Sewing Spaces: Sew Sew Stacie

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Lisa Woolfork 0:14

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 enthusiast. 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.

Hello, everybody and welcome to a special episode of Stitch Please podcast, because all the episodes are special! We are here today talking about sewing spaces. And my guest today I am so happy to have her this Sew Sew Stacie, you can find. Sew Sew Stacie from Instagram, she is a fantastic sewist y'all. She is she's an amazing powerhouse in her own right. She's a veterinarian, and I'm trying to figure out how I know two Black women veterinarians who sew. Like that's what I'm trying to figure out. Because you know, Sierra.

Sew Sew Stacie 1:25

I was gonna say the fun fact is that Sierra was in vet school with me, she was just two classes under me.

Lisa Woolfork 1:31

Like how...

Sew Sew Stacie 1:32

She's my sorority sister, so we're really, yeah, close.

Lisa Woolfork 1:35

I knew that I knew that you were both in the same sorority and I just figured that you connected somehow. And so, yes. And I was like, this is really amazing. Lucky me. That's all I have to say.

Sew Sew Stacie 1:49

Lucky me because we didn't know, you know, well, I guess she had been sewing before we went to vet school. I'm not sure. But I didn't start until three years ago. So it was just funny when we both found each other on Instagram like, "hey!"

Lisa Woolfork 2:03

Yeah, yeah. It's a party. I am so glad. So you said that you've been sewing for three years. Tell us about the early part of your sewing journey. What made you turn to sewing in the first place?

Sew Sew Stacie 2:18

So I'm gonna shout out Daphne Dansby. She goes by he he he plus she. I'm not sure if you been to her page?

Lisa Woolfork 2:28

Yes, I do. I do.

Sew Sew Stacie 2:29

Yeah, she is my line sister from Alabama State University.And Daphne used to sew all the time. Like not only she my license to choose my back. The connections are amazing. But Daphne used to sew and post her stuff all the time. And I just was fascinated about it. I thought it was so cool. So another one of my friends Latoya, she goes by Skye and Bailey's mom on Instagram. But um, Toya, you would make things and I just thought it was so cool. Like, I would talk to her and I will hear her sewing. And my grandmother taught me how to sew when I was little 'cause I used to bug her. But after I started to move around and stuff for work, I got to the point where I was like, "I kind of need a hobby," because I'm always somewhere by myself, you know? So I bought a sewing machine. Did not open the box for six months. Did not completely sealed. I never broke the tape. Nothing. I bought it up off of Amazon. And it was the Brother, I think, is it 6000 It's not 6000 to 3000. But then, you know, right. I think it's a great beginner machine. But I bought it and I left it in the box and I was just afraid to do anything. And finally, Toya told me that Mimi G had the Sewing Acadamy.

Lisa Woolfork 3:53

Yes.

Sew Sew Stacie 3:53

So I was like, kay, well I'll check this out. And what I love about the Sewit Academy, the very first lesson when you go to it, Mimi tells you even if you don't have a sewing machine, started at lesson one. And it's the best. I mean, she literally walks you through what kind of machine to get. And I just thought that was like the best sigh of relief for someone like me who was afraid. So I finally opened the box six months after I bought it because I relocated. I was living in Hattiesburg, Mississippi at the time. But I relocated to Montgomery, Alabama, which I was excited because I went to college in Montgomery, as well as Tuskegee for vet school and they're down the street from each other. And as soon as I got there, my mom got really ill and almost passed. God is good because she did not and she recovered from it, but it was just all of a sudden I had a really bad issue with her gallbladder and pancreas. And I mean, she was like they had to put her in a medically induced coma. And I had to cope with it. I had to cope with it. So, at that point, I took the tape off the box. And that was it. I started playing the videos from the Sewit Academy. And I remember our first projects, even down to stitching on the paper on the dot site. Shout out to Mimi G for the Sewit Academy because it's awesome. And I'll say after a few months, I used to bug Daphne a lot. And I'm like, Daphne when you bought your first pattern, you know where you're afraid? What did you do? And I used to ask for that all the time, but she's very sweet and soft spoken. And one day she just got firm with me and was like, "Girl, they gotta sale it Joanne. Go buy pattern and get to it." She was like "You can read directions. You can cook and you can sew." I did it. And I don't know if I'm jumping ahead with questions. But my very first thing that I sewed with a pattern, I should have known better, but I stuck with it. I took a pattern that was a top, that had a cape attached to it. And I took that and expanded it and made an evening gown.

Lisa Woolfork 6:13

Oh, my.

