Back in 2013, I tweeted a lot. We all did! The world of sewing blogs was booming, and Instagram hadn’t yet made micro-blogging possible, so everyone was on Twitter. There were scheduled Friday afternoon #sewingchats, and we’d tweet our way through self-created events like the #sewcialbee, where we assigned ourselves a Great British Sewing Bee-style challenge to complete in a certain number of hours.
Twitter was exciting because it was a place of equality and ideas. You could talk to anybody, no matter how big their sewing blog following. A Twitter conversation wasn’t just one comment and one reply, like on IG or a blog – it was a back-and-forth with new friends chiming in from all over the world.
At some point, the word Sewcialist was born: a person who talked about sewing on social media! (I think it was coined by Leila of Three Dresses, but I could be wrong.)
Before long, a group of us started organising monthly challenges. We even hosted a logo competition with cash prize! Joost de Cock (of MakeMyPattern.org and Freesewing.org) won with a customizable logo generator and also built the amazing Sewcialist Firehose sewing blog aggregator. Leila looked after the @sewcialists Twitter, and I ran this blog!
From the start, the Sewcialists have been grassroots, built with the idea that anything is possible through teamwork. Grunge Month, Viking Shieldmaiden Month, or Oonapallooza – they all came out of late night chats and off-hand comments, but became a fun reality!
Who is a Sewcialist? It’s anyone who talks about sewing online, on blogs, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and so on. It’s also someone who values the social aspect of sewing, and and the community online that makes this more than just a solitary pastime!
So… Have I convinced you that YOU are a Sewcialist? I hope so, because the next post is all about our first next theme month in August!
I’m a Sewcialist for sure 🙂 I think the internet has made the biggest changes I’ve seen in sewing since I began sewing in 1968 (my sewing story is one of starting, stopping, starting, stopping 🙂 and mostly stopping from 1977 – 2014 and full on starting ever since 2014! Sewing was very much an isolated activity (great for introverts) and regarded as feminine (unless you were a TAILOR then you were a man – much like CHEF versus COOK and we all know which one paid more and carried more prestige). Today EVERY SINGLE aspect of being a sewist has changed and so much to the better it makes me crow with delight every time I witness some aspect of this magnificent change – much of which I attribute to the internet, feminism and globalization. YAY for “sewcialists” like you Gillian who exemplify all this change with panache!
Aww, you are the sweetest! I wish the online sewing community had been around when I was a teen trying to sew my own clothes!
Glad you guys are back!
Yay! Thank you!
I’m currently more of a sew-lurker than a sewcialist – though it would be nice to change that and get involved! Looking forward to hearing about the challenge! 🙂
Oooh, join in! No need to lurk here! 😉
I’m in! I love this community dearly!
I am most definitely intrigued!
Heyyy! I just got know such an interesting thing! I loved your article and would like to look at http://www.fuzia.com. It is an online platform for women artists like you! Hope you like it. 🙂
[…] weren’t going to put ourselves on here? The Sewcialists was coined and subsequently launched in 2013 and has become a symbol of inclusivity all over the world. Our mantra IS hyper-inclusivity, and we […]