Happy New Year! Sankofa!

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Many thanks to the listeners and supporters who responded to my request on 12/31/20 to meet a goal. At the end of 2020, I needed 340 downloads to reach 120,000. I was a bit embarrassed to ask, but I did. And I am glad. You amazing people ended up downloading more than 4000 episodes!  Such abundance! Thank you!

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This beautiful, full-color printed calendar features original illustrations celebrating Black women, girls, and femmes in sewing. The calendar’s dates include important moments in Black history, sewing history, and activist history. Calendar measures 8.5″ by 11″ when folded in half and 17″ by 11″ when hanging, unfolded, from a wall. $38 with free shipping to USA for preorders received by 1/12/2021. 

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Sankofa 2021

Lisa Woolfork: Hello stitchers. Welcome to Stitch Please, the  official podcast of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group where Black lives matter. I'm your host. Lisa Woolfork. I'm a fourth generation sewing, enthusiasts with more than 20 years of sewing experience. I am looking forward to today's conversation. So sit back, relax, and get ready to get your stitch together.

[00:00:25]Hello, everyone. Hello everyone. And welcome to the Stitch Please podcast. This is our first episode for 2021. So let me say happy new year to you, even though the new year has been going for about six days. This is my first time recording in 2021. So I'm glad to be here. And today we are going to talk about Sankofa.

[00:00:48] I've mentioned Sankofa last year. I think it's a nice tradition to use, to think about where we have been in the past and what kind of things we want to bring and take into us with, take with us into the future. So Sankofa is an Akan word, a K a N that breaks down into its elemental parts of "San", S a N to mean return.

[00:01:12] "Ko "K O which means go and "Fa" which means look, see, or take. Now, when you put those three components of the word together, you get a variety of translations. One of them includes it is not taboo to go back and reclaim what is at risk of being lost. Being lost. Another translation is it is important to look back at the past in order to get direction and guidance for the future.

[00:01:41] And so what I'd like to do today is to look back a little bit at 2020, which I know for many people has been a very challenging year. We had a global pandemic, which we are still working through.  There've been tremendous losses because  federal government ineptitude, which then trickled down and put a lot of burden on States in the United States.

[00:02:02] This global pandemic has affected all corners of the world. There are places who have been able to do very well. In keeping their population safe because they prioritize that. And I think about places like New Zealand, as an example of that such successful response, and some States have had some pockets of success, but right now we're still in the throws of this virus.

[00:02:25] Even as vaccines are on the way. And now being used in certain for certain high risk populations, such as medical professionals. But when I think back to 2020, there are some aspects that I would like to keep. And the first thing I'd like to keep yeah, gratitude, I felt immense gratitude for the opportunities that I was afforded.

[00:02:53] I was able to stay home and work from home.  Many people didn't have that option. I was also really grateful for the support that my listeners and supporters gave  the stitch please podcast. And so I just wanted to share one quick example back on December 31st.  I put out a call for  specific support.  I was trying to get a certain number, just a certain. Round number that I thought was very symbolic and important. And I'll tell you a little bit of the backstory.At the end of 2019, the Stitch Please podcast had crossed 10,000 downloads.

[00:03:28] I was proud and excited and so happy that a little tiny podcast that I am recording in a corner of my sewing room on a folding table  was able to reach so many people. I was  happy that to center black women, girls and femmes in sewing was something that was needed and appreciated. At the end of 2020, the growth was remarkable the download count hit 110,000. And I was just like, Oh my gosh, that's amazing. But what if, and this was  the last night of the year. What if we're able to reach 120,000 downloads? That means that I was able to have a huge multiplier of the downloads for 2020, which shows a great sign of growth. And the potential of the podcast to support and do the work that I'm hoping that this podcast is doing, providing companionship, guides, lessons,  creating community.

[00:04:24] That's the main thing I'm interested in  the Black women sewists who are listening to this podcast, who've been featured on this podcast, that all of us are in community together, one with another. And that this recording allows that community to be experienced more broadly. And so the night before, I put out a quick call on my IG story and on my post and that evening, it said 19,650.  I  needed  350 downloads to cross into the territory of 120, which again, totally random.Downloads are one indicator of success, but they are not the only indicator of, but I just  wanted it. I was like, wouldn't that be great? I got huge growth.

[00:05:07] And so I wanted to talk about that and I wanted to celebrate that. And so I said, Hey, I am 350 downloads away from this particular milestone.  If you are able, if you could download a couple of episodes that would really help us hit this market. And that would be great. You all did beautifully.

[00:05:25] It was far more than I could have ever imagined. I asked for 350 downloads within the course of two hours. I had already hit that. You all had downloaded the 350 in about two hours as the night wore on to transition into 2021, 5,000. People showed up 5,000 downloads. So I was able to, instead of entering 2021 with 120,000 downloads, I entered it with 125,000 downloads.

[00:06:02] I want to. Thank everybody who responded and who participated as well as folks who have been so supportive and generous the Patreon subscribers. I am very grateful to you all for the donations that you have made over time to support this work. We will also have other options coming up for financial support.

[00:06:20] If Patreon is not your thing and you don't want to do a monthly donation, we'll have opportunities for you to donate directly to the project without any kind of monthly recurrence or anything like that. And so we're going to be setting that up soon, but what should be set up now?

[00:06:36] Because my goal is to do it today. If you check our show notes, you'll find a couple of fun treats . You'll see a link to a really great video that was produced. By a volunteer who supporting the organization. You will also see a link to a pre-order for a 2021. Get your stitch together. Black Women Stitch calendar.

[00:07:00] This calendar is beautiful. These are hand drawn digital illustrations that are unique to the work of black women's stitch. The calendar includes dates that emphasize Black women's history, sewing trivia, and other things . It is a printed calendar, eight and a half by 11, folded in half.

[00:07:21] And then when you open it up to hanging on your wall, the size is doubled, but this is something that we are offering for supporting black women stitch, and this'll be $38 and free shipping if you pre-order within the next 10 days.  I'm going to have the link to this in the episode notes as well as in the swipe up feature of my Instagram.

[00:07:42] So look for a beautiful way to support the project with this lovely printed calendar that's going to help you get your stitch together all year long.

[00:07:53]for this segment. I wanted to spend some time thinking about how do we get ourselves together for approaching 20, 21 or any new year or new phase in our sewing lives or sewing experience some important key terms that pop up for me are abundance clearing out or cleaning up organizing and planning and trying something new.

[00:08:18] So these are some concepts that I wanted to think about again, just saying, thanks once again, for the beautiful abundance with which you all have graced the podcast by listening. By sending notes to me and leaving wonderful reviews. Thank you very much for doing that. We do appreciate it and it makes a difference, not just for the algorithm, but also just for my spirit in doing the podcast.

[00:08:41] It's  nice to know that this is having an impact. That's felt in ways that I might not have anticipated. So thank you so much for the notes and comments and kind words that you've given throughout 2020 as well as the entire time that the podcast has been going. Thank you so much.

[00:08:59] And another thing that I was thinking about in the context of abundance, Is perhaps how one would manage or steward that abundance. And one way that I was thinking of it is a type of challenge.  Challenges are one way to jumpstart your sewing, or to jumpstart a particular aspect of something you might want to try.  Last couple years, Alethia Hudson and her group Sew Much Talent have done a fabric fast in January. This challenge is that you are meant to sew your stash shop your stash. I think she had a percentage of fabrics that had to be from the stash, but the way that I'm thinking about it for myself is to not buy any new fabric in January.

[00:09:45] Just use what you have and the way that she's divided the challenges that now you make a top with something that you have, then you make a bottom or skirt or pants with something that you have. And I thought that was a really great idea. I'm not saying that I'm going to do it because I do not like to tell lies.

[00:10:01] So I am pretty sure that. I don't know. I don't know if I'm able to do it, I guess I'm sure I'm able to do it on this. Not sure I would choose to do it. And I have tons of fabric and I definitely appreciate using what you have. That is something that I am working on in ways, in all sorts of ways, from sewing supplies to craft supplies, to everything like using it, I tend to have so much love and affection and memories tied up.

[00:10:27] And every piece of fabric that sometimes it's I love it so much. I want, I don't want to use it. But the fabric's not getting any love if you're actually not using it. And so that's something that I'm definitely going to think about. So I thought that was a really good suggestion to think about ways to start the year by preserving your resources.

[00:10:47] Another suggestion is to make what what's been called a Make Nine. For the year and make nine is where you choose nine garments that you are going to sew throughout the year. And that's what you do. And some people plan it out quarterly okay, I'm going to make nine garments. So every quarter I'll make two.

[00:11:07] And in the first quarter I'll make three just to make sure I get everything in. You could do something once a month and still have  lots of room left in your McKnight. So I thought that was another way to think about it. In terms of wardrobe planning, what kind of looks you want, what kind of goals do you want your garments to achieve?

[00:11:23] Are you imagining, at least in my case, transitioning out of a home teaching environment or a home work environment, back into a public facing front facing environment for your work. Do you want some new clothes for that?  These are some of the things that I've been thinking about. As I imagine returning to the classroom in 2021, I'm thinking I will probably be back in the classroom in August and I will probably want some more clothes.

[00:11:51] So that's another thing to think about as you're guiding yourself through what your 2021 sewing plan is going to look like. Similarly cleaning up is something that I really enjoy. Believe it or not. I like cleaning up. I like tidying up. I like organizing things. And so this is another opportunity to go through some of your things and see what do you want to purge?

[00:12:12] What do you want to donate? What do you love and think is beautiful, but no, you are never going to use and you could give it to somebody who will definitely use it, or you could sell it and raise some revenue for something that you would enjoy even more. So just taking stock of what you have and managing that. For example, I buy a lot of PDF patterns and print them off at PDF plotting. And sometimes I'm not keeping track. I have on more than one occasion. Ordered and printed and paid for the exact same pattern from PDF plotting. This is far more painful in my opinion, than buying two of the same pattern at Joanne's during the one 99 cents sale.

[00:12:54] Because for the PDF patterns you buy it, you download it, you then upload it. To the site and then you pay for it and it comes to you in this lovely box. It comes very quick. Then you put it away. That's what I try to do. But it doesn't always work because I have a very large stack of rolled up sewing patterns under my cutting table right now, because I have not had a chance to manage them.

[00:13:22]This could be another thing one might want to think about as you start to your 2021 sewing plans. And we will probably have an episode on this a little bit later, talking about sewing plans. I'm very interested in talking to people who use their croquis and draw croquis for their work. People who have set up quarterly goals for their sewing.

[00:13:42] These are things that I find very exciting, even though I've never done them myself. One thing I do want to try in addition to the things that I'm already doing, such as trying to sew my stash. Tidying up what I already have. I would like to try something new. Now. I'm not going to say I'm going to try something new every quarter, but I'd like to try something new.

[00:14:04] There are things in sewing that I have not done. One of them is using sew in interfacing, I have always only used fusible interfacing.  When I was making a hat, I needed to use buckram and that's an interfacing that you use for, sew-in projects. But that seems more like a separate application in my apparel, sewing, which is my primary love.

[00:14:27] And the thing that I do the most I have yet. In more than 25 years of sewing used sew-in interfacing. So I'm thinking about having an episode on interfacing and I want to invite some folks who do a lot of really beautiful couture sewing, because I think couture sewing requires sew-in interfacing. It takes extra steps to do things in the ways that are heirloom quality. And, I'm looking right now for someone who I can talk with about the sew-in interfacing. 

[00:15:01]It sounds a little silly, but. I've never done it. And I want to try it just to try it once. I don't have to love it and do it forever, but just something I want to try. Similarly, another thing I want to try is making fitted pants. I've done this before, out of knit fabrics because my body enjoys knits because I have a curvy body.

[00:15:23] I've got these fantastic booty blessings that are fantastic. And, sometimes. Woven pants are not my favorite. They just are not comfortable. They're binding in ways that I don't like. And so I was thinking about doing something to learn how to make myself a pair of fitted pants.

[00:15:43] And this is going to require a moulage, which is  a pattern that fits your body perfectly. Nikki Griffin from sewing, my style offers those classes. So I will either take a class with her. She offers personalized classes in these kinds of fittings. I'll either take a class with her, or I will send her my measurements and have her write out or draw out.

[00:16:07] What my moulage should look like.  The more I think about it, the better I feel about paying Nikki to make this for me. And you might want to do this for yourself as well, because she does such beautiful work. Similarly, another thing that I might want to try, believe it or not is a sheath dress, 

[00:16:24] I enjoy sheath dresses on other people. I think they're lovely, straight up and down garments. I think they can be structurally beautiful that if you have certain embellishment or design details on those dresses, they can look great. But whenever I imagine myself in a sheath dress, the image that comes to mind.

[00:16:46] Is a hot dog in an envelope. If somebody said, put a hot dog in an envelope and seal it up, that is how I imagine my body would look in a sheath dress. So I am very much thinking about what does it mean to  construct a garment this way? And that's one of the things I am really excited  to figure out how can I make a structurally tailored, woven garment that looks good and feels comfortable.

[00:17:16]For  my job, there's no dress code. If anybody has known professors or been to college, have been exposed to professors, you can tell that the dress code is non-existent for most people I dress, I believe in my opinion, exceptionally well, I think a lot about what my looks, I think a lot about my sewing and putting things together.

[00:17:36] And so one thing I don't have to do is wear a jacket or any type of formal clothing that other professions require. I don't have to wear a suit to work every day. I don't have to go to a court or a Bureau or some place or a museum where I'm meant to look a certain way. That's given me a lot of flexibility.

[00:17:57] And so because of that, I tend not to choose structured garments because I don't have to wear them, but I'm interested in trying it. So I'm just laying these ideas out here, not for accountability necessarily because I'm certainly not going to myself to make these things.

[00:18:15]These are not new year's resolutions. These are just things I'm thinking about for myself. And I urge you to think about what inspires your curiosity about sewing, what inspires you to sew, what kind of things do you want to do in 2021 with your sewing machine?

[00:18:34] What type of things have you seen other people do that have inspired you to try them yourself? My hope is after 2020, that lots more people are inspired to sew bras, because we've talked a lot about bras since May or June 2020, we spent a lot of time talking about bra making and how easy it was.

[00:18:52] And so hopefully if people tried that there'll be willing to try something else as well. And I can tell you, bra making is some of the most satisfying sewing you will ever do.It looks incredibly complicated. But when you realize it's just less than a quarter yard of fabric and a few fixings that you sew on, and it's straight stitch,  some zigzags  but for the most part, it's pretty simple sewing.

[00:19:15] You'll be really proud of yourself. So I'm encouraging if you've not made a bra yet, and you are interested in finding something to challenge or sewing. And if you are, if you wear bras, then I highly recommend you giving it a try, because it really does give you a beautiful feeling of calm bushmen. When we come back, we're going to talk about what my word for the year is and how I got that.

[00:19:37] I usually don't pick a word for the year, but I was really inspired. And I want to share that with you all. So stay tuned.

[00:19:54] The Stitch Please podcast is really growing. I want to thank you for listening to the podcast and ask a favor. If you are listening to this podcast on a medium that allows you to rate it or review it, for example, Apple podcasts or iTunes, please do so if you're enjoying the podcast. If you could drop me a five star rating, if you have something to say about the podcast and you wanted to include that a couple sentences in the review box of Apple makes a really big difference in how the podcast is evaluated by Apple, how it becomes more visible.

[00:20:30] It really is a way to lean into the algorithm. That helps to rake podcast. So if you had time to do that, to drop a little line in the review feature of the podcast, that would be really appreciated and it would help us to grow even further and faster.

[00:20:48]welcome back. You are listening to the Stitch Please podcast, and I am grateful for you starting your new year with us. This is our first episode of the 2021. Year, and I'm grateful to be here. And I'm grateful that you are here as well. The episode topic today is Sankofa, as I described before. It's a word from the Akan tradition in Ghana.

[00:21:10] It's part of a larger philosophical practice and it's an important practice of the word. Sankofa represents the. The idea of going back to the past to reclaim that, which is at risk of being lost as well as asking people to reflect on the past in order to make a way forward in the future. And so I'm doing this today by looking back at 2020 and thinking about the moments for which I have lots of gratitude, the health of my family despite some challenges.

[00:21:42] That we had in our family. I'm grateful to report that that all are on the mend and in good health. I'm grateful for that. I am grateful for the support of friends and family. I am grateful for the listeners and supporters of the Stitch Please podcast. And so I wanted to make sure that. That my gratitude was clear and that I want my gratitude to be as clear as it is sincere.

[00:22:05] I am very thankful to you for listening and to telling your friends about it, about the podcast, especially those friends who love to, so yeah. Also my word for the year allows the same type of reflection. And I was inspired to choose this word based on the most very random chance occurrence. I was on Instagram.  I follow lots of different authors.  One of the authors that I follow, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, had her book featured as a top seller at a particular independent bookstore. And it had the photo of her book. And I think it had the photo of some other persons that I follow on Instagram . And then it had this book that I had not heard of.

[00:22:47] And it was called. Before I tell you what it's called, it's lovely. It's this blight pink cover. It has a needle on it with a thread going through it. And so of course the first thing I saw was the needle and thread. So I'm like, yes, this is a book for me. It's a sewing book. And the name of the book is gather G a T H E R.

[00:23:05] Gather by Octavia Raheem  a yoga practitioner a teacher, a coach, a guide, an author. And this book y'all this book is splendid. I bought the book, it came, I cracked open a page and I felt like she was speaking directly to me. And so my word for 2021 is gather I'm very much into the word gather.

[00:23:30] I'm thinking about doing things like making a quilt top that has the word gatherer on it, doing something that just reminds myself of what gathered means and what the book gather is encouraging us to produce. Gather is a powerful word because it's one of my favorites.

[00:23:44] It's a kind of word. I'm not sure if there's a particular term for this, but a word that's both noun. And a verb, Gatherer as a perfect example because a gather brings people together. That's what gather is, we gather together or it's a gathering.It's letting me think back to how 2020 gave us new ways and new reasons to gather.  The reasons were terrible reasons. A global pandemic is not a good reason.  And also. We were able to be creative and the whole world pivoted to gather in new ways, the key term for this year seems to have been social distance.  It took many people a while to realize that what we are doing is not socially distancing.

[00:24:28] What we're doing is physically distancing. We are far away from other people. We can't actually breathe the same air as people who are not within our own homes , but we can be close with people all around the world. And so we've found new ways to do that. And those are the things that I really have appreciated in 2020, the new ways to continue sociality.

[00:24:52] Ways for people to connect and get together because human connection is important. Whether you can do it physically, or by phone or via zoom. I'm thinking back to some of the great things that happened in 2020 as a result of the need for physical distancing things that I would not have had available to me, had it not been for this medium coming into new use.

[00:25:15]I was able to attend Tea with Queen and J.'s virtual kickback. I have not been able to go to a kickback because Tea with Queen and J., The podcast is recorded in New York city and the two hosts Queen and J. Live in New York city. And  that's where all their events are. And unless I know, unless I've made a special trip from Virginia to New York city , I wouldn't be able to go.

[00:25:36] So being able to do the virtual kickback was really great. In addition, I've been able to attend church in a whole different time zone. I've been attending  Imani Community Church pretty much every Sunday, since April 2020. And I absolutely love it. I've attended church via zoom in Oakland, California, more than I've gone or attended church in my local community in the last two years. And this is because the Imani Community church is incredibly loving of Black people.  I have enjoyed  the service,the fellowship, the teachings, all of the things.  Every Sunday I feel instant  love.That is something that is priceless during the time of physical distancing.  In addition, I've been on weekly zoom calls  with good friends and with the charter members of Black Women Stitch who are good friends.  And that has been a wonderful way to close that physical distance. 

