Making Stitches Podcast
A podcast celebrating creative crafts and inspiring makers.
Episodes
84 episodes since 2020
THREADS OF PROTEST with Dr Gemma McKenzie
My guest for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast has a background in law and human rights and a passion for crochet too. Dr Gemma McKenzie is a researcher in the Midwifery Department at King's College London specialising in maternity rights...
August 15, 2024
•
30:44
CREATING A DIGITAL YARN COMMUNITY with Jane Abraham, The Cornish Knitter
When my guest on today's episode was about to leave a career in London for a quieter pace of life on the Cornish coast, one of her first concerns was where she would be able to buy yarn from. Fast forward a few years and Jane Abraham not only h...
August 01, 2024
•
Season 8
•
Episode 76
•
36:43
Finishing a Creative Legacy with Jen Simonic from the Loose Ends Project
One of the unexpected things many people experience when they lose a loved one and have to sort through their posessions, can be unfinished craft projects. Maybe the person who has died was partway through making a baby blanket for a new family...
July 18, 2024
•
Season 8
•
Episode 75
•
40:42
Finding Joy in Making with Emma Varnam
This time on Making Stitches Podcast, I'm thrilled to be sharing a chat I had with knitting & crochet designer, Emma Varnam.To date, Emma has written 13 books filled with inspiring designs for your home and to gift, from granny squa...
July 04, 2024
•
Season 8
•
Episode 74
•
30:42
Selling Your Makes on Etsy with Claire Reed
For some of us makers, there's the desire to take our creativity beyond something which is purely a hobby. Whether we opt to teach our craft to others, design patterns or sell finished items at craft fairs or online, there are many ways to pote...
June 20, 2024
•
Season 8
•
Episode 73
•
22:59
THE LONGEST YARN: Commemorating D-Day in Yarn
Yesterday marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. Along with the military commemorations, there was a very special one created in yarn, by hundreds of knitters & crocheters around the globe - The Longest Yarn....
June 06, 2024
•
Season 8
•
Episode 72
•
37:29
Creativity for Mental Health : a Dive into the Making Stitches Podcast Archives
Hello, I’m thrilled to be back with another series of episodes of Making Stitches Podcast. This time I’m doing something a bit different, instead of launching the new series with a new interview, I’ve taken a dive into the archives.Sinc...
May 23, 2024
•
Season 8
•
Episode 71
•
28:02
A Decade of Keeping Calm and Crocheting On with Heather Gibbs
Ten years ago, Heather Gibbs was looking for an outlet for her crochet creativity and set up her blog; Keep Calm and Crochet On UK. Little did she know that her blog would be going from strength to strength a whole decade later, but that she wo...
March 15, 2024
•
Season 7
•
Episode 70
•
26:54
WHY SEWING MATTERS with Barbara Burman
Hello and welcome to Making Stitches Podcast!My guest for this episode is the historian and writer, Barbara Burman, whose latest book is 'The Point of the Needle - Why Sewing Matters'. Barbara, a retired academic from the University of ...
February 29, 2024
•
Season 7
•
Episode 69
•
47:58
Spinning, Weaving and Niddy-Noddies with Cathy Wright from Lazy Kate Textiles
Welcome to the first episode of Making Stitches in 2024! Sorry for the longer than anticipated break. This is the first of the final three episodes in series seven. This time, I’m sharing a chat I had late last year with ...
February 15, 2024
•
Season 7
•
Episode 68
•
27:44
MAKING STITCHES 2023 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
Hello there and welcome to the Making Stitches Podcast 2023 Christmas Special. Join me for a selection box of treats looking back at the past 12 months in my podcast world.You can hear from guests including Dr Mia Hobbs from the 'Why I ...
December 21, 2023
•
Season 7
•
Episode 67
•
27:16
LOVING THE LANGUAGE OF CROCHET with Jane Czaja
Jane Czaja has been trying to spread the love of crochet for decades, from teaching beginners groups back in the 1980s to running a crochet and chat group in her local library now! Jane has always been a maker, and since her retirement from com...
December 07, 2023
•
Season 7
•
Episode 66
•
33:27
Deck the Halls with the Greater Manchester Mayor's Charity
This time on Making Stitches Podcast, I want to share a great initiative which is happening in my home city of Manchester. Homelessness is a problem all year round in towns and cities across the world, not just here in the UK and it's a complex...