Sew Sew Stacie 6:14

And I still can't believe that I did that. Because one day I went back to that dress, and I'm like, Oooh. The seams were just not good. I cannot believe I did that. But I stuck with it. And I wore my gown. I wore it to a banquet and I got a lot of compliments. But the inside of it. I was not ready. But practice makes perfect.

Lisa Woolfork 6:37

For your first project. That is a very impressive project. I think my first sewing project was a tote bag. So yeah, yeah.

Sew Sew Stacie 6:44

Well, yeah. Well, I mean, yeah, I had those things with the Sewit Academy. But on my own. Yes. Yeah. I just can't believe I did that. And I didn't realize how courageous and scary that was until it was green week of Sew Happy Color. Oh, my God, that first one. And I was like, I cannot believe I did.

Lisa Woolfork 7:06

Good for you, though, to go from someone who was quite fearful or trepidatious. And then to become rather fearless. I think that's really amazing. It's very impressive. And the story of your growth and transformation. And now you've had opportunities to do other things in the sewing community. I recall you mentioning. The project Sew Atlanta that Nikki runs? I'm calling it projects. I think that's the wrong name for sewing... Atlanta Sewing Style. Atlanta.

Sew Sew Stacie 7:39

Yes. So, yes. So I'll clear up the name. So the Project Sew is actually Monica that Sew Monica?

Lisa Woolfork 7:47

That's right.

Sew Sew Stacie 7:47

And so it's the Project Sew and it started in Dallas, and Monica and I just it was fate that day when we all met, because I was in Montgomery hadn't been sewing but like five minutes. And right after the green dress. And I saw that Project Sew was coming to Atlanta. Yeah. And I was like, That's cap. No, I saw they had one for Dallas. And I commented on it when I found the Instagram page. And Monica commented and said, "Hey, I'm coming to Atlanta." So I bought a ticket. And there were so many of us that since that one time, I haven't seen all of us together in that one room again. But a lot of people that I follow, we all met that day. And so yeah, Monica. Like I said, that's her project. And she started it up for Atlanta and Nikki has, you know, when we could meet in person, you know, Nikki would be the person for running Project Sew Atlanta, but Atlanta. Project Sew is Nikki's baby, baby. Yeah, yeah.

Lisa Woolfork 8:50

The photo shoots that she does and all you have you participated in some of those events. Some of the Atlanta Sewing Style events?

Sew Sew Stacie 8:57

I have the... I know I've done one. I'm trying to think of I've done another, but the one for me was when we went to Tyler Perry Studios. That was so cool. It was the vintage cars, right all of the vintage car show, and I thought that was really cool because basically, we all made dresses to accommodate or compliment whatever car we were going to you know accent. So it was beautiful. It was cold, but again. Oh my goodness.

Lisa Woolfork 9:31

Y'all looked amazing. Y'all was off stunting. Yeah, it did not look like y'all was cold.

Sew Sew Stacie 9:36

Yeah, it was survival of the fittest that day, but we had so much fun you would not know but it was like the ground was wet because it had rained. Oh no, but we had so much fun like I just I love Atlanta Sewing Style. Love those ladies. I just had the best time with them. I do appreciate them.

Lisa Woolfork 9:56

And you've also been doing some work with mood as well right? You hosted one of the SewYourView, which was it was in a mood pattern?

Sew Sew Stacie 10:04

That was actually a McCalls pattern.

Lisa Woolfork 10:07

A McCalls pattern. So tell me about that SewYourView. I know I believe that that's another kind of very popular Instagram challenge. And Monica has been, you know, really, you know in the front of that. Yes. So what was it like doing a SewYourView?

Sew Sew Stacie 10:21

That was really cool because although I used to be a teacher before becoming a veterinarian, and I'll still teach an adjunct class here and there to community college or something but, to teach someone, you know, to physically record myself, edit and all of that. I had never done that before. So I was really afraid, but I'm so glad that I did it because that really gave me another, like boost of confidence. I never would have thought I would have done something like that. And another challenge I had was I have to travel for my job, and the pandemic had just broken out. And I am a federal veterinarian, so I don't work in clinics, I do public safety like food. And we were short staffed, and I had to, like the week that I had planned to record my video, I got detailed to go work in like Southwest Mississippi.

Lisa Woolfork 11:23

Oh my word.

