Garment Girlies of Black Sewing Network

Stitch Please

Episode • Nov 9, 2023 • 46m

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Black Sewing Network

Black Sewing Network is a platform that celebrates and amplifies black voices in the sewing community. We host daily sewalongs on social media that encourage and motivate members of the sewing community to sew daily!

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 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. 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 the Garment Girlies got started with the Black Sewing Network
How LaShuan originally connected with Carmen Green through instagram, where Carmen hosted “Sew Saturdays”
Why TikTok is a more vibrant platform to host
The Black Sewing Network provided guidance, explanations for sewing terminology, and strategies for community members
How going live on social media platforms helps to strengthen the community of sewers by supporting each other through challenges
The Black Sewing Network community encourages collaboration and mutual support, even helping each other to gain followers on social media
Benefits of feeling safe and welcome in a community
Emphasis on how the Black Sewing Network community feels encouraged to pursue their own sewing styles and interests without pressure to conform to specific aesthetics
Expressions of gratitude for the Black Sewing Network’s positive impact on their unique sewing journeys
Conversations surrounding garments include discussions about patterns used, various challenges faced during the sewing processes, and the significance of pieces created
The Garment Girlies strategies to help us get our stitch together

Quotes from the show:

“BSN is really all about you being yourself and expressing yourself how you want to.” - Aiysha, Stitch Please, Episode # 205
“It's just really that simple that you can be who you want to be and who you are and you can elevate that you could do it, how you want to do it, hack it, play around, I think with BSN it allows us to just play and have fun and try stuff out and seam rip a lot.” - Aiysha, Stitch Please, Episode #205
“BSN is that environment where there are teachers, everybody's a teacher no matter what level you are… Whether you're in the role of the teacher or the role of the student, it's a safe place where we know that there's really an opportunity for everyone to learn.” - LaShuan, Stitch Please, Episode #205
“I think that breaking down barriers can be one of the first steps to learning.” - Lisa Woolfork, Stitch Please, Episode #205
“Just start. It doesn't matter where you're starting from. Like I said earlier, I started my Instagram and tiktok in March of this year and here I am a BSN host. I never would have thought I would have that even, no one would have even known who I was at this point in time.The community will meet you where you're at and just start, you never know who you're going to influence who you're gonna impact and what your story could do for somebody else, even if we're just sewing.” - DeJanee, Stitch Please, Episode #205
“To those that are listening, those that are watching, to just simply be you. Like, I think when it comes to sewing, you have so many opportunities, so many ways to be able to express yourself. There was always a saying that I would say that style is the inner workings of you and fashion is the show for everyone to see.” - Aiysha, Stitch Please, Episode #205

Resources Mentioned: