details on the inspiration behind the fashion pieces that Marcia creates
• Strategies for getting inspiration from others and tailoring it to fit your style

Quotes from the show:

• “I never thought about it [sewing] as something I could do, make it a career” - Marcia Spencer in “Stitch Please”
• “Fashion has always been a part of me” - Marcia Spencer in “Stitch Please”
• “I am driven by fashion; I make clothes that I want to wear. Why make something that you are not going to feel fabulous in?” - Marcia Spencer in “Stitch Please”
• “Your selling is very fashion-forward and fashion-driven” - Lisa Woolfork, Episode #4
• “Fashion does push the envelope” - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “Everybody has their own style, and sometimes people haven’t defined their style yet” - Marcia Spencer in “Stitch Please”
• “You know how to sell; you can make it” - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “The selling process is both a skill and an art, and you’ve been able to use your sewing machine to bring those together” - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “I think the best way to go about it [fashion] is to look at it as inspiration, not as to copy it, but to be inspired by it” - Marcia Spencer in “Stitch Please”
• “One of the great things I like about buying a pattern is that we can buy the same pattern and it's not going to turn out the same” - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• “What you wear speaks volumes” - Marcia Spencer in “Stitch Please”
• “I am very passionate about wearing the inside on the outside” - Marcia Spencer in “Stitch Please”
• “I like to be versatile when I go about my pieces… I like to get the most about my outfit ” - Marcia Spencer in “Stitch Please”
• “The biggest thing to get your stitch together is to look at inspiration from other Instagramers and other stitchers, and creators and get inspiration from them, but be yourself” - Marcia Spencer in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Marcia Spencer

Website: Marcia Spencer

Instagram: Marcia Spencer

Blog: STYLE BLOG | Keechii B Style

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Mahdiyyah Muhammad is a self-taught Artist, Fashion Designer, and Instructor who began designing at a very young age, breathing new life into discarded clothing. 

She draws inspiration from her practice of fabric alchemy; with an ability to take recycled, bio-based materials and turn them into one of one works of wearable art that boost healing properties. Taken from her research of naturally occurring materials and the effects they have on the body, each design is created with intentional fabric carrying high vibrational frequency like linen, cotton, wool, and organic cotton. Knowing the body in its optimal health has a vibrational frequency of 100, and fabrics like linen and wool contain an extremely high frequency of 5,000, she carefully selects her materials with this in mind. Mahdiyyah speaks more about this in her educational fabric workshops.

With a passion for sharing her knowledge about fabric textile origins, healing qualities, and sewing education, she offers sewing classes, educational healing fabric workshops, and project-based sessions. Her upbringing in East Orange, NJ rooted her values in the importance of community, and creating opportunities for others who may not easily be afforded them. Other initiatives include mentorship opportunities for youth, and collaborations with various community organizations to provide sewing and healing fabric workshops for their members.

Insights from this Episode

• How Mahdiyyah would characterize her sewing story
• How Mahdiyyah built her creativity
• At what point in her life Mahdiyyah decided she wanted to make design her only career
• How Mahdiyyah made all her pieces without a sewing machine
• Why doing her own outfits was a special moment for Mahdiyyah in order to build her confidence
• How Mahdiyyah founded her own business
• Why "repurposing textile" is fundamental forMahdiyyah’s business
• How did Mahdiyyah pair fashion with teaching and community building
• How Mahdiyyah’s experience with an artist in Barbados influenced her purpose with fashion
• What challenges did Mahdiyyah face in her collection of natural materials
• How Mahdiyyah’s childhood influenced her desire to help under-resourced communities through fashion
• What is fabric alchemy
• How does vibration in fabrics works
• What Mahdiyyah would say to help someone to "get their stitch together"

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Mahdiyyah Muhammad

Website: https://www.mahdiyyah.co/

LinkedIn: Mahdiyyah Muhammad 

Instagram: Fabric Alchemist

Facebook: Mahdiyya Mbugua

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Lisa Woolfork is the convener and founder of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black Lives Matter. She is also the host/producer of Stitch Please, a weekly audio podcast that centers on Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. In the summer of 2017, she became a founding member of Black Lives Matter Charlottesville. Actually, she is active in a variety of university and community initiatives, including the College Fellows Program to reshape the undergraduate general education curriculum.