Sew Sew Stacie 11:25

So I was afraid not to go work. But because oh my goodness, this thing that I need to do, I have to pretty much pack up my car and do it from the hotel room. It was so much fun. I took my table that I'm sitting at right now. It's just a folding table that I got from Home Depot, I drill down my self healing mat. I brought my rotary. I drill down to so I can still fold the table. Yeah, pick up my car. And I took my tripod, my camera and I went to work. So it was great. And I think that probably made it better. Because if I wasn't at work, that was the only distraction I had. You know, I wasn't at home doing other stuff. So that was great. And I would love honestly, I don't care were or who I would actually love to do another solo model. I have a YouTube channel. And I have a really great tutorial for sew along for my blue coat that I made for, I can't get the name out, I that made for Minerva, as a Minerva maker. But I was having trouble getting the video to upload. It's just it's been a task. Although, um, yeah, I like doing the sew along. But I just really haven't had the chance to really get into it like I should. But I love just bottom line. I appreciate the effort now that I see- when you see sew along and you've made one you really appreciate somebody's time.

Lisa Woolfork 13:06

I have not done one, but I have heard from people who have led them. And it just seems like so much work, not just to make the garment, but also to break down the steps in such a way that people can pick them up and understand. And then to film it too. It's just like, oh my gosh, it's like stacks on stacks on stacks of work. So congratulations.

Sew Sew Stacie 13:30

And I will say this for anybody listening. Because Nikki and I talked about this, because I reached out to Nikki not too long ago and I was like, 'I am having the hardest time getting it sew along up, like what do I need to do?' If you are sewing if you're filming, a sew along, do not press record until you are ready for somebody to see you do what you're doing. So the issue that I'm having with this one sew along, and even though it's April, y'all gonna get this coat, okay, I don't care this June. It'll be the cutest thing out there when it gets cold because you gonna get this sew along in a hot month. But um, I was pressing play. I mean, well record. And you know, I would do a little something turn around, get something to drink, just whatever. The longer your clips are, because you're gonna do a lot of footage, you know, you're going to start and stop. The longer those clips are, the longer it's gonna take to import. And I had like five hours worth of footage, and I was trying to chop it down. But my system is just not happy with how much footage I have. So anybody that's filming a sew along. Do not press record until you are ready to record that still. Don't waste the time in the space on your phone, camera, whatever it is you're using. Please. If I've never told you nothing else, don't press record until you are ready, and as soon as you're done, press stop.

Lisa Woolfork 15:03

And that's less editing for later.

Sew Sew Stacie 15:06

Less editing for later. And so the issue of mine was my went to the iCloud. And it's always wanting to download when I'm trying to get back to it. After you put your footage together. After so long you know with five hours worth of footage. And trying to edit it. And sometimes the system doesn't want to work. It's been a headache. So that was a lesson learned for me.

Lisa Woolfork 15:33

Excellent. Excellent. Well, thank you for sharing that with us so that we can avoid that misstep. So thank you. So. So let's look at let's talk about your sewing space. You built this space? When did you start you know, you finally, finally, open the box that had your sewing machine in it. You needed a stress relief, you needed something to do to take your mind off the stressful situation that you were in with your mother's health crisis. And thank god, I'm glad she is well. I'm glad she's better. And so you've done that. And now you're like, okay, where am I gonna sew? How did you decide to set up your sewing room or your sewing space? How did you come to that or arrive at that decision?

Sew Sew Stacie 16:20

So this answer is gonna be fun because when I first started sewing and I was living in Montgomery. I bought the sewing machine in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in that apartment. A year later, I moved to Montgomery. That's the whole name of the game with my job is you get a job in the agency and you work your way back home. So I was trying to get back home, it was not a secret. Everybody that I've worked for has known that because you do the same job. It's just different locations. And so I set up the spot. I'm in Hattiesburg. Never opened box. Moved to Montgomery in June of 2018. June 2018. And then I use my second bedroom in my apartment as my sewing space. And I had this little cheap desk. I think I may have gotten it from like Big Lots. And I said the only true, like, notions and the tools and stuff. I mean, I had a bunch of threads. I had some scissors, like I had the minimum, you know, I was starting out. So I set up that second bedroom, and that was cool. And then when I moved, they had a position open such that I could move back to Birmingham a year after that. So I moved home and I moved in with my mom. And you know, because it was so quick. I came home and there was no space. I literally had a folding card table in my mom's dining room. I kept my folding table folded in half behind my bedroom door. And I would pull it out and lay it on my bed to cut my fabric. I had a folding card table, and my folding fabric table. Everything else I just kind of kept stacked up in areas. I wouldn't buy a lot of fabric. I didn't have a whole lot on purpose. Well, not too long. After I moved home, my mom bought another house. And the house that I grew up in that I had just moved back into, I ended up getting that from my mom. So I went from a card table to a whole house.