[00:26:37] And something new has kicked off and you can find me there. Lisa Woolfork, my regular name on clubhouse. Now clubhouse is a social media app that works primarily through voice where people are talking to each other and having great conversations.

[00:26:53] I have absolutely loved clubhouse so far I have joined, or you don't join by topic. You joined by people. So you find people that you believe have interests similar to yours. And then you follow them to see what rooms or clubs they end up in. I have been able to attend  workshops on nonprofit grant writing and funding.

[00:27:15] I've attended some things on crafting I've attended stuff on meditation. All sorts of stuff, questions about black liberation Black feminism. These are the people that I follow. So that's where I end up. I've also played some really fun games, like family feud and all sorts of really fun games.

[00:27:33] So that's another option for people who have iPhones or otherwise have devices that use the iOS operating system. I've heard it works on the iPad, but I don't know for sure. I thought it only worked on iPhones. So there are plans to expand this to Android users. Cause I know there's a lot of Android users who are as hot as fish grease that they don't get a chance to use clubhouse yet

[00:27:56]I want to just close today's episode with the reason that gather the book, as well as gather as the word has been so meaningful to me.  There are lots of beautiful meditations and things to think about in the book. And as I was thinking about gathering  I can look and tell you exactly what the author says in the epigraph  and why it's called Gather in the first place.

[00:28:20]She looks at noun and the verb. So she talks about gather as a noun, as part of a garment that is drawn in or pull together or as a verb to assemble, to accumulate. And then she closes the epigraph by saying, bring together from scattered places, draw in, come together. Get together it just feels so good.

[00:28:43] It's hard to explain. And I really do hope I'm going to put a link to the book in the show notes, and I really do hope that you get a chance to check it out. It really is a wonderful book. It's not that long and it's meant to be read in pieces like you don't have to just read the book from front to back.

[00:29:00] You're meant to open it at a random page. And that's what I did. Some powerful things for you to think about and to consider. for example, she has one section where she says, quote, "when I put down what is not mine to carry. I am free."

[00:29:19] And I love this idea about what is yours to carry. What is mine to carry? How often do people,  transcend our boundaries, or how often do we voluntarily give up our boundaries in order to carry emotional burdens that really don't belong to us. And that we're really not in a position to fix because they're not ours.

[00:29:39] And so the idea of releasing that, of giving ourselves permission to carry that, which only belongs to us, that is such a great feeling. And it felt like such a beautiful reminder for helping us move forward.  She has these really beautiful quotes including things like do not make someone else's mess, your own." I feel like so much of the challenges that I face have been about boundaries . And so I've been thinking a lot about boundaries, a lot about how to build things like that.

[00:30:15] Ritual and routine around my life around my sewing how to maintain social connections as well as how to make meaning around these things. And so with this book, these are the things I'm going to try to put into practice this year. And these are useful for daily living as well as for pursuing sewing in a way that.

[00:30:36] Since I love it so much to give it place in my life, as well as thinking about rest.She posts often on Instagram and she said something like best is a guru. Rest is a guru, G U R U. And the idea of rest being a teacher, rest, being a guide, rest, helping you to know things about yourself.

[00:30:56] Yeah. It was very powerful. I am a fan of the name Nap Ministry, which also has a strong presence on Instagram who sees rest as reparations for Black people. And this one really supplements that idea with the idea that rest is something that you can learn from. And I'm not sure if you've had this experience, but I certainly have, if I take a nap.

[00:31:18] And when I wake up, I feel better. Or when I go to sleep and I wake up, I have an idea. I wake up with an idea. That's Oh my gosh, that's a good idea. And I might jot it down real quick. And these are things that wouldn't have happened if I had not rested. I would urge everyone to  find ways to rest in ways that make sense to you.