Stephanie Dean is a vintage-style handmade doll with a modern twist, she wears beautifully colored dresses that are fashioned to appeal to today’s modern child. She has always loved dolls, and her mother, an elementary school teacher, went to great lengths to find African American dolls for her because her mother felt it was important for Stephanie’s self-image to have a positive reflection of herself during playtime. Actually, she is the founder of Cinnamon Annie Dolls where she always seeks to make her dolls representative of her and the black race taking into account the nostalgia of the classic dolls her customers remember from their childhood as well as the modern styling that a contemporary little girl would like. Stephanie has lived in Georgia all her life, she is a keepsake doll and believes that dolls can be everything that you want them to be, the dolls can be played with, used for decoration or collected. Stephanie is married to Tony and is the mother of two young adults, Joseph and Danielle.

Insights from this Episode

• Stephanie’s childhood and her relationship with dolls
• Why Stephanie’s mother wanted her to have black dolls
• Why dolls are important for a child's imagination
• How times have changed for black representation in media
• How Stephanie got involved in AfroBlack Women
• How Stephanie got the opportunity to expose her dolls in the Time Square
• How her company started to grow
• How the last quarter of 2021 was life-changing for Stephanie
• What would Stephanie say to a person that is looking to “get their stitch together”

Quotes from the Show: 

• "A doll can become a friend, you know they’re always there, the doll can become anything that the child wants it to become…it can become a playmate, it can become a tool for learning" - Stephanie Dean in “Stitch Please”
• "I think we have better success, a  more sustainable success when we work in a community than when we are individually scrabbling against each other…there is abundance, there is enough" - Lisa Woolfork in “Stitch Please”
• "Get back to basics and do some things and improve productivity" - Stephanie Dean in “Stitch Please”
• "Follow your enthusiasm…learn about it, love on it, do the best as you can because if you decide to turn this into a business you are going to have to be enthusiastic about it because it's a lot of work" - Stephanie Dean in “Stitch Please”

Stay Connected:

Lisa Woolfork

Instagram: Lisa Woolfork

Twitter: Lisa Woolfork

Stephanie Dean

Website: https://www.stepstitches.com/

Instagram: Stephanie Dean

Facebook: StepStitches 

Pinterest: Stephanie Dean

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Dr. Plummer's website

Stitch x Stitch conference

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Deborah's gorgeous is shop, Our Fabric Stash, located within Seattle's Pike Place Market.

This show was supported by Afros and Audio, (instagram, facebook) and by Bernina

Bernina ambassadors and past Stitch Please guests include Aaronica Cole and The Corny Rainbow, Nefertiti Griggs

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Jonelle Dawkins

Momo con. 

Blurred con 

closet cosplay.

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Laquana's Blue Cup Shop is on Etsy,  Instagram

That Black Chic

Laquana mentions a  sewing class, Skirt Skills and follow-up classes with Brooks Ann Camper .

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Find out more about Neci Love Harmon

TikTok

Instagram

You Tube

Website

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Resources Mentioned:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mondes_threads/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mondesthreads

Website: https://mondechisenga.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkL2FJlQ6U3NmPPtc10Z9hg

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Dru Christine's website is druchristine.com.

Dru is also on Facebook and Instagram @druchristine

BlackWomenStitch Instagram, homepage, Patreon

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Learn more about DC Frocktails on the website and Instagram page. 

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Aja Barber’s website, instagram, facebook

Aja Barber’s book, Consumed: The Need for Collective Change

Aja intentionally has only one sponsor, Vestiaire Collective and provides special access to her  Patreon supporters.

Aja mentions Fashion Revolution, the world’s largest fashion activism movement

What should everyone watch? Aja says “The Story of Stuff!” 

BlackWomenStitch Instagram,  homepage, Patreon

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Find Shams el-Din Rogers' on Instagram

Shams mentions reading Vicki Robin,

Shams volunteers at Creative Reuse Toronto.

Lisa and Sham mention Aja Barber and her book Consumed 

Aja is on the podcast next week!

Lisa mentions a poem by Francis Ellen Watkins Harper

Lisa also mentions Fannie Lou Hamer's 1971 speech "Nobody's free until everybody's free."

Shams mentions Shaun King's vertically-integrated, Black t-shirt company, A Real One

Black Women Stitch's NEW webpage, patreon

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Follow Nefertiti Griggs on  socials!
@thecornyrainbow and @nefertitihaidera (photography page) on IG 

Meaningful sewing events:  Find out more about these on her website!

Pretty Girls Sew Rippin Aint Easy challenge

Rare Oscar De La Renta vintage Vogue pattern (met President Obama and Michelle)

Beyonce 2016 Grammy bridal gown

Her 2019 vow renewal gown

Black Magic Collab with Spoonflower and J.Clapp

Articles:

Featured on the cover of  Sewn magazine's 2021 October issue 

10 Black Sewists you should follow- Spoonflower

Creating Black Magic - Spoonflower

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Alexis Galloway on Instagram

Sew Sweet Academy website, Alexis' Etsy Shop

It's Sew Sweet to Learn Facebook group

My Pretty Perfect Planner by Alexis

BlackWomenStitch Instagram, homepage, Patreon

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e bond’s webpage

Stitch Please Episode 113 "e bond's GLYPHS: A Fabric Collection of Black Women Writers"

Stitch Please Episode 93 "Threads Across Time" with Sarah Bond

Lisa's teaching partner mentioned Tobiah Mundt interviewed in Episode 44: Tuft Love: Felt(ing) Emotions with Tobiah Mundt

e bond’s Glyph fabric collection from Free Spirit fabrics

Sarah, e and Lisa discuss Lucille Clifton's poem, "Reply" as well as My Monticello by Jocelyn Johnson

 One of e bond's newest artists books is in a show RIGHT NOW. Details below:
Adaptation: Artist Books for a Changing Environment, Bauer Wurster Hall
at University of California, Berkeley

Check out e bond's online Creativebug classes:
Words Inform Images: 31 Prompts Using Writing as Inspiration for Art
Unconventional Book Structures

Personal Map Making - A Daily Mixed Media Practice

Upcoming for Sarah Bond at Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center:

Play with Color and Greyscale with Sarah Bond - Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center

All the Elements: Designing Quilts with Foundation Piecing with Sarah Bond

AND upcoming for Sarah Bond at the Madeline Island School of the Arts: Piecing Perspectives–Medallion Madness!

Y'all, ask your LQS (local quilt shop) to carry GLYPHS or find it at online retailers including Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Here are the garments Lisa plans to sew with GLYPHS: Zadie jumpsuit, Adrienne Blouse, Valerie Dress

BlackWomenStitch Instagram, homepage, Patreon

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Dr. Diana Baird N'Diaye

Instagram @dndaiaye

gorgeous website: https://ndiayedesign.myportfolio.com/

Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited or HARYOU

Mamie Phipps Clark  and Kenneth Clark

Cyril deGrasse Tyson led anti-poverty programs inside and outside of government

Zelda Wynn Valdes, American fashion designer and costumer

Arthur Mitchell, American ballet dancer, choreographer and founder of ballet companies

Gladys Knight

Eartha Kitt, American singer, actress, comedian, dancer and activist

Diahann Carroll, American actress, singer, model, activist

Mae West, American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, and singer

John Whittington Franklin, historian

The Will To Adorn, African American Dress and the Aesthetics of Identity and at the Museum of the African Diaspora

The Crown Act

The DuSable Museum of African American History

Institute of Texan Cultures

Madaha Kinsey-Lamb, Mind Builders Creative Arts Center

Crafts of African Fashion

Camila Bryce-Laporte,  "Black In The Land of the Piscataway"

Kibibi Ajanku

Michael Twitty, Tastemaker

James Beard Award

BlackWomenStitch Instagram, homepage, Patreon

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Kianga Art webpage, instragram, facebook

Reginald Lewis

LaVerne Hall, Holiday Festival of Black Dolls

Crowations

International Black Doll Show and Sale, Philadelphia

Faith Ringgold

Gee's Bend Quilters

Read Until You Understand; the Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature, Farah Jasmine Griffin

Walter Dean Myers

Of Water and The Spirit, Maliodoma Patrice Some

 Palm Beach Culture Council Artist Innovator Fellowship

Gwendolyn Aqui-Brooks, Mixed Media Artist

Lauren Austin, Fiber Art and Art Quilts

Christena Cleveland, God Is a Black Woman

Kevin Quashie, Black Aliveness, or A Poetics of Being

The Sovereignty of Quiet: Beyond Resistance in Black Culture

The Nap Ministry

BlackWomenStitch Instagram, homepage, Patreon

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Resources:

• Episode 12 of Stitch Please
• Social Justice Sewing Academy
• Stitching Stolen Lives: Social Justice Sewing Academy Remembrance Project book
• The Yarn Mission
• National Quilting Museum (a.k.a. Paducah)
• Latifah Saafir
• Libs Elliott
• Kevin E. Quashie, "Black Alivesness or, A Poetics of Being"
• Places to find Sara's book events and the Remembrance Project banners: Pacific International Quilt Festival (PIQF), Santa Monica Pop-Up Shop, October  11,  Quilt Con in February
• C&T Publishing
• Bisa Butler, Artist
• BlackWomenStitch Instagram, homepage, Patreon

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Patricia Turner

Crafted Lives: Stories and Studies of African American Quilters, Patricia Turner. January 2009

Paremiologist-one who studies proverbs

Alan Dundes

Ralph Ellison

Gee’s Bend

Claudia Rankine, Citizen

Chimamanda Adichie

Gladys-Marie Fry

Deborah Grayson

Stitched from the Soul, Slave Quilts from the Antebellum South, Gladys-Marie Fry

Church's Chicken myth

Underground Railroad Quilt Codes

Hidden in Plain View

Ashley’s Sack (book All that She Carried, by Tiya Miles)

Roots: The Saga of an American Family, Alex Haley

Bisa Butler 

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A House Called Hue, Destiny Brewton 

Destiny's AMAZING webpage

You can find her on facebook

or on Instagram

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Kristine Mays website, instagram, facebook

Eldridge Cleaver, writer and political activist

''Our crown has already been bought and paid for. All we have to do is wear it.'' -James Baldwin

Lisa shared her exploration of “Forecrafting:” using one’s limited resources to craft something that will save and preserve your future- whether you’re there to see it or not. inspired by Joshebed, biblical Moses’ mother, and fueled by Sally Hemmings, an enslaved Black girl (she gave birth to her first child by Thomas Jefferson at 14) and woman (half-sister to Jefferson's wife) who "negotiated extraordinary privileges" with  Jefferson  for the eventual freedom of her children by him.  

Cecile Lewis, teacher, natural dyer, quilter, and artist

Lisa mentions Kristine’s show “The Black Woman is God: Divine Revolution”

Kristine’s upcoming installation can be experienced at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, during the Orchid Daze February 12-April 10, 2022

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e bond’s webpage

e bond’s Creativebug classes  

e bond’s Glyph fabric collection from Free Spirit fabrics

Writers mentioned from Glyph fabric collect: Nella Larsen, Phillis Wheatley, Maya Angelou, Octavia Butler, Lorraine Hansberry, Lucille Clifton

The Slowdown podcast

Tracy K Smith former host of The Slowdown podcast and author of Declaration

Ada Limón, poet and current host of The Slowdown podcast

Black authors Lisa mentions teaching:  Zora Neale Hurston, Dorothy West, Ann Petry, Tayari Jones, Gwyndolyn Brooks (Maud Martha), Kevin Quashie (The Sovereignty of Quiet: Beyond Resistance in Black Culture)

June Jordan on Philis Wheatley

In the Wake: On Blackness and Being by Christina Sharpe

Hortense Spillers

Claude McKay

Countee Cullen

Langston Hughes

Plum Bun: A Novel Without a Moral, There Is Confusion, by Jessie Redmon Fauset

Aracelis Girmay

Zadie Smith

e bond’s cousin, Sarah Bond’s conversation “Threads Across Time” on Stitch Please in July 2021

Zadie Smith

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Vikisews Patterns

Marimekko

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