Lisa Woolfork 18:36

Oh my goodness.

Sew Sew Stacie 18:36

And that was cool. And then all of a sudden I started realizing I was accumulating a lot of stuff. So what used to be the den, which when I was little was my sister's room. But what used to be the den is now my sewing room. And, as you know when I talked to you last summer, and it might even been last year, but I was trying to find a good sewing table because I had moved that little rinky dink desk all over the place. And it was on its last leg, and I told you it got to the point I would sew the table was shake. A leg was wobbling. I was like yeah, this ain't gonna make it too much longer.

Lisa Woolfork 18:39

Especially when you put your precious stuff on there you don't want your machine to hit the ground.

Sew Sew Stacie 18:53

Exactly, exactly. And I didn't even have a serger at first so I knew when the serger went on, that was just it. So I ended up going to a furniture store which is not here anymore, The place is called OFR, like O-F-R and basically it was the same stuff you would see it Ashley furniture and other places. But I guess it was like almost like Wayfair like they had too much stuff.

Lisa Woolfork 19:49

Like Overstock type thing.

Sew Sew Stacie 19:49

Exactly, but you would come in and make them the best offer. So um, I ended up buying a table, which is actually a dinner table. And I love wood like thick wood. I'm just, you beat that. I love wood floors. I just love wood. So I ended up, I think I paid maybe $300 for the table, but it has leaves that you could take off and you can make it longer, you make it shorter. And I love it. It gives me just enough room. And so I have my sewing machine and my serger side by side. I have a lot of things in here. But I don't have a lot of things mounted to the wall, like my things for my spools of thread. And that's because I want to paint in here. But I can't stop sewing long enough to go ahead and paint. So it hasn't happened. Wow,

Lisa Woolfork 20:52

Wow, I love this this about the dining room table. I don't think I would have thought furniture store. You know, and so I think that's so clever, especially the expandability of it, that you could add one leaf, you could add both leaves make it that much bigger. You were saying earlier, when we're speaking that you could invite a friend over to you because the idea of having a table that could shrink and grow is smart. And yeah, people figure that out for dining rooms because you want to have guests over to eat and stuff. But it also applies for sewing because sometimes you don't need a table to be so big, and it can still meet your needs and everything. But then sometimes you want it to be large so that you can get other friends to come and sew with you. So that's pretty fun.

Sew Sew Stacie 21:36

It's smaller than my dining room table. But the width of it is awesome. I mean, it's literally like if I pulled it out from the wall, I could put somebody in their sewing machine on one side, and I'm on the other end, it's still plenty of room. I it was the perfect buy for this room.

Lisa Woolfork 21:54

Oh, that is so great, because I think that makes a really big difference, you know by the idea of having a good workflow. Now let me ask you some people like to keep their sewing machines at an L so they'll have like an L with like the sewing machine here and then the serger there, but you have your side by side. What might have a side as well or not? Are they not side by side?

Sew Sew Stacie 22:17

They're side by side. I initially wanted to have the L setup. But a friend gifted me...

Lisa Woolfork 22:24

[music background] So what was it that Stacie's friend gave her that made her change her mind about her L configuration? Stay tuned and you will find out after the break. Black Women Stitch in the Stitch Please podcasts are happy to announce that we have another way to connect with our community in addition to the IG Lives that we do every Thursday at 3pm we also now have a club on Clubhouse. That's right friends, they done messed up and given me the chance to have a club! Follow Black Women wtitch on Instagram and now on Clubhouse Thursdays at 3pm on Instagram at 3:45pm on Clubhouse Eastern Standard Time. It we'll help you get your stitch together

Welcome back friends. You're listening to the Stitch Please podcast and I'm talking today with Sew Sew Stacie, Stacie Sturtevant who is talking about her sewing space as part of a limited series that I will be doing on sewing spaces. Please note that Patreon supporters receive a video of this episode. Before the break Stacie was explaining why she did not have an L configuration in her sewing room. So she's going to show us this and let us know why she made that decision. Here we go.

Sew Sew Stacie 24:03

But a friend gifted me. You know how you go in department store?

Lisa Woolfork 24:08

I want to see. I like that rack. That is cool.

Sew Sew Stacie 24:13

This wrack right here? Yes. So his friend's mom passed and she used to have a tailor shop. And they were getting rid of stuff and they knew that I had just really gotten into sewing. And it was like 'hey, if you come over here you can get whatever you want. Just take it home with you.' So I went I got that and honestly, everything on there I made but I kind of use it more as a drying rack for you know dresses and stuff that I've made, of course you're not gonna put them in the dryer. But yeah, if I didn't have that I would have done the L, but that corner was occupied.

Lisa Woolfork 24:54

What do you do for seating? Do you have a rolling chair? Or do you like how do you what's your deal with seating?

Sew Sew Stacie 25:02

So I don't have a rolling chair again because I have such lovely people in my life. [unclear] He had like there's a really- now yeah, don't go to this store and buy up all that stuff because this is my spot okay- but there is a consignment shop here in Birmingham called Sozo's S-O-Z-O. And every now and then I'll tag myself in things that I bought from there because it's, it's a consignment shop, but the setup is so cool, because most of, I think all of the proceeds or a big chunk of it, goes to the Sozo tribe in Africa, okay, and it benefits the children. But when you go in, it's like, the middle of the store is a boutique of things that people have made from in Sozo, like in Africa, and they've shipped it to the store, and they sell it. And then you have the true thrift store, part of the store, and around the perimeter, people have set up boutiques. So it is such a cool store. And they have the best stuff, like I have decorating my house with a lot of things that you find in there. My mom friend had this chair. He got it restored, but then he bought something else. And he was like, I only got one chair. I don't really have a need for it. But it just looks like something Stacie would like. 'Tell her she likes it. She can have it.' And I brought it here, and that's pretty much my chair. That is awesome. Yeah. It's cushioned. It's perfect. It's good. And it goes well with all of my furniture as well.

Lisa Woolfork 26:48

That's great. Now, tell me about how do you store your notions? Your sucky the zippers, your scissors, your buttons and those kinds of things. Do you have, do you have a special place for everything? Do you use bins and boxes? Do you have drawers? Do you.. How do you deal with that?

Sew Sew Stacie 27:13

So, at this point, I just think I may need to just take my phone and turn my camera around because it's [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 27:21

Yes. I want to walk through. Yes, please. I just said I'm so glad you have to share, please do. Love it. Thank you.

Sew Sew Stacie 27:33

Okay. So, my zippers. Remember when I went crazy over the 50s [voices overlap] Hobby Lobby?

Lisa Woolfork 27:43

Oh my! Right.

Sew Sew Stacie 27:47

Yeah, and I haven't even put a dent in them and I've made a lot of things.

Lisa Woolfork 27:50

Okay.

Sew Sew Stacie 27:50

But I have some zippers there in that [unintelligible] part. There were some that are just bullet free. And I've been sewing a lot with bias tape. So it's kind of mixed in here.Would have set up all cutest stuff before but I have a bias tape maker never took it out [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 28:11

Oh, you gotta take it out.

Sew Sew Stacie 28:14

And I have,

Lisa Woolfork 28:15

A ribbon! Yeah.

Sew Sew Stacie 28:17

like, lace trim, gain ribbon. Oh, you know,

Lisa Woolfork 28:26

I love that,

Sew Sew Stacie 28:27

like a sweatshirt or something. Just all kinds of stuff stashed down in there.

Lisa Woolfork 28:31

Yeah. Yeah, I get my house locks on too.

Sew Sew Stacie 28:37

So I'll step back just a little bit.

Lisa Woolfork 28:40

Oh, great. Okay, so you keep them stacked... Oh, look, you have a sharp thing. It's like a real one. Like a [unintelligible]

Sew Sew Stacie 28:47

Yeah, so, listen go to the beauty supply store, you guys and get yourselves a sharp container for like $2 and you can go, you could probably get one in Sally's but, I mean, [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 28:56

Yeah, yeah, go to the hair store, go to the hair store or the beauty supply store.

Sew Sew Stacie 29:03

[unintelligible] but yeah, I paid like $2 or something for that [unintelligible]. I keep that

Lisa Woolfork 29:10

Uh huh. Uh huh.

Sew Sew Stacie 29:11

all of my needles pretty much here. And I'm gonna turn it back, sorry. Hope this doesn't mess with your recording. But I just have, like...

Lisa Woolfork 29:19

Oh that's so cute. What a cute little drawer.

Sew Sew Stacie 29:27

Yeah, just any clear little container that I could find in Walmart [ voices overlap] get them.

Lisa Woolfork 29:30

Yeah, that's awesome.

Sew Sew Stacie 29:34

So these thread holders, of course they could be mounted to the wall. I'm just now...

Lisa Woolfork 29:42

You gotta paint.

Sew Sew Stacie 29:42

I'm truly gonna paint.

Lisa Woolfork 29:43

you're gonna paint

Sew Sew Stacie 29:47

Let's see.

Lisa Woolfork 29:49

Oh good! Okay, yeah, yeah.

Sew Sew Stacie 29:53

I have another [voices overlap] that's just sitting here.

Lisa Woolfork 29:56

Yeah,

Sew Sew Stacie 29:56

Tailors chalk [unintelligible] for tracing, just [unintelligible] container. I love it because you keep so many on one [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 30:08

Oh wow, that's so cute. I love those dishes. I have one of those from Harbor Freight. Oh, that's cute because that with the way you have your pins like there is some kind of little cage around the top?

Sew Sew Stacie 30:23

Oh yeah, so this is a true pin holder. This one is, umm, you know, you have a little decoration, in the bathroom like a toothbrush holder, I bought two of those and I just [voices overlap]. I have my rotary cutters, I only cut out my fabric with rotary cutters. This is for my fabric. This is for when I'm cutting out patterns, I rarely use my scissors. Rarely. Of course, my serger thread. And this is just my quick grab. Whatever I need is right here.This is my true desk for work. So I just kind of turned to my side. I'm [unintelligible] here truly working. And for what I do, I have to keep, like, sampling supplies and stuff in there, so whatever is the real deal we got it over here.

Lisa Woolfork 31:23

Look at your fabric!

Sew Sew Stacie 31:24

This fabric. Yeah, and I'm trying to do better. I tried to separate my fabric by tight. So there may be a little something thrown in, you know other places, but for the most part, everything like. These are like my workout knits and stuff. So yeah,

Lisa Woolfork 31:45

That's great.

Sew Sew Stacie 31:45

All of that craziness here. This is a jewelry box that started out truly being a jewelry box, but I pretty much use it to [unintelligible] get all kinds of stuff that I am going to make.

Lisa Woolfork 31:59

Accessories, pins, etc, etc. Yeah, that's so cool. You need a little plate for all those little tiny things. Oh [ unintelligible]

Sew Sew Stacie 32:09

Yeah. Yeah. So these are like my everyday buttons, and then these are my [unintelligible] buttons. More storage. I bought this bookshelf.

Lisa Woolfork 32:20

Oh, yeah.

Sew Sew Stacie 32:21

Turn this to the side. And I pushed it up against the wall, so it's more storage, but [unintelligible] that you can't even really see it depending on the position in the room.

Lisa Woolfork 32:30

Right, right, right. And those on the bookshelf are those patterns? That is so interesting to organize them on a bookshelf. And the depth of the shelf looks perfect.

Sew Sew Stacie 32:46

Yes, so the top row is all simplicity. The second row, the first half is my calls. This is, you name it, rotary quick sew, those kind of mixed in. And then my bowl patterns and it's amazing. As much as I love bow patterns [voices overlap], but I'm always reaching for a bow pattern [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 33:12

That is so funny that you like to sew them so much, but then you can look to see, like, but what you really buy tends to be the simplicity. I think I might, I am actually, I think I might have more simplicity than anything, which is weird.

Sew Sew Stacie 33:25

Yeah, yeah. Umm, this is just my overflow [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 33:31

Oh, that's a cute little sewing box there, that's adorable.

Sew Sew Stacie 33:32

I needed.Thank you. And just more overflow in here.

Lisa Woolfork 33:38

Yep, I have that same box. Does it have those Victorian children on it? Your box.The box with the pins. Does it have the Victorian children on it? Yeah, I gave those away. I gave those away because I wanted the children to be turned around. Yes, that's the one that's the same one. I was very terrifying looking children. Yeah, I gave those to a friend. And she was supposed to make them brown. I don't know how that's going. But...

Sew Sew Stacie 34:04

Oh, I never really [unintelligible] doesn't bother me. But, I bought these patterns [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 34:10

Oh, that's so cute.

Sew Sew Stacie 34:15

So yeah, I just bought a bunch of washers. This is definitely a Mimi G hack that she talked about.

Lisa Woolfork 34:20

Yeah.

Sew Sew Stacie 34:20

I just bought some washers. And to add a way to make them cute

Lisa Woolfork 34:24

Oh, that's so cute.

Sew Sew Stacie 34:26

[voices overlap] ribbon and put some curls on them. [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 34:29

Now, you said that you screwed down or bolted down your cutting mats. How did you do that?

Sew Sew Stacie 34:39

I just took a drill and just drilled down like right here, right here. I did two on the other side [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 34:47

And is this a plastic folding table we're looking at?

Sew Sew Stacie 34:52

Uh huh.

Lisa Woolfork 34:54

That is but another...

Sew Sew Stacie 34:55

And I positioned them such that I can fold this table up and stick it wherever I want.

Lisa Woolfork 35:00

That is amazing. I mean, that is very clever. I had not thought because I'm always like, of course annoyed if a mat shifts, but I never thought about how to get it to not shift.

Sew Sew Stacie 35:13

That's what made me do it because I was so sick of them shifting. And I know that you can custom order them. But I was like, if I get one that completely covers the tape,

Lisa Woolfork 35:24

Right.

Sew Sew Stacie 35:24

I can never fold the table, if I mounted it down so I'm happy with this. I have to pick up like [voices overlap], every now and then that I may have used my scissors as opposed to my rotary cutter. But that's it. So, up at the top is the book shelf, well, I keep most of my shoes.

Lisa Woolfork 35:42

Oh my goodness. That's a nice [unintelligible]. I like that.

Sew Sew Stacie 35:47

Thank you, but cordless iron, regular iron. I can't remember which brand that is. And the steamer is my new best friend. Especially that now, I take my own pictures. So for my backdrops, I stained them jingles and wrinkles [voices overlap].

Lisa Woolfork 36:06

Yes, that's so clever. Oh, I know, I have, that looks almost, look very familiar. I have some of those. I know I have that singer Perfect Fit book. And now these binders like some of your own things that you've collected.

Sew Sew Stacie 36:22

Yeah, this binder is empty. It's a newer one. Right here. I have [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 36:30

Oh, yeah.

Sew Sew Stacie 36:34

pattern.Yeah, so these are like my true books, my sister bought me this one. I think I bought this fashion design book because Raven mentioned that one, I think she recommended it. So, I bought that. These are just…[ unintelligible] Those are just old notebooks that I will throw away. But in here,

Lisa Woolfork 36:55

Wow.

Sew Sew Stacie 36:55

these are loaded down with instructions for different patterns.

Lisa Woolfork 37:00

Yeah,

Sew Sew Stacie 37:00

have them [unintelligible] out. I'll pull, let me see,I’ll pull one.

Lisa Woolfork 37:05

That's, I love that's a really nice looking notebook.

Sew Sew Stacie 37:11

Yeah, that's like an obsession of mine with really pretty binders. And I just had that in the instructions, according to what it is. So just different things. Some of these I haven't even made, but they're ready to go

Lisa Woolfork 37:26

Great!

Sew Sew Stacie 37:26

when I'm ready. So, these are the other three instruction booklets for my sewing machine and my serger. And in here are all of my PDF patterns that need to be pulled out [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 37:39

Oh my gosh. Why are you taping patterns? Why are you taping patterns?

Sew Sew Stacie 37:47

Well, this was in the beginning. I first became, you know, familiar with PDFs. So that's why they're still here, cuz now I take them and get them printed. But before we were doing that, you know, we were printing, and I just don't always have time. So, they're going to lay up there until I'm ready to pull them out one day. This is if I want to make pennies or something like that, I have all the elastic waiting. My ham, in such... More elastic. Umm, well, this is not really a secret, but my sorority is doing pillowcase girls in Africa. So that's a project that I work on in my spare time.

Lisa Woolfork 38:35

Ah, I see. I see.

Sew Sew Stacie 38:38

Yeah, this is some leather making stuff. I do it every now and then. Yeah, so I don't do leather too, too much. I mean,

Lisa Woolfork 38:50

Oh my gosh,

Sew Sew Stacie 38:51

[voices overlap], like

Lisa Woolfork 38:53

Her work is... working so good. And I was telling her I spoke with her for the podcast last year. And I was like, I tried to sign up for your class and I made the mistake of waiting till the end of the day and it was gone. Like, yeah,I know, like those classes were sold out in two hours. I was like, I'm [unintelligible]

Sew Sew Stacie 39:14

But she is so cool, really [voices overlap]. But this is just an overflow of fabric that I haven't touched yet. Some frankly bofur [voices overlap] for Jackie didn't mean it. I pop out with anything but nothing of it, but that's it. I keep my sewing, I mean, I'm sewing with my ironing board behind the door and then I have a little small one that has become my best friend, cuz I don't have [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 39:47

Oh my! Yeah, you know, it's so [unintelligible],so it's a sleeve board but you just use it like a regular ironing board. That really varies. That is genius.

Sew Sew Stacie 39:59

Yeah, I love it. It was like, I think I got it for it when Hobby Lobby was still doing 40% off coupons. That's like 7 books.[voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 40:12

Oh my gosh, Stacey, this is amazing. Oh, my word. Thank you so much for sharing your space with us and I have learned so much from you, I can just off the top of my head. Hair store for sharps, never would have thought that. Never would have thought about that. Okay, that's so, that's like, that's new on me. Drilling down, drilling your mat to your plastic table. I don't, I thought that has never occurred to me, genius move. There was something else you had done. I think of it when I go back and review the tape. I just think this is, this is so much fun. You have so many wonderful ideas and hacks and stuff. So what's next for you? Oh, the dining room table where you add the leafs. But you don't have to show it...

Sew Sew Stacie 41:03

Oh, yeah.

Lisa Woolfork 41:04

You don't have to show that you don't have to do that. But I was just like, it's just like, it's just, these ideas. And one of the reasons I wanted to do the sewing spaces series was so that people could get ideas for how to use their own space. I love the natural light that your room has. That is really, really nice. And I'm sure like you could if you felt like it, you could crack the window. But I know it's hot down. So you probably don't want to crack no windows. But you can look out and see your, you know, your yard and the natural light coming in. It's just wonderful. It's great.

Sew Sew Stacie 41:35

Yeah, I'm real big on natural light. I'm even down to taking pictures like,I do pictures in the house just because, you know, I live alone, and it's just more convenient than always bugging somebody, because I can get my own pictures outside, and it's beautiful but for safety purposes, I just don't think anybody should take pictures by themselves

Lisa Woolfork 41:56

Right, right!

Sew Sew Stacie 41:56

with their real camera. So, yeah, that's just my thing [voices overlap] But, umm, but yeah, I got all my windows replaced in my house back in October. So, I will either let the window down or let it up and get the cool breeze I love when it's sunny out.

Lisa Woolfork 42:19

That is so wonderful. Well, well, but that ‘I love light’ is a perfect note on which for us to end this wonderful conversation. I am so grateful for you taking the time to walk us through your space.

Sew Sew Stacie 42:32

Thank you, because I never would have even thought to show it. So, thank you for asking me to do it. Because I just didn't think anybody would care to see whats going on in here. I don't think I didn't show. I have a calendar.

Lisa Woolfork 42:48

Oh, I saw that. I did see it. So, do you use that to manage your projects?

Sew Sew Stacie 42:54

Somewhat. I'm more so well take a sticky note, and write whatever and now could[ voices overlap] in order. You know, I may put the days up there, but for the most part, I just kind of put them in order. And when I finished one, I love the fulfillment I get of taking one down and [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 43:11

Oh, that's a great tracker.

Sew Sew Stacie 43:15

I feel accomplished.

Lisa Woolfork 43:16

Oh, that's wha... I had not thought about using post its as a tracker too, that is so smart!

Sew Sew Stacie 43:24

That's how I do for work. I like to put down everything I need to do on a sticky note. The goal is to get through the sticky note. I have a planner and all of that, but if I can get through my sticky notes [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 43:34

I like it. Someone... I've heard that technique from someone else that you know that basically everything you want to do needs to fit on a sticky note. Right? Like you don't need, like, a to do list for every day that's like this, you know?

Sew Sew Stacie 43:49

Yeah, coz it's impossible to get all that done. But if I can make [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 43:53

Oh, l that’s great! And then you get sticky notes for your sewing, too. I love it. Yay! Stacie, this has been so wonderful. Tell folks where they can find you out there in these internet social media streets.

Sew Sew Stacie 44:10

All right, if you are looking for me, honey, you can find me anywhere at Sew Sew Stacie; Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. If you were to email me, it would be Sew Sew Stacie 18. For whatever reason, I couldn't get Sew Sew Stacie. Like who else is? Especially with Stacie spelled like mine, but Sew Sew Stacie 18. 18 the year that I started sewing. So, SewSew Stacie18@ gmail, and, my blog. I love the Wix app, but it's no quick way for me to tell you how to get to my blog. So, you probably just put that in the show notes because it's just it's kind of lengthy and I need to take the time myself to do the link, I'm just not going to do. But that's it. I'm Sew Sew Stacie everywhere, email, Sew Sew Stacie 18 at gmail, and then [voices overlap]

Lisa Woolfork 45:07

I will find that and I'll make sure it's in the show notes, so people can just click on it without having to figure out how to find it. So, we will definitely take care of that. Stacie, thank you so much for sharing your space with us. This has been really wonderful. I am looking forward to getting this episode out in the world. And just thank you so much for spending the time with us today. Thank you.

Lisa Woolfork 45:36

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 at Black Women Stitch@gmail.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 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 really help the podcast 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 like a star rating or just ask for a few comments, if you could share those comments and say nice things about us at this Stitch Please podcast 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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