[00:31:37] For some people it's not always going to be a nap.  For me, it quite often is a nap. I freaking love. Naps, all those naps. I didn't want to take as a kid. I'm taking all of them now. I love naps, but  active rest is great too. Coloring books, paint by numbers, going for a walk. All of these things can be active forms of rest.

[00:31:57] It's a form of restoration that we have available to us. And. Even if you have to put it on your schedule, it's important to do that so you can build in some reserved energy for yourself.  I've talked about a lot of things that might not seem specific to sewing, but I think that they are, and as we know in the Stitch Please podcast, I do a lot of things that are definitely about sewing, but also things that are  sewing adjacent because they're life adjacent.

[00:32:22] But before I close, I have to tell you about all the fantastic people we have. Coming up on the podcast in 2021. Next week, Marcy Harrell is going to be here. She is una balloons, which was a blog that she started, I believe back in 2006. Marcy is fantastic. She is a singer and dancer. .

[00:32:42] She was on Broadway with Lin Manuel Miranda for in the Heights. And now she has this fantastic channel that she's running with her husband that does a lot of sewing and lifestyle things. We also have Bianca Springer from thanks. I made them, who you might know, Bianca from her fantastic pattern weights, some of what she designed for the Stitch Please podcast.

[00:33:02] We've got Kosedo studios,who's a Black woman sewist from the Netherlands. We're also talking with  Treasure from Nikki and Mallory.

[00:33:09] We'll also learn about the intricacies of wax print fabrics from Aiwan Obinyan . She is the director of wax print.  an award nominated film and documentary that she produced. It's quite beautiful. I first learned of the film from Harlem needle arts and have asked for it to be shown in my own community. And I urge you to do the same.

[00:33:30] It is a fantastic film,  I was so glad to be able to speak with Aiwan Obinyan from London. It was  a great conversation. Also Rashida Coleman Hale coming up for the national quilt month and in March.  We've got a lot of fun, great people coming up, including at the end of this month and intro to the black history month, sewing pattern challenge.

[00:33:50]A lot of things coming up for the Stitch Please podcast in 2021, including the calendar that I described. I will leave a link for that in the show notes, as well as links to a lovely video that was made about the podcast . Look for us on clubhouse. Lisa Woolfork  that's the name that is registered. I am hoping to get a club house for black women Stitch.  I'm taking the steps I believe are necessary. By hosting events pretty regularly on clubhouse.  We got some fun stuff coming up notions discussion as well as sewing trivia. So check out my Instagram page for information about that as they become available.

[00:34:28] Thank you so much for listening.

[00:34:30] Thank you for bringing in your new year with us. 

[00:34:32]  Happy 2021.  I wish you a fantastic and wonderful new year.  Bye bye.

[00:34:38]You've been listening to the Stitch Please podcast, the official podcast of Black Women Stitch, the sewing group, where Black lives matter. We appreciate you supporting us by listening to the podcast. If you'd like to reach out to us with questions, you can contact us @blackwomenstitchatgmail.com. If you'd like to support us financially, you can do that by supporting us on Patreon P a T R E O N.

[00:35:03] And you can find Black Women Stitch there in the Patreon directory. And for as little as $2 a month, you can help support the project with things like editing transcripts and other things to strengthen the podcast. And finally, if financial support is not something you can do right now, you can really help the podcast.

[00:35:21] By rating it and reviewing it anywhere. You listen to podcasts that allows you to review them. So I know that not all podcast directories or services allow for reviews, but for those who do for those that have star rating, or just ask for a few comments. If you could share those comments and say nice things about us, the Stitch Please podcast.

[00:35:43] That is incredibly helpful. Thank you so much. Come back next week and we'll help you get your stitch together.

Hosted by Lisa Woolfork

Lisa is a fourth-generation sewing enthusiast who learned to sew while earning a PhD in African American literature and culture. She has been sewing for more than twenty years while also teaching, researching, and publishing in Black American literature and culture.

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