Mission

Black Women Stitch is the sewing group where Black lives matter.

Vision

Center Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing while promoting the principles of Black liberation, radical self-love, and social justice.

Black Women Stitch

Founded in July 2018 by Lisa Woolfork, the project grew from the wake of her trauma as an Black Lives Matter-Charlottesville organizer in the summer of 2017. She was locked in the church across the street during the white supremacist torch march and attack on August 11, 2017. The next day, she was at the deadly intersection of the car attack on August 12, 2017.  

During that devastating summer, Lisa lost her sewing community as well. The white sewists and quilters she had known for and sewed with for decades rejected her–bitterly, abruptly, and completely–when she tried to bring her whole self as a Black woman and activist into what she thought was her community.

That taught her that not only does racism present itself even in communities where Black people are welcome on the surface, but that Black women need spaces where we can convene and connect as our whole selves.

There is a significant difference between
“all are welcome here” and “this was created with you in mind”.

Timeline

Stitching Through Resilience and Empowerment

Delve into the inspiring journey of Black Women Stitch, a movement born from resilience and empowerment. Explore the pivotal moments and milestones that have shaped this community into a vibrant hub for sewing, activism, and the celebration of Black creativity.

Discover the timeline of Black Women Stitch, from its poignant origins in 2018 to its present-day impact, fostering a space where Black lives, voices, and skills flourish through the art of sewing and the pursuit of social justice.

July 2018

BWS started with an IG post

March 2019

Idea sparked for podcast

May 2019

Attended PodinLive NYC hosted by Tea with Queen and J. She participated in a Sidewalk Summit with a group of women of color, including Danielle Desir Corbett and Lee Uhera. Lisa had a list of a equipment to buy.

July 2019

Sat down with AD Carson to learn the very basics of audio production. Lisa learns that “track” does not mean “song.” She learns about the layering and puzzle piece movement of sound visually expressed.

Lisa composes the Stitch Please podcast theme song using GarageBand and her iPhone, which she places next to to the sewing machine to record the rhythmic sound of stitching a seam. She uses this sound as a track combining it with vocalizations and beats that remind her of music playing on the radio when she was a kid.

August 2019

Lisa meets with James Dornberg, who she calls the secret brother of Ben Dornberg who she has known for a while without knowing he had a brother, so why the secrets? Anyways, James The Secret Brother is good at audio design and teaches Lisa to seamlessly fade sounds in and out.

Lisa releases the trailer for the Stitch Please podcast.

September 2019

First episode on Back to School (interviewed her kids!)

November 2019

The first Blacker Friday episode promoting Black owned sewing/crafting related businesses.

December 2019

10K downloads

2020

Started Marking Tools series

First Birthday episode: Lisa is interviewed by Jill Bates Moore

December 2020 – 100k downloads

2021

First BWS Wall Calendar. Art by Svenja Lyon, who later won an award for the illustrations.

Started Sewing Spaces series

Started Fat Quarter series

2022

Ranked top .5% podcast globally

Presentation about Artist-Activists Reimagining Justice with Aram Han Sifuentes

Live event in Seattle, WA

Live event in Chicago, IL

Nominated for Ambies Best Indie podcast

Essence magazine’s 13 Black Podcasts to Listen to This Fall

2023

Ranked top .5% podcast globally

Sew Black 4 day event at QuiltCon

Nominated for Best Theme Song, Sonic Bloom Awards

Nominated for People’s Choice Best Podcast Award

200 episode celebration!

Events & Activities

Since 2019, Black Women Stitch has held in-person events in the Charlottesville, Virginia area that center Black women and share the gift of sewing. Thanks to generous donations of money, materials, in-kind gifts, and volunteer time from our supporters, we keep the barriers to entry as low as possible.

In-person activities and events are still on hold, but join our mailing list to be the first to learn of our sewing education, sewing meet-ups, and other sewing events.

Virtual Events

Join us for weekly chats on Instagram Live. We address topics of interest, current affairs, and answer questions about sewing, building racial equity, Black activism, and dismantling white supremacy.

Our online chats are Black centered and available for anyone on IG who is interested in sewing and believes that Black Lives Matter. Whether you love the idea of creativity and self-empowerment through making your own clothes but have never tried sewing or you’re an established sewist who made yourself a wardrobe a fashionista would envy, we’re your sewing and activism community.

Sewing Studios

If you’re new to sewing or have only worked on basic projects before, our sewing studios are a great place to improve your sewing skills or start to learn how to make your own clothes, accessories, or housewares. If you’re an experienced sewist, consider joining us at our next sewing studio to share your skills and meet fellow Black women, girl, and femme makers.

In July 2019, we offered a Pop-Up Sewing Studio, which brought 20 sewing stations and sewing instruction in skirt making for 40 students in the Charlottesville area. Thanks to a SOUPgrant from New City Arts, 20 of these students received scholarships.

The Stitch Please Podcast

The STITCH PLEASE podcast fills a prominent niche and need for Black women sewists while educating all listeners about issues of consequence in the lives of Black people. The podcast discusses sewing in detail, including sewing tips and hacks, how to design your own clothing, and Black fashion, along with antiracist conversation that affirms and centers Black women, femmes, and girls.

Even though sewing and making has been central to the Black experience in the United States and African American women have built businesses, supported families, and expressed their creativity with sewing, the needle arts of sewing and quilting have a long history of minimizing, erasing, and silencing Black women. Institutions, including sewing institutions, have tried to exclude Black women, but this podcast puts African American women who create and sew in the center of the discussion.

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