November 23, 2023
•
Season 7
•
Episode 65
•
15:15
THE GREAT NORTHERN TEXTILE SHOW 2023
Hello and welcome to this latest episode of Making Stitches Podcast where I'm taking you out on the road with me to the second Great Northern Textile Show which happened a couple of weeks ago in Manchester.You'll hear from a selection o...
November 10, 2023
•
Season 7
•
Episode 64
•
44:48
Black Sheep Wools at 40 & looking ahead to the Great Northern Textile Show 2023
Back in July, Black Sheep Wools, the largest independent yarn shop in the UK celebrated its 40th birthday. Friends of Black Sheep Wools were invited to join in with a two-day-long birthday party at the Craft Barn in Culcheth, Warrington. I went...
October 26, 2023
•
Season 7
•
Episode 63
•
30:07
KNITTING IS THERAPEUTIC with Dr Mia Hobbs
When clinical psychologist, Dr Mia Hobbs, was studying at university, her mother suggested taking up knitting would be a great antidote for intensive study. Mia took her Mum's advice and started knitting a shawl which grew gradually as she work...
October 12, 2023
•
Season 7
•
Episode 62
•
32:05
From Food Styling to Sewing with Jen Rich
Hello and welcome back to Making Stitches Podcast, it's so good to be back with you. I had to take and extended break from podcasting due to a lot of 'stuff' going on, but I'm thrilled to be back with you now with the first episode of Series 7!...
September 28, 2023
•
Season 7
•
Episode 61
•
36:52
MAKING STITCHES PODCAST SERIES 7 TRAILER
Hello! Making Stitches is coming back very soon for a 7th series. Among my guests in the coming weeks will be food stylist & photographer turned sewing designer Jen Rich to talk about her new book aimed at beginners and established sewists ...
September 15, 2023
•
Season 7
•
Episode 0
•
4:22
TAPESTRY CROCHET with CATHERINE CROCHETS
Way back in December 2022 I promised you this episode of Making Stitches with crochet designer Catherine from Catherine Crochets. Unfortunately, life rather got in the way of those plans, so now, six months later than originally promised is the...
July 06, 2023
•
Season 6
•
Episode 60
•
24:10
2022 CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR SPECIAL PART 2 : REVIEW OF THE YEAR
It's that time again, as 2022 draws to a close, I'm taking you on a romp through this year's Making Stitches back catalogue with a few of my highlights.You can hear from Figen Murray, Amanda Bloom from Cosy Life Boxes, Rafael Alcaide fr...
December 29, 2022
•
Season 6
•
Episode 59
•
29:23
2022 CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR SPECIAL PART 1 : OLD FRIENDS
In this, the first of two Christmas and New Year specials this year, I catch up with a few old friends of the podcast: Lisa & Lynda-Rose from The Crochet Sanctuary (my first ever guests on Making Stitches) and Christine Perry, otherwise kno...
December 22, 2022
•
Season 6
•
Episode 58
•
30:05
Stand With Ukraine Art Quilts Auction with Olesya Lebedenko
We first met Olesya Lebedenko on the podcast back in March. Olesya is a Ukrainian textile artist who designs the most beautiful art quilts. She moved to Canada with her family back in 2014 and since then has become a Bernina ambassador as well ...
December 19, 2022
•
Season 6
•
Episode 57
•
44:56
THE POWER OF SEWING with Clare Hunter & Michelle Edwards
This time on Making Stitches, I'm sharing a couple of chats I had recently with authors who have written about sewing and the power it gives, from offering respite and hope in the hardest of situations and a voice to those who have had theirs s...
December 08, 2022
•
Season 6
•
Episode 56
•
44:58
Sewing to Save the Planet with Stitched Up!
Disposable fast fashion is a huge cause of pollution and damage to the environment, but one community benefit society in Manchester has been doing its bit to help for the past decade. Stitched Up! which is now based in Stretford Mall in Greater...
November 24, 2022
•
Season 6
•
Episode 55
•
25:29
Amoami: A Symbol of Crochet Resistance with Rafael Alcaide
A chance experience at an airport back in March left its mark on Rafael Alcaide. On returning home to Madrid, Rafael saw a large group of Ukrainian women and children who had just arrived from fleeing the invasion in their homeland. Wan...
November 10, 2022
•
Season 6
•
Episode 54
•
